 Today was the big daddy of running events in Arizona-- the P.F. Chang's Rock'n'Roll Arizona Marathon and Half Marathon. The event was huge again-- 6440 finishers in the marathon and 22098 finishers in the half marathon.Going into the race, I had high expectations. I turned in a good (for me) time in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon in mid-December. Despite my lackluster training in the intervening weeks, I was really hoping to shave 4 minutes off that time, which would be a 1:52 finish. I put in some good long runs in the weeks before the race and was feeling pretty good. I had every intention of running my first full marathon at this race, but my trip to Paris really put a damper on my training, so I decided to run the half marathon instead. And then "it" hit. I got a stomach bug last Wednesday. Right after lunch, I felt a dull pain in my gut. It worsened throughout the day, and by that evening I was really feeling rotten. I didn't eat for over 24 hours, and wasn't drinking much either since my stomach felt so horrible. I felt a little better Friday, but I still wasn't back to normal, and I still didn't have much of an appetite. I tried to eat normally on Saturday, but it was probably too little, too late. Despite this bug, I was still expecting big things when Bill and I got to the warmup tent at 7:00AM the morning of the race. We relaxed, ate and chatted with a few people we knew in the warm-up tent. After I ate, my stomach started feeling a little queasy again. I had to... uhhhh... evacuate. That didn't provide much relief, and I felt even worse after it.  As the starting time approached, we dropped off out gear bags and worked our way to our position in Corral 5. There were sooooooooo many people! There were 35 corrals, and I suppose there were 1000 people in each one. The line of people waiting to start stretched for what seemed to be a mile. As we waited for the gun, I checked the weather on my iPhone and was a little dismayed to see the temperature already in the high 50's. I was wearing a black long sleeve running shirt, and was already feeling a little warm. Drat! After the gun went off, our corral started about 5 minutes later. Bill and I agreed that we would start off slowly (a 9:30 pace was the goal). We were both feeling pretty good, so we did the first mile slightly faster than 9:00. At about the 1.5 mile mark, I saw Jen, Ella and Sarah (and even got a high five), which was very exciting. That's the first time they've been able to see me in a race.As we turned onto McDowell Rd., I was still feeling pretty good. I was feeling pretty comfortable with the 8:30 pace we were maintaining. As we approached the 3 mile mark, I was feeling pretty hot. I had already pushed up my sleeves, and was realizing that the new hat I was wearing wasn't too good at letting the heat from my head escape. As we went through the first water station at the 3.5 mile mark, I took a half dozen cups of water and poured them over my head. I felt much cooler, but that was my first inkling that today wasn't going to be my day.  As we continued down McDowell Rd., I felt like we were doing well. However, I checked my Garmin and was surprised to see our pace had slowed to about 8:45. Miles 6 and 7 were even slower, at about a 9:00 pace. At about the 6 mile mark, we spotted a runner carrying a large wooden pole over his shoulder. He was running faster than us, which was a little disheartening. I also saw a man with a shirt that said, "84 and still running." Thank God we passed him. I walked through the water station at mile 7 and took off my hat. It made me feel cooler, but by that point I felt like I was right on the cusp of bonking. The heat, the lack of eating and drinking and the fact that I hadn't run in a week had caught up to me. But I was determined to gut it out and finish with as good a time as possible.We saw Trudy and Jessica from work at about the 7.5 mile mark. It's always fun to see people you know during a race. We turned south on 44th Street, and then east onto Washington Street. This is where the long steady uphill is. I turned in a pretty slow 9:30 - 9:50 pace between miles 8 and 11. I was able to run up most of the hill, only walking through the water stations. Even though my pace was slow, I was feeling pretty proud considering how crummy I was feeling. I tried to focus on keeping going, and on elevating my spirits. As we reached mile 12, we could see Sun Devil Stadium off in the distance. That was just the pick-me-up I needed. We did the 13th mile at a 9:15 pace-- slower than my normal race pace but quicker than the previous 4 miles. As we crossed the Mill Avenue Bridge, there were throngs of spectators lining both sides of the road. As we turned onto Rio Salado Blvd., I wanted nothing more than to walk the rest of the way to the finish line. I was hot, my legs hurt and I felt completely depleted. But the energy from the crowd kept me going.  As we turned into the parking lot of the stadium for the final 200 yards of the run, the crowd was even thicker and louder. We picked up the pace a little bit, and managed to finish right at 2:00:50. Bill and I even managed to finish with the exact same time! When I looked down at my Garmin, I was disappointed that I didn't have a faster time. I tried to remind myself of the reasons for it, but I was still a little down. I guess I managed to cut 6 minutes off my time from last year's event, so that was a small victory. With the benefit of a few days between me and the race, I'm pretty okay with my time. I managed to make the starting line and I was able to finish, despite not feeling 100%. I feel a new determination to improve my time, and I want to ratchet up my training over the next few weeks so my time at the Lost Dutchman is where I want it to be. Activity
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Sunday, January 25, 2009
2009 P.F. Chang's Rock'n'Roll Arizona Half Marathon
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