Phoenix Marathon 1/2

As Kristin said, this race was great!  I was a little worried that it would be chaos (packet pickup was!) since it was the inaugural year.  Turns out, it was a fun race, with lots of great swag, and PRs all around. 

The Phoenix Marathon (1/2 course)

First, the course.  It was great.  Beautiful scenery starting at Usery and heading down hill for 3 miles.  Then it leveled out and stayed level or slightly downhill for much of the remaining 10 miles.  The only challenges on the course were some stretches that were directly into the wind (luckily the wind was pretty mild, but you could definitely feel it when you were running into it).  And, there were some hills in the last 2 miles that felt tough, but were probably not as bad as we thought they were (but coming off all the downhills and being the end of the race they felt tough). 

Second, the weather.  It was perfect.  It definitely felt cool while we were waiting at the starting area.  They had some campfires set up so we could stay warm.  However, once we started running, the cool air felt wonderful.  I loved the temps throughout the race and I felt fully comfortable running! 

Another Medal and another PR!

Sunrise at the starting line

Third, other race logistics.  It wasn't crowded.  There was plenty of room on the course.  I didn't feel like I was adding extra mileage dodging other runners.  Additionally, there were plenty of port a potties at the starting area.  So, I could use the potty just before the race started and I didn't have to stop on the course.  This was huge--the last couple of races I ran I lost between 5 and 10 minutes waiting in line to use a port a potty.  It was nice not to have to worry about that.  The race crew also did a nice job of keeping water, powerade, and gels stocked at all the aid stations.  The finish wasn't too crowded or chaotic and there were lots of goodies to be had (even cotton candy!!). 

The other great part about this race was that I got an awesome PR--2:12!  I've been chasing 2:15 for my last couple of halfs and I was happy to beat it on Saturday.  This PR is about 9 minutes faster than my previous PR.  It's also a almost a full hour faster than the first half marathon I ran 6 years ago.  It's crazy to think of how far I've come since then. 

Also, I placed 11th for the Athenas!  Not too shabby overall.  Next big race-Marquee 1/2 Iron Tri!!

"Women of Your Age"

Hey ladies!  I thought I would report in.  Can you believe it is almost March already?!  How did that happen? 

Since I last wrote I ran another half Marathon.  I ran a race called the Lost Dutchman.  It was awesome.  It was a small race out in Apache Junction.  Most of the run you are running toward Superstition Springs Mountain.  Verry Pretty. I highly recommend it.

I ran with my bro-in-law Peter again again.  This time we ran 4:1s instead of 3:1s.  I felt much strong than the last race.  I ended up taking 10 minutes off my time.  I still wasn't rocket fast but my final time was 2:37.  I felt pretty good. 

I'm hitting a spin class twice a week during work and getting a long ride in on the weekend.  I am not close to ready for a Half Ironman.  I looked at my training from 2010 and I was much farther along than i am now.  I feel much more balanced than I did the first time but that might not equal great training.  We shall see. 

One more thing, I have a fitness guy at work that is helping to keep me on track.  He is actually doing a workplace wellness program and he knows I'm training for the Ironman.  He makes sure I'm not slacking and heckles me if I slack.  Thursday he said "Women of YOUR Age" need strength training.  He said my body is losing muscle and bone density.  If I don't replace it my metabolism will slow way down.  I was thankful for his tip and offended I was THAT age!  Ugh.  Oh well.  At least I'm trying. 

SWIM!  BIKE! RUN!

 

PF Chang's Rock n Roll Half Marathon

I did it.  Don't ask me how.  Work, Life, Kids, and the Holidays interferred with proper training.  (Hmmm, Haven't we all heard these excuses before?) 

Peter (my brother in law) and I both had signed up for full marathon but couldn't get our training done.  We decided to power through and use the race as our Sunday work out.  I think we were both prepared to have a pretty awful race.  Before the race we decided to run a couple miles to get out of the crowd and then start our 3 minute run/1 minute walk.  At our 3 mile mark we ran into another good friend who was running her first Half Marathon.  She was so nervous and scared.  She was also recovering from a sinus infection and had just finished day 10 of her antibiotic.  

Even though we were not perfectly trained, the three of us had a really nice time.  We chit chatted and all stuck together.  I think all of us would have not done as well if we didn't have eachother.  It might have been my favorite Half Marathon!  At mile 12, my friend had a really bad blister, and I was spent, so we started walking a little longer than a minute.  We told Peter to go on without us b/c he was feeling very strong.  We rallied and eventually got to the finish line.  My time was 2:42.  I'm ok with it.  I can't expect to be awesome when I don't train properly.

Before I go, I just want to say, the 3/1 method works!  It really helps your endurance.  I learned about this method while training for Ironman the first go around.  Some of the more fit folks were using a 9/1 or 6/1.  The funny thing about this method is that if you do it over a long distance, you come pretty darn close to your time if you were to run the whole thing.  Buddies also help.  We kept eachother going when one of us wanted to quit. 

I think Peter and I are going to try to do another Half Marathon in February.  I want to see if I can build on this race.  Wish me luck! 

Las Vegas Half Marathon Recap

Kim and Stacey at the start

This is a long time coming, but I am finally recapping the Zappos.com Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon that took place on Sunday, Dec. 4. 

The race was huge!!! Approximately 44,000 runners were there and about 38,000 of those were half marathoners.  I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be running a PR with a course that full.  The race took off in front of Mandalay Bay and continued down the strip, veering left at the Stratosphere and then looping by Fremont Street and back onto the strip to finish behind Mandalay Bay.  The best part of the course was that the lights on the Strip provided a great distraction from running.  Having said that, there were also some pretty significant drawbacks.  One, it was too crowded.  To give all runners the experience of running the strip at night, the marathoners started about an hour before the halfs and joined the halfs for their second half of the marathon.  Unfortunately, this meant that all 44,000 runners were on the course at the same time.  This meant that the course was crowded for the entire race.  I ran about .2 miles more than a 1/2, which I think can be attributed to running around people. 

Two, there weren't enough port a potties.  The starting line was crazy, so it was nearly impossible to get to the port a potties at the start.  I passed up the first set up port a potties assuming there'd be more soon.   I was wrong.  Nearly 3 miles later, there was a single port a potty, which I waited over 7 minutes to use.  That's a lot of down time for a race.

Three, the finish area was a mess.  I crossed the finish line in a pack of about 50 other runners.  It kind of ruined the fun of crossing the finish line.  Then, it took us nearly an hour to make it back to the car.  The whole area around the Strip was chaos--I felt bad for anyone who was vacationing in Vegas that didn't know about the race.

Fourth, I am not sure this was a negative, but it was odd--the race was at night and it was cold (really cold for Vegas standards and the finishers at the end were treated to some rain).  It was difficult to plan on what to eat all day and when due to the start time. 

Despite all of that, I finished in 2:28--not a PR, but if you subtract 7 minutes for the port a potties and a couple of minutes for the extra distance, it would have been!  That's surprising to me.  Overall, I am not sure I would run the race again, but I did have a great time in Vegas and was excited to see my friend Stacey and start the race with her!

After the race, we hopped in the car and took off for Phoenix--arriving home around 3:00 in the morning.  Then, I woke up the next morning and hopped on a plane to South Africa!  I had the good fortune of getting to present at a conference there and then  took a little side trip to Kruger Park.  While, I didn't get a lot of running in (I ended up being sick, the temps were high when I felt better, and I was a little afraid of crossing paths with a highly venomous snake running around Kruger), it was a great trip and I am getting back in the swing of training as of today!