FAITH NOT FEAR- My Arizona Desert Classic 1/2 Marathon RR

Love, love, love this race! The Arizona Distance Classic was held in Oro Valley, AZ. This right around the area of the Tucson marathon where I ran sub-3 in December.  Matt, Mark, Terri, and I began race weekend with monkey cakes from the Orange Table in Scottsdale.  We then headed down to Tucson to pick up our race packets.  We were beginning to worry as the wind was pretty strong! We drove the course and Terri and I were diggin' the rolling hills. It looked like a challenging course, but an excellent Boston practice! After searching for food and Banos, we checked in to our hotel to relax and rest up for the race in the morning.

We woke up at 4:30am, had our breakfasts- I went with my usual rice and honey. No one told us silly Phoenicians how cold the morning would be! It was about 45 and we didn't bring gloves or ear warmers! Luckily it warmed up quick once the sun was out!  When we got to the race Terri and I ran a 2 mile warm-up with striders.

My goal for the race really was sub-1:20. That would have been about a 6:08 average pace. Coach told me to run anywhere between a 1:19 to 1:22. He said that I would be able to keep a 6:15 pace. I was a bit nervous, I have barely run that fast for a 5k much less a half marathon!

The wheelchair division began first. They are so amazing. I cannot imagine how hard they had to push themselves to go up those hills on the course. They are just so inspirational. It is unreal.

We were called to line-up and I got a spot in front. My Bandido friends JT and Brett were up there as well, so it was good to see them before the race.

Garmins ready! lol!

The gun went off and I went out like a bat out of hell.

I was first for about a quarter mile when I realized I needed to back way off or I would never finish! A group of men passed me and I was perfectly fine with that! The course was an out and back, which I love so that I can see who is coming up behind me. The weather was perfect, I felt the wind a few times, but nothing major.

Here comes Ter!!!

And there she goes!

There was a lot of downhill on the first half of the race, so you know what that means.. what goes down, must come back up. Whew, I was dying on some of those hills coming back. I think of myself as a pretty strong hill runner, but running as fast as I was (or was trying too) the hills were tough! I was thinking of a few things while running that really helped me to push through when I wanted to just stop. 1. My mom gave me an excellent mantra "FAITH NOT FEAR".  2. Coach John would not have told me to run so fast if he didn't think I could do it.  3. He also told me to BE BRAVE, boy was I trying!

Brett and I

At the 10 mile mark, my friend Brett and I were running together. It helped me so much to have him there. I was really starting to lose it. I ran a 10 mile race back in November and won with a 1:03 time and I met the 10 mile marker today at 1:01, new PR! Brett left me with about .75 left in the race and started with his strong finishing kick.  Brett is a VERY fast runner, usually he would be way in front of me, but he just had the stomach flu, so I am very lucky I had him to help me pull through! Thanks Brett!

So I get to mile 12- and I have this thing where the last mile I start to relax and not push as hard as I could or should.  Don't know what that is about! Must work on that.  Anyways, I was the first female finisher with a time of 1:20:59.  A 1:18 PR!! Yay!! That is a 6:11 average pace. I NEVER thought that I would be able to run that far that fast.

I am so thankful for a wonderful husband, wonderful friends, and a fantastic coach that all help me to achieve my goals and believe in me.  I am a lucky gal.

Here are my mile splits- They are all over the place and you can tell where I am going uphill! I wish they were more consistent, but hindsight is 20/20.

6:03
6:34
6:03
6:08
5:57
6:10
6:14
6:23
6:29
6:22
6:31
5:50
5:55

results page

Accepting my award. I am such a nerd.

Terri ran well and finished first in her age group! She was having some major leg cramping and just powered through like she does!

Brett came in right in front of me and our friend JT passed a fella at the end to take third overall male!!

WOWZA!  Lisa and Dan set new PR's, and our friends Paul, Eve, Jeff, and Steve all ran super fast races! We have some speedy friends!!

I also got to meet up with my former Principal whom I worked for when I just started teaching.  It was so good to see Julie again, I just love that woman! Her daughter Melissa just started running this year and set a new PR in the half marathon as well. You go girl!

The course was beautiful, the volunteers were amazing. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to run this and I highly recommend it. Thanks Arizona Distance Classic!

My Soul Sista.

Next stop... Boston!!!

Lost Dutchman 1/2 Marathon

A race on Valentine's Day...aw... so romantic! I had a great race yesterday. Last year I ran the race in 1:34:xx and the top female time last year was 1:30:xx. This year was much more competitive and I loved it! Saturday night there was a Valentine's party at MWC's house. Usually before a race I feel the need to do 2 things- go to Runner's Den as I posted below, and then "rest my legs" all day long by pretty much being a slug. This race I felt more relaxed about. I actually got stuff done on Saturday, had peach french toast at Orange Table instead of my lucky monkey cakes (!!) and enjoyed the party until 8:30 pm! *gasp* Way past my bedtime! It was really fun talking to a great bunch of people all night and 8:30 came around so fast! Of course, when we got home, I couldn't sleep. I woke up at 4:30am, ate my rice with honey and had my coffee and gatorade. In separate glasses of course. I chose an appropriate race outfit for Valentine's day and as we left, I saw that Matt had made a sign on our door that said "You are a champion!" Awww... He is the most supportive, wonderful, husband in the world! We were on the road by 5:45. We parked and started walking to the start area which was about 1.5 miles away. Little did we know that we could have taken a shuttle. Oh well! I used the restroom about 101 times and did my 2 mile warm-up. Start line:

My great friend Rick was announcing this race, so he was talking me up over the microphone, which was nice! We were off at 7:30am. I started with a pack of about 6 or so gals, but they dwindled off as Super Speedy (As I renamed the first place woman) and I were pulling ahead. Splits: (My goal was a 6:20-6:30 pace)

Mile 1- 6:12- Way too fast but that's how that first mile always is. Mile 2-6:32- Trying to reign it in a bit. Mile 3-6:12 Mile 4- 6:04 Mile 5- 6:11- This is where I let Super Speedy go. I knew I could not hold on to this pace for the entire race without blowing up. This part had some good uphills, so I am pleasently surprised at my pace. Took my first and only Gel- Gingerbread Gu Mile 6- 6:22- Started running my own race. Incline up to the turn-around. Super Speedy is about 100 yards in front of me at this point. Mile 7-6:26- I am getting a lot of cheers at the turn around to go and chase down S.S. Mile 8- 6:13- Finally some nice downhill Mile 9-6:31- Uphill Mile 10- 6:43 (!!) Uphill. Not a good split. Mile 11-6:31 Super Speedy is now out of my line of vision, but that's ok with me. She ran an awesome race! Mile 12-6:09!! Almost there! Mile 13-6:15 .1- at a 5:30 pace- nice finishing kick

A 1:22:45 Finish time!

Finish time 1:22:45!!! My goal was 1:23, so I was super happy! That is a 6:19 average mile.I am proud of myself for accomplishing my goal coming off of mega-mileage weeks with no taper. Now I just need to hold that pace for 13.1 more miles! Results page The course was very beautiful and the volunteers were really great!

Striking a pose post-race

I have to say that one of the only reasons I finished so strongly was due to my best friends and training partners Terri and Mark. They woke up early on their rest day and on Valentine's Day to come out to the race and cheer me on. ( A LONNGGGG drive for them) But, they didn't just cheer me on, they actually brought along their mountain bikes and met me at mile 8 to ride with me to the finish. I cannot tell you how much that helped me mentally. Just having them there for encouragement was amazing. I feel so blessed to have them as friends. They even brought me a Valentine cookie (Terri and I were eyeing them up on Saturday) from Olive and Ivy. Thanks you guys! Love you!

Terri, me, Mark, and Rance.

Rance runs a marathon every weekend and PR'd this week! I think it is 4 weeks in a row now of Sub-3 marathons! Holy smoke! After the race we waited around for the awards ceremony for 2.5 hours. It ended up getting all messed up and we pretty much just wasted our time. Oh well. At least it was nice out!

1st Place Age Group Award

Then Matt and I had the most wonderful Valentine's Day. We got home (both of us starving so there was not a lot of talking going on!) at 12:30, then rode our bikes to the Orange Table. After lunch (and a mimosa!) we sat at the Civic Center park and listened to a live Big Band. Then we rode home and drove to Trader Joe's to pick up dinner. We decided on grabbing a bottle of red wine, cheese, apples, olives, and bread. A perfect dinner after a perfect day! Oh! I almost forgot. We were going to go see a movie, but we decided against it because after 2 glasses of wine, I would probably fall asleep in the theater, so we had ice cream instead! What a treat!! Back to the grind of training today! Next up -Ragnar Relay! A 202 mile relay run on Feb 26 and 27th. We have a 12 person team in 2 vans. Should be a blast! We are running from Prescott, AZ down to Tempe! Runningly Yours,

PF Changs Race Report

Post-race picture: Dan, Me, Matt, Terri, Mark, and Cute Little Lynne!

Here is my race report from this Sunday's 1/2 Marathon...

On Saturday, I was not feeling very well, funky tummy and a cold. After a quick 6 mile shake-out run, we went to Orange Table to get my lucky monkey cakes. I sat around pretty much the entire rest of the day to get some much needed rest. I didn't taper at all for this race, so I was going to be heading into racing on a full training schedule. (60 miles for the week)

Sunday morning I awoke to a nice surprise..ladies, you know what I am talking about. Men, I am sorry. Second year in a row this happens. Unbelievable!
Anyways.. I ate my rice with rice milk and honey and got ready to go. Terri, Mark, Matt, Dan, and I drove down to the start line and of course did the obligatory port-o stop. I had to do a 2 mile warm-up with strides so I headed up to my corral to warm up. The gun went off about 5 minutes after I entered my corral, so it was perfect timing!

My goal was a 1:25:xx half marathon, or a 6:30/mile pace.

Mile 1- 6:18- A little fast, to be expected though!
Mile 2- 6:24
Mile 3- 6:26
Mile 4- 6:22 Took first Gu- Jet Blackberry. It was really hard for me to choke down with the cold going on, hard to breathe and swallow with all the phlegm. Yum.
Mile 5- 6:28
Mile 6- 6:31
Mile 7- 6:37- I was trying to draft on these miles as I could feel the wind. The guys I used for drafting off of slowed down, so I made the decision to break off and fend for myself.
Mile 8- 6:23- Fending for myself. Felt REALLY good here.
Mile 9- 6:24-Took second Gu- Vanilla Orange Roctane, still feeling really great.
Mile 10-6:39- Uphill here, ready for it to be over.:)
Mile 11-6:24- Trying so hard to pass these 2 girlies that were about 20 yards ahead. Never did catch 'em. Nuts!
Mile 12- 6:17
Mile 13-6:16
.15- 5:46 avg/pace

Finish time 1:24:17! YAY! I am really happy with my time so early in my training. It felt hard, but doable. This is a 10 minute PR for me in the 1/2 marathon! It was very fun and challenging to run in such a competitive field. I really enjoyed myself.

By the numbers:
I was the 15th female finisher out of 13,490
I was 4th in my age group out of 2,224
I was the 146 finisher overall out of 21,462

After I crossed the finish line, I got my picture taken, grabbed a bunch of food, and headed to use the restroom. Stomach was not feeling too hot. Postrace Matt and I met some of my DailyMile friends out for some food and drinks. We had such a great time!

Yesterday, (Monday) It was back to the grind as I had 7 miles recovery with some weight training at the gym. My legs were burning! Today I had 5 miles in the morning and I am leaving for track in a bit to do 8 miles with 12x400m in the rain!! Yikes!

Thank you for all of your continued support! I have a new race schedule that I can't wait to post, stay tuned....

Question: Have you done a Rock and Roll event? What do you think of them?

Runningly Yours,