P.F. Changs Rock 'N' Roll Arizona Marathon - RunMarathon

Wow- I'm on top of the world. The race went exactly according to plan- which was to head out at an unsustainable pace... and then attempt to sustain it. That was the only way I was going to BQ- so it was a 'BQ or bust' tactic. Took in over 600KCal of gels, blocks and Gatorade, and carried extra water to keep that flowing. So, the nutrition part went well.

The pains set in as early as 12mi and by 16 I wasn't sure that I'd make 20. Every step my hammys and quads were screaming and threatening to totally shut down. By 18 it was excruciating and by 20, pyrotechnic. Somehow or other I was still able to maintain a consistent pace. Funny- this was my plan. I was expecting to spend a lot of miles inside the house of pain. At 24-I wasn't sure I'd make 25. By 25, I still wasn't sure. The leg muscles were just saying NO... but brain told them to move and move they did. Funny, after I passed 26 and knew there was only 0.2 left and I had secured that BQ... the pain went away. At least temporarily.

Took this one to the limit and didn't leave anything on the table. Nailed my McMillan prediction, took 13 minutes off last year's RnR marathon and BQed with 1:44 to spare.

nothing. it was perfectly executed

Drank gatorade, had a banana and some kind of protein bar. could barely stomach it.


Lack of running for the previous 4 weeks due to plantar faschia pain. Missed a couple of big weeks and long runs that I think would have better prepared me for the event. However- on race day, I'm pretty sure that I gave it my all and left not a second on the table.


B52's in concert after the race. cool! Overall a very well run event. The only annoyance was that it started 1/2 hour late. Gave me a chance to hit that VIP Porta Potty one more time tho'.