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

I was very happy with my pace and effort during this race. Starting in corral 2 helped, as I was with more people of my own skill level, so I was not tempted to rabbit out of the gate as much to keep up with other athletes. I maintained a steady pace around 8:00 per mile for the first 2/3 of the race.

During the first 6 miles (until the east turn onto Missouri Ave) I kept a strong sub 8 min/mi pace and was counting the seconds I was banking for later. I am not a negative split kind of runner, so saving a few seconds early is my balance for the later miles. I knew the 3:30 pacers had started right behind me, and it was my goal to keep them at bay as long as possible without burning myself out.

Miles 7-12 flowed along well, although I was slowing a tad and my banked time was starting to lean the other way. This was not a big deal, as I originally had planned on a 3:40:00 finish anyway, so I knew if the 3:30 pace group passed me about mile 15 and I was not hurting, I would make 3:40. Along Indian School, just past the half way mark I had to stop to take care of business, and this cost me about :45. When I came out of the porta-potty I noticed the 3:30 pace group about 200 yards ahead of me.

I put in a little extra effort and caught them about mile 15, and just kept going by them as I felt pretty good. Through the streets of Scottsdale I saw Dan Cadriel and he was motoring along about 3 miles ahead of me (coming back along Indian School as I headed east). He was really focused and was tuned in on his race, so I took that silent advice and did the same. This seemed to help as I went sub 8:00 for the next 3 miles and felt good doing it.

Once I made the turn south along 48th street I started to feel a bit tired and slowed my pace, and just past mile 21 the 3:30 pace group caught me again and this time there was no holding them off, so I let them go and just tried to keep a good rhythm and cadence. After the mile 22 mark, as we turned east along Van Buren, I stopped to walk for 1:00, then got back to my running.

At this point I was comparing how I felt to last year when it was about mile 22 that my legs just gave up and I walked more than planned. As I approached the Center Pkwy overpass I remember walking it last year, so this time I just shortened my stride and took it on a run. That was a great feeling and I opened up on the downhill to get a good pace.

As the Mill Ave bridge came and went I was feeling great, knowing I was less than a mile away and was looking at a 3:35 - 3:37 finish. I encouraged a couple of others who stopped to walk on the bridge, and one guy picked up and ran with me down to Rio Salado. Once on Rio Salado I opened up my pace and decided to give it a run, as I knew I still had gas in the tank. My pace quickened and I was surprised to see the finish line on Rio instead of around the corner on Packard Drive. Just after I crossed, a good friend (Mercedes) came in behind me and said she had been trying to catch me that last bit. The guy who ran the bridge with me came by and thanked me for being his motivation, and that was a good feeling, as I have been on the other side of that conversation far too often.

All in all a solid and consistent effort and I hope that I have begun to learn the value of early pacing and not tearing out of the gate, just to wear down harder at the latter stages of the race.

I am not really sure - I suppose since I was less than 2 minutes off my PR I could have not walked at mile 22, and tried to give more of a kick from mile 25 on, but as I came in ahead of my planned pace I am very happy with the results.

After wandering through the finisher's chute and gathering my G2 and water, I headed over to the merchandise tent where I met Kym and Devyn. We walked the .5 miles back to the car and I enjoyed sitting down for the ride home.

Usually after a marathon my calves are screaming so loud I cannot stand still, but this year they felt much better and after a good night's rest my legs feel a bit fatigued but overall ready to kick back into training.


I think the only thing that limited me was having to go to the bathroom at mile 14 (although the :45 second break did wonders for my HR and rested my legs), and the fact that I targeted a 3:40 finish so I was not really pushing myself to PR, just to beat my target.


Competitor Group puts on a great Rock n Roll series, and of the 3 I have raced (AZ, San Diego, Las Vegas), I think AZ is the most organized and spectator friendly.