P. F. Chang's Rock 'N' Roll Arizona Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Started in corral 9, right in front of the 2:07 pacer. My goal time was 2:05. The run started off very cold. My feet were numb bricks until the 5k mark where I started to warm up a little. 5k split was 28:59, ugh.

I knew I needed to up the effort a little to reach my goal. Noticed my HR was under 160 to this point and knew I could push a little more. The next 5k was average, pushed a little harder and got the HR to 165. 10k time was 57:23, a slight negative split.

Figured my odds of breaking 2:00 was possible, but wasn't sure my feet/legs would hold out. Eating/drinking was right on at this point. 1 gel every 45 min, with a cup of accelerade and water every other water stop (~3 miles). Stomach started acting up around mi8-mi10, but that eventually passed.

The course was slowly uphill till 10, then gradually downhill to the finish. Once I wheezed through the high point at mi10, I was determined to make some time up and break 2:00. 10.2 split was 1:36:29, for a slower 9:47 pace from the 10k mark. Up till that point I was watching my HR carefully because I had never run farther than 10.5mi. I knew there was quite a bit left in the tank and decided to go for it.

Pushed the HR into the low 170s and maintained a low 8min pace until the finish, passing lots of people. Last 2.9 mi split was 22:55. Felt great and had an awesome finish.

The bands along the course were a little disappointing. I think the 1/2 only had about 10 bands and it seemed about 1/2 of those were in between sets when I went by. I didn't have my mp3, thinking there would be plenty of good music along the way. Turned out to be 30 secs of music every 20 mins on the course. Oh well.

Watch the nutrition a little closer to prevent stomach issues and push a little harder in the middle portion.

Staggered through the finish area, trying to escape the masses of people. Got the chip off, got my medal, grabbed some water, bypassed the finishers picture chute and dodged people over to the gear pickup area. Walked back to the car about a mile away.


Now I have a better idea what my limits are. I could've pushed my av HR to 165-170 instead of my actual 162. Original goals were to finish strong, have fun and not blow up. Definiately hit all three.


Well organized event. Huge amount of people, both racing and spectating. Volunteers were plentiful, with only 1 water stop understaffed. Bands were a little weak as mentioned before. The last 1/4 mile finish area was overflowing with spectators. The runners path went from 3 car lanes wide to about 10-15 feet between the spectators. Not very safe when racers are sprinting to the finish. I was afraid of mowing down cheering people as I was on the outside, passing slower runners.