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

Going into the race, I had a lot of different strategies working. I had one for logistics to get me to and from, one for clothing, one for the physical run, one for the mental aspect, hydration, nutrition, and even music. With the exception of one unanticipated event, everything went according to the plan.

I started off with gloves and a sweatshirt that I planned to discard when I got warm. I ditched both within the first three miles. I apparently hydrated a little too well, because I had to stop twice in the first half of the race. Mentally, I reminded myself that I had run at least 1000 miles in prepaing for this day, and I ONLY had 26.2 miles left to reach the goal. I also broke the race into pieces. I looked at it as four 6 mile quarters and a 2.2 mile overtime period. These two lines of thinking made the distance seem more manageable. I kept my electrolyte replacement drink filled and drank a full bottle each hour as planned. I took some energy gel each hour to keep my carb levels where they needed to be. I was on pace, following my strategy, and everything was working well for a solid 3.5 hours. At the midway point, I was starting to feel some signs of fatigue and some aches and pains, but that was expected. Things were great until right after mile 21.

When I passed mile 21, I felt a strange sensation in my lower abdomen. It was a kind of cramping, pinching feeling, very hard to describe. Once it hit full on, it was like I was paralyzed. I couldn't run, and even walking was difficult. I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it another 5 miles in that type of discomfort and pain. I had to sit on a curb for a few minues and try to collect myself. I didn't know what was causing the pain or what I could do about it. I had run through my A, B, and C run strategies in a matter of a few minutes and had dropped into survival mode. The lower GI issue I was having was so severe that it undoubtedly superceded any possible time goals I may have had in my head. I thought about something that someone (okay, it was Jenna) told me before the race - when it gets difficult, and you are up against it and you can't focus on anything else and feel like you can't go on, just put one foot in front of the other - you'll get there. This was the perfect advice under these circumstances. I walked ahead. In this time period, I finally decided to get out my MP3 player and see if some music might help bring me around. It helped pick me up a bit. At that point, I was in between mile 23 and 24, and the pain began to subside. The possibility of getting in under 5 hours was long gone, but no longer in pain, I knew I would be able to finish, which was what I was there for. I told myself that Jenna was waiting for me, and she was only a couple of short miles away. I was able to start running again, but I never got my momentum back to where it had been before. Finally, I passed mile 26, saw Jenna and my father, and turned toward the finish line. What a feeling!

When I caught up with Jenna after the race, I started to say something about my time not being exactly what I expected. She cut me off with a look, and I knew exactly what the look meant. I asked her, "Was I about to criticize myself because I didn't run a MARATHON FAST ENOUGH?" She gave me a nod and rolled her eyes a little. I acknowledged the absurdity of what I had been about to say. The reality is that my time is my time. I did my best with everything I could under all of the circumstances that day. I maximized what my body and mind were capable of doing - and the most important thing is that they were capable of getting me through a marathon, and I am very proud of that fact. In so many ways, it was a perfect day. Even the medical issue gave me some adversity to deal with and something to overcome.

There isn't a thing that I would have done differently - I did well with everything that was under my control. I wish I hadn't had the mystery medical issue, but that is water under the bridge now.

I sat in the runner's area for a while, drank some more and ate a little. I made the mistake of sitting down - getting back up was a challenge.


Medical issue


Elite Racing did a fantastic job, especially with an event of this magnitude. Everything was organized, on time, and drink stations were plentiful and well stocked.