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


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Phoenix, Arizona
United States
Competitor Group, Inc.
52F / 11C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 36m 13s
Overall Rank = 471/15663
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 53/772
Pre-race routine:

As is typical, I had laid out everything the night before so it was easy to get out the door. Woke up at 4:30am after a few hours of sleep (I can never sleep before races), grabbed a cup of coffee, ate my oatmeal and out the door. Drove down to the race start in Tempe, parked, decided it was going to be too warm to necessitate a compression top under my running shirt so I pulled it off. Walked the three blocks to the start line, found my corral and hung out until race start.
Event warmup:

Pretty limited considering the crowds and lack of an area to really warm up at.
Run
  • 1h 36m 13s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 20s  min/mile
Comments:

This race hurt and in reflecting back, I totally deserved it. After RnR Vegas on Dec 4 I got fairly lazy with all the Holidays and a pretty big transition at work. Excuses aside, I didn't put in the work needed for this race.

I was slotted in corral 1 so traffic wasn't too much of a problem. Running down mill was a bit tight as it's a divided road through the middle of campus and there was just nowhere to go. Most everyone seemed to be picking it up though so it wasn't a problem. Once we made our left onto University it opened up and was pretty smooth sailing. Cleared mile 1 in 6:56 and my legs were certainly not participating very well. Chalked it up to limited warm up and figured they'd come around somewhere near mile 3 like they usually do. Picked up a couple other guys running around 6:50 and just hung there, hoping my legs would get some life.

Cleared mile two with a 6:44 and my legs were now feeling even more dead. As we turned north onto McClintock I already knew I was going to be in for a long day. This is about the point where the reflecting back on missed runs and short weeks started to take over and I was mentally kicking myself. Mile three passed in 6:58 and around 3.5 I decided I needed to either back off the effort or I probably was not finishing. Legs were already gone and I was having a bit of trouble getting water down comfortably. I knew there were some decent, albeit nothing big, climbs coming into Papago Park so I really turned it down to just make it through. Somewhere around mile 5 or 6 I really thought about just calling it a day. I was not feeling good at all, my legs hurt, my stomach wasn't participating, I was dreading having to suck down a gel soon and I was miserable. After a few minutes of playing the scenarios out in my head (just DNF, start walking and say screw it, etc) I decided this was just going to be my race to learn to suck it up and suffer. If that wasn't a prelude to what was going to come!

I started feeling a bit better around mile 6-7 as my HR came back down and I was just cruising now rather than trying to race. My mind was in a better place once I accepted this run was for nothing more than to finish the course. The climbing (limited) really started just after mile 7 as we turned onto Thomas, making the run towards Papago. Somehow, lost in my thoughts, I missed the water station at 7.5 and subsequently, nothing to take my gel with at this point either; next water station wasn't until just after mile 9. Shortly after mile 8, now that I was feeling halfway decent with my new strategy, two things happened; I now had to pee and I was starting to cramp in my left hamstring.

Really, a hamstring cramp? I cannot remember the last time I had a cramp in my hamstring. Serves me right for being lazy this past month! Shortened my stride even further and just starting taking it a few hundred meters at a time. If I had to stop and stretch so be it, but I wasn't stopping unless absolutely necessary. Tried to get my mind off the tightening ball in the back of my leg and I kept seeing replays of Crowie cramping up in the final miles of Hawaii. I don't know why but it helped and I kept pushing on. Told myself there were probably port a johns at the next water stop and I'd pull over for a pit stop when they came up but as I approached them I really didn't want to stop and risk cramping up further so I passed them up but did grab some water and get my gel down at the mile 9 aid station. Pushing up the final climb on Galvin into mile 10 with my hamstring still in a ball my calves started to really tighten up as well. I was hurting before but now I was REALLY hurting and my mind started toying with the idea of packing it in again. The only thing that kept me going was the fact I was sporting a shirt for my running club and I didn't want to be that guy representing them while walking it in the final few miles. "Get through ten and you can cruise in on the downhill."

Seeing the road crest just before mile 10 and knowing that that is where the downhill starts was the best feeling ever. Crested the top and tried letting it loose and picking it up a little bit. There wasn't any PRs to be had but maybe I could still salvage something halfway respectable.
What would you do differently?:

Not be so lazy leading up to the race.
Post race
Warm down:

After cycling through the food/drink area I headed back to the half mary finish to try and spot my other running friends coming through. Then headed over to the finish of the full to watch the winners come through and our last friend finish around 3:25.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I have so many ideas but don't want to seem like there are any excuses. First and foremost was not staying on top of my training. If I want to look at what other contributors there might be I'd question how I felt the night before as well. As I lay in bed trying to get some sleep my left leg was aching for some unknown reason and my back was absolutely killing me. Definitely out of the ordinary. I've also been on an antibiotic for the past week and there is a bit of me that wonders what contribution, if any, that could have made.




Last updated: 2011-10-28 12:00 AM
Running
01:36:13 | 13.1 miles | 07m 20s  min/mile
Age Group: 53/772
Overall: 471/15663
Performance: Bad
Avg HR 163 Lap splits and hr follow 1. 6:56 157 2. 6:44 168 3. 6:58 170 4. 7:07 168 5. 7:15 167 6. 7:17 164 7. 7:35 164 8 7:35 161 9. 7:41 162 10. 7:40 160 11. 7:26 160 12. 7:16 160 13. 8:00 162
Course: Loop coure starting fairly flat with a slight ~250' climb through miles 4 to 9.75, then finishing downhill for the final 3 miles.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Too much
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

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2012-01-16 11:38 AM

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Subject: P. F. Chang's Rock 'N' Roll Arizona Half Marathon


2012-01-16 4:36 PM
in reply to: #3992949

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Subject: RE: P. F. Chang's Rock 'N' Roll Arizona Half Marathon

Great report.  Perhaps it's just the mascochist in me, but I love hearing the stories of suffering.  That's what races are all about.  If you aren't pushing your body to it's limits and playing mental games with yourself to keep on moving- then you aren't running hard enough! 

nice job.l

2012-01-16 4:39 PM
in reply to: #3993583

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Subject: RE: P. F. Chang's Rock 'N' Roll Arizona Half Marathon
morey000 - 2012-01-16 3:36 PM

Great report.  Perhaps it's just the mascochist in me, but I love hearing the stories of suffering.  That's what races are all about.  If you aren't pushing your body to it's limits and playing mental games with yourself to keep on moving- then you aren't running hard enough! 

nice job.l

Looking back, it was a good race simply from the standpoint of knowing how much I can push through and still finish.  Psychologically, it can only help down the road.

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