Going into this race I had no strategy or expectations. I've taken A LOT of time off since IMAZ and for the most part had been pretty lazy and unmotivated to really do any training. I had done only a handful of workouts and I had definitely lost a bit of fitness. I discussed this race with my coach. Originally my goal was to run a sub 1:30 but I told him that I didn't think I was capable of doing that given the amount of time I had taken off from training. Like a good coach, he agreed to an extent and said that while I had lost some fitness that he thought I was capable of pushing myself to a 1:30 or faster finish. Since I had nothing to lose and was going into this race without a lot of expectations I decided that I would follow my coach's advice and try to run a 1:30 or faster. Coach gave me the plan of running miles 1-3 below my AT heart rate of 179, miles 4-10 at AT heart rate and miles 10-13.1 above AT heart rate and going for broke.

I positioned myself in the back of corral #1. Looking around it was pretty funny to see some of the people that were in the first corral. I don't know why people feel the need to line up in the front when they don't belong there (I don't mean to sound like a dick but this happens in every run race). I wanted to take the first mile somewhat easy and run between a 7:00 and 7:30. As soon as the gun went off I took off at sub 7 pace and never thought about looking back. I weaved my way through people until I found an open area to run in. My Garmin was set to auto lap and when I saw my first lap I thought I was in for a rough race. I was feeling good and was within the guidelines my coach had given me so I kept up the effort. I figured I'd just race as things unfolded and see what would happen.

Most of the race was rather uneventful. I did get worried as the race progressed because I was no longer running according to the plan that my coach had given me. At this pace, my HR climbs rapidly and once it get's up to and above AT it takes a lot for it to come down. From miles 4 and on I was above my AT heart rate. I was feeling good though so there was no way I was going to sacrifice my pace to lower my HR. I knew that I only had ten miles left and was feeling confident enough in my ability to maintain my HR at that effort. I really felt the gradual climb on miles 7 through 10. My pace dropped to low 7's there and I was also starting to feel a little fatigued. Heading South from Scottsdale into Tempe takes you through Papago Park. It was also downhill for the final three miles which allowed for me to drop my pace back below 7:00/mile.

I was really starting to feel tired at mile 12 but I just kept pushing myself and I gave everything I had over the final mile to finish strong. I credit my IMAZ race (for which I still need to put together a RR) for teaching me how to race. I trained my ass off for that race and gave it everything that I had. Training for and racing IMAZ really taught me how to push myself mentally and to be confident in my ability to do more than what I think is sometimes possible.

Honestly, nothing (ok, maybe some actual run training or any training for that matter)! While I didn't go into this race with a real goal I thought I would be somewhere around 1:35 and I would have been happy with that given my lack of training since IMAZ. When my coach told me he thought I could run a 1:30 or faster I thought, "no way, he's just being encouraging". I pushed myself from the start with the attitude that I would just see what happens and adjust as necessary. It hurt like hell at times but I didn't want to finish the race knowing that I could have given more.

This year I'm focusing on racing more and at a higher intensity. My main focus will be 70.3's but I'd like to do a lot more run races to improve my run in triathlon. This year will be about gaining the ability to be uncomfortable for a long time, what it feels like and that it is tolerable. I'll be pushing for a sub 1:30 next month!

A Gatorade, A Jamba Juice and just hung out with friends talking about the race.


Run fitness