I really wanted to hit 4 hours or just under it, but I was prepared to be happy with 4:10. I started out with the 4 hr pace group, but the pacer was banking time, so I decided early on to hang back. I still managed to hit the half way point at 1:59 and thought I was doing great. However, since the course was climbing gradually, I drove my HR to the high 160s way earlier than I should have. In training I felt I could probably maintain at least a 9:20 pace for a long time. As early as mile 16 though I walked an aid station, then another and another. As I was heading back out of Scottsdale I saw the 4:10 pace group on the other side of the road, gaining ground on me. By mile 20, the 4:10 group had caught me and I couldn't even hang with them. The last 10k was rough, but the last 5k was where I really lost some time. In the end, I finished just over 4:20 and I was okay with that. My official pace was sub-10 minute miles, so I ended up being happy over all.

Maybe start with the 4:10 pace group. If I had felt great with them, I could have dialed it up a bit at the end, but I wasn't prepared to run a 9:10 pace the whole way with the 4:00 pace group, especially since all my runs are basically pancake flat. I think I may have also over-done the water/gel.

Grabbed my water, medal, chocolate milk, and Jamba Juice and SAT DOWN. Took my shoes off and made sure I wasn't going to get sick. That soon passed and I downed my Jamba Juice which was probably the best possible post-run treat! After I had composed myself, I left the secure area, met up with friends that ran the half and grabbed my gear bag and picked up my Double Down medal. After that, walk to the light rail, rode to my car and headed home. Really could have used a massage!


I really needed to focus on getting my long runs a little closer to my desired race pace and maybe push my shorter runs well beyond my race pace. I was targeting a 9:10 pace but my 20 mile run was a 10:08 pace. That's a big gap to reduce on race day. I realized this probably in the last week of training, but that was too late.


Only ran 20 miles once in my training. I started really focusing on running shortly after El Tour de Tucson. My half marathon in Vegas was a bit of a mess (ran a 2:03 with an avg HR of 184) so I decided to actually find a follow a training plan for once in my life. I actually followed it very closely, missing only two days. One 20 mile run turned into an 18 mile run, but otherwise I was very dedicated. My wife was super supportive of the training plan and that made all the difference.