Got up and ate a bagel with cream cheese and drank some water. I had everything packed so I didn't have to worry about much in the morning. We drove to Tempe to drop off our car in the "Warm Zone" parking lot. Hopped on the bus and had a restful ride over to the "Warm Zone". We hung out and I ate a little more bagel and used the port-potties a few times. Saw Dan and Elliot and that was great.

We did our stretching routine, drank some water and tried to relax and stay warm.

I felt great for most of the run and Michelle and I did our 4 min run / 1 min walk strategy. I know I could have run most of the race but Michelle and I agreed that we would do it together. She didn't train at the same level as me so I wanted to make sure that she had fun and finished. We did run walk until about mile 10 and then we walked for about 2 miles and ran the end. The walk actually caused more pain than the running and affected my running at the end. My goal for both of us was under 3 hour and we made that goal.

I would train more in the volume and distance categories. I would also start to work on a bit of speed work to try to get my avg pace below 11 min/ miles. I would eat a bit more before the race and take in more calories during the race. I would also sip a bit more water on the course. the big thing I would do is post race though.

This is where I need to change some things. We finished and got in line to take our finisher pictures. We needed to keep walking for at least 20 minutes and start to get some calories in myself. I also should have been drinking some water at this point. After standing in the line for the pictures Michelle and I started to feel a bit nauseous and she had to sit down. As soon as we exited to finish area, my sister and our friend Jana were waiting for us. We really should have done the walk/eat thing before we left because we wanted to spend some time with the people that came out to support us but once again, we needed to keep moving. By the time we were ready to walk back to our car, our legs were in a lot of pain.

More calories and water. Also, more training and run by myself next race. It was a great experience for my 1/2 IM because I know that I can do the distance now.

This was a great first 1/2 marathon race for us. It was local, flat and easy for us to get to.