Phoenix Half Marathon

I can't remember the last time I didn't want to do a race as much as I didn't feel like doing this one on Saturday morning.

First of all, I had to be in the car by 4:30am on Saturday morning and I was still awake after midnight, so that's not the best way to start a 13.1 mile race. Also, I this is only the second local race I have done. For me, part of the fun of racing is the travel.

Luckily, this race was great. I did well and it was extremely well organized.



I definitely don't look as cold as I am in this picture.

I left my house at 4:30 so that I could make it to T's house by 5:00. We had to be at the race parking lot by 6:00 because that was the time the last bus left to go to the start. T's mom was joining us for her first half marathon. (of course, she kicked our asses, beating us to the finish by at least 20 minutes!)

We made it to the bus pick up with plenty of time to spare. It was pretty cold out in the desert, so there were several camp fires set up for us to huddle around.

We hung around the fires until the very last minute because we were so cold. Finally, we had to make our way to the start line. That's when we saw an irresistible photo opp...

This makes me laugh every time I see it...

The problem with small races is that it brings out the real runners. I was at the back of the pack almost from the very beginning. I'm pretty good at keeping myself slow at the start and then keeping a steady pace even at mile 10, so I knew I wouldn't end up last over the finish line, but it was tough not to run too fast at the beginning to keep up with the other runners.

The first 3-4 miles were down hill, which was great. The elevation chart on the website is a little misleading because it appears as if the race is all down hill, but as T pointed out, there's a chunk of the race that is actually a gradual incline. It turned out the mile 6 all the way through mile 10 is uphill.

Finally, at mile 10, the course changes direction and is mainly down hill except for an overpass we had to climb around mile 12.

My traditional mile 10 pic

I spotted T up ahead of me around mile 11 and was never able to catch all the up to her, but I did end up following her over the finish line about 10 seconds later.

I didn't PR, but I did get the fastest time I've had since January 2011. I'm a little mad at myself that I didn't train more, because this could have been a great chance to PR. I had a really good time and I would totally recommend this race. Look at this swag:

Nike tech shirt, arm warmers and a water bottle. Nice!

Awesome race. Great organization. I will definitely do it again.