After running the Twin Cities Marathon in October and the Tucson Marathon in December, my plan was to run PF Chang's Rock N Roll Marathon here in Phoenix in January. A mixture of too much running and a minor injury after Tucson left me less than excited about running RnR AZ.
I had already paid for the marathon, so I decided I could run the half marathon and still enjoy it. Running the full would turn into 13 miles drudgery. I did not want to limp home to the finish.
I went to the marathon expo expecting to get inspired, but that didn't happen. I got my bib number, chip for timing and cool Sugoi technical running shirt and headed for the door. I did make one pass thru the expo. Got a free tee shirt from Traveler's Insurance (let's hope they don't call me).
Sunday morning and the weather was perfect. I was in shorts and my Half Fanatics tee and ready to run. Had a real nice chat with the German teacher at Chandler High. She came up to about my elbow and reminded me of one of the teachers in a Harry Potter movie. She had spikey blonde hair and a german accent. I tell ya, if my kids went to Chandler high, I'd insist that they take german. Great lady.
It took us about 31 minutes to get to the start line. Ryan Hall had passed the 10k mark two minutes before I even got to start (guess he didn't have to worry about me beating him). My goal was to just do 12 minute miles. Not a real big goal, but I did want to finish injury free too.
The first five miles on my garmin show 10:51, 11:16, 11:48, 11:57 and 12:05. I was up about 2 minutes and knew I would need those minutes later. Later came quickly.
The next four miles were all between 12 and 13 minutes with mile 10 being at 14:31. Thirteens and fourteens would be seen the rest of the day. I finished at 2:49, which was about 10 minutes more than I wanted.
As I was taking a walk break I heard this lady behind me on a cellphone. She told her friend that she was at mile 8 and Pat Monahan just passed her. I turned around to see this lady in an Ohio State University shirt. I slowed down and asked her if she said Pat Monahan. She said, Matt Monahan. Turns out there was a Matt Monahan running in the same race. Turns out I ended up with a faster time than him. Another Monahan from Apache Junction ran the marathon in 2:08, so we aren't all slow.
After the race I got my medal and an orange (it was awesome) and headed over to the marathon course. I was there to see some of my running friends. I knew that Adam from Gilbert would be done already. Congrats Adam. But, I thought I might see Susie from Queen Creek, Eileen from Mesa or Lisa and Karen from the Tumbleweed Running Club. I could have seen Demi from Scottsdale, but I don't really know her that well and she would have been easy to miss. I don't know how I missed Susie. It might have been when I was laying in the grass wishing my feet felt better.
I slowly walked down University Drive figuring I would see Lisa and Karen and I could run with them back towards ASU. I was getting hungry for lunch and no angels (that's what we call TRC women runners, men are called Charlie). I passed two bands and Margaritaville, the water station manned by the Jimmy Buffet fan club. I really like that water stop. As I walked I looked down on the ground to find a sweaty $20 bill. A runner must have dropped it. I was that much richer. I walked further and came to a spot across from a McDonalds. Do I dare cross the street and traffic to get a burger and miss Lisa and Karen. Yes, I was hungry. And I had the money. I watched out the window and hurried back to the running side of the street. Before I could take a second bite of my Big Mac, Karen appeared. She said Lisa was ahead of her. I missed her for a burger. I, offered Karen a bite. She declined and told me how she couldn't hold anything down. I kept eating. A couple runners saw my meal and were slightly jealous. I offered them a bite too.
I walked with Karen all the way to the finish, then snapped this photo of the two new Marathoners.
The day was over and I headed home. Below are pictures of my new shirt and medal.
Here's all three Rock N Roll Half Marathon Medals. The first one is from the 2007 Hm that I ran in 2:47:54. The middle is the 2010 race in 2:49:52 and on the right is 2009 run in 2:25:21.
So, now I have to plan my 2010 race calendar. Not sure what I want to do, but I'm thinking I want to run the Lost Dutchman Half Marathon next month and the Pat's Run (Pat Tillman) in April.
