The Twin Cities Marathon

Up until about a week ago, I didn't think I would finish this race. The day before I left Arizona, I thought I had a 25% chance of finishing it.

My bail out points were at 15 miles (the light rail stop) and 19 miles (the Franklin Bridge). I passed both without considering quitting. The first 14 miles were easy and a bit faster than I had planned. Thanks to the cooler temps (Minnesota is cooler than Arizona) and the great crowd support.

I will have a full race report soon. But, to end. I finished at 5:42:27. Nine OH Seven (not really why I named my blog 9:09) faster than my first marathon. So, I went from a DNF to a PR. Wow!

Below is a picture at the start with my brother in law, Jeff. He runs a marathon every ten years. At 30, he ran a 3:47 marathon in Wisconsin. This week he ran a 3:49. He doesn't plan to run another race until he turns 50. I'm gonna kick his ass that year. :)

My Personal Records

1 Mi
8:10 (total time)
8:10 (pace)
St. Patty's One Miler
3/15/2009 -finished second overall. An 8 year old beat me by 6 seconds.

3.1 Mi
28:49
9:18
IronMan AZ 5k
11/22/2008- loved this race in Tempe.

3.8 Mi
41:27.39
10:55
Old Tucson Studios 3.8
3/8/2009-ran thru a movie set. Pretty cool race.

4 Mi
43:43
10:56
West Lafayette - McCormick Road
6/30/2007-Purdue University.

4.2 Mi
40:09.39
9:34
Pat's Run
4/18/2009-Arizona State Univ. A run for Pat Tillman

4.46 Mi
1:10:40.48
15:51
Jerome Hill Climb
9/6/2009-Not a pretty time, but looks like a sure PR next year, if I'm healthy.

6.2 Mi
1:04:35
10:25
Mesa Turkey Trot 10k
11/27/2008-3rd year I've run this race on Thanksgiving Day. It's a tradition.

7.4 Mi
1:18:37.79
10:38
Sabino Canyon
4/4/2009-This and Jerome are the two most scenic runs.

9.3 Mi
1:48:15
11:39
New Times Five and Dime
11/11/2007-You run a 5k, get 15 minutes rest and then run a 10k. This is the total time.

Half Marathon
2:19:47
10:41
Lost Dutchman Half Marathon
2/15/2009-I still can't believe I ran it this fast. Maybe I found a short cut.

Marathon
5:51:34
13:26
Rock and Roll Marathon
1/13/2008-My first marathon. I won't be beating this time in Minneapolis.

2000 Miles

Google it. Reaching 2000 miles is a big deal. In a car.

Or on foot. Somewhere on Lisbon Drive in Chandler, AZ I reached 2000 miles for my running career.
My first mile was back on August 2, 2006. I did 2 miles. That's 65 miles a month for 31 months.

P.F. Chang's Rock 'N' Roll Arizona

I didn't want to miss the game, so I decided not to run.

Really? In the age of DVR's? I ran.

I ran for a Personal Record. I got a shiny medal.

I wear my TnT shirt for all the RnR AZ races. This shot was taken with my camera phone.

2:27:23 (2:25:21 Garmin time).

18 seconds better than my best.

The 2 minute and 2 second difference was due to visiting with my wife and kids at the 10 mile mark and a short potty break. My garmin stops when I stop.

The day started off at 7 am with me meeting friends at the shuttle stop. Karen, Lisa, Candice, Caroline, Mary (Denver), Christina and I loaded up on a old school bus to head toward downtown Phoenix. The emergency alarm was going off for most of the trip.

We got down to the start and I got to meet Eileen and her dad. He came out from Boston. Then we all went our separte ways to the various corrals. Candice and I started in 16 and about 30 minutes after the first group took off. The leaders were probably close to half way at that point.

Candice and I stayed together for the first 5k, then as I took a quick walk break she moved on. Not to be seen again. She ran a great first half marathon and beat me by 5 minutes. Below are my splits. Not counting the 2 minutes of non movement. My best mile split was 10:15, my worse was 11:48. Usually I throw in a couple 12's or 13's, but not today. I ran 94% of the race, with only 12 minutes of walking .78 miles.

10 Things I liked about today

1. The weather was great. Cool to begin and I didn't think it got to hot at the end.

2. Lots of friends. I even saw Geri from softball. But, I missed CJ.

3. My last 3.1 miles were progressively negative splits.

4. I PR'd

5. all the Team In Training fans.

6. Seeing my family at the 10 mile mark.

7. Completed my 9th half marathon.

8. I wanted to average 11 minute miles and ended up with 10:58 (not counting the pit stop).

9. Feeling pretty good six hours later.

10. The Cardinals game was awesome and they are going to the Super Bowl.

Thirty!

Yeah, I did the mile.

My legs felt tired.
My hip felt sore.
I was breathing heavy from the get go.

I didn't want to risk injury, so I just did an easy mile at a 10:19 pace. I thought about pushing it and running about a 9 minute mile, but I came to my senses and just did the mileage.

As I was leaving the house, I said to Amy that I was going to run a mile. Here's our convo:

Pat: Hey, I'm going to go run a mile and then get rid of that bush in the front yard.
Amy: Just a mile?
Pat(impressed that my dear wife thinks that a mile is 'only a mile'): Yeah, I need it to get to 30 miles for the week.
Amy: That won't take you long?
Pat (impressed that she thinks it won't take long): How long do you think it'll take me?
Amy: 15 minutes.
Pat (crushed): You walk a mile in 20, don't you think I can run one faster than 15 minutes?
Amy: Ten?
Pat: I'm shootin' for 9.

I'm not telling her it took me 10:19.

Book # 7: Wisdom of Our Fathers by Tim Russert. It's a book you can read and put down. A collection of letters about fathers. Fittingly, it was given to me by a super dad - my father.

2008 Mesa Turkey Trot

Rain was in the forecast and as I went to get the paper in the morning the ground was wet. But, the sky was clear. Here's a picture of the start of this years Mesa Turkey Trot. Three races were on the schedule. A one and two mile untimed fun run, followed by the 39th running of the 10k race.

The course is a nice one. A two mile loop around the park on closed streets, then about four miles thru a neighborhood and on Power Road, a busy thoroughfare that is half closed. Thousands of runners make it a fun race.

My plan was to do 10 minute miles. All six of them and to finish strong to come in under the 1 hour and 2 minute mark. Maybe get under 1 hour. In 2006 I did this race in 1:11. Last year was my PR of 1:07:59 at this race. This would be my fourth 10k race and I was hoping to PR.

You can see it was overcast at the start. But, I didn't think it would rain on us. I shedded my sweatshirt and left it at the start. I felt sluggish in the beginning, but was running in the 9's, so I just kept at it and figured I'd find out what I had. Lot's of traffic, so I ended up weaving in and out and around runners, strollers and walkers. My first mile was done in 9.41. A good time for a 10k race.

The road we start on has lots of desert shoulder to run on and lots of runners where taking advantage of it. The problem was that they were also off course and not running the full 10k. I kept on the street and stayed on the course. No big deal. My second mile was done in 9.32. I was actually getting faster. I figured I was banking my time for later. A lady passed me with a jog stroller. Music blaring. Not my choice of artists, but it was nice to hear. Too bad she was faster than me. I never saw her again.

Mile 3 was done in 10.49. Took a quick walk break around 2.5 mark. I was congested a bit and that left me a bit winded. Mile 4 was done in 11.04. Another walk break and I ate a GU. Vanilla Bean. I've been eating a few more carbs, so running out of gas was not a worry for me this time.

Being well rested, I cranked it up a bit and ran a 10.37 and a 10.34. I actually ran some 8 minute fartlek's in between some walk breaks. It's nice to run that fast late in the race, but I can't sustain it for a long stretch. I was playing leap frog with about 20 runners.

The last portion of the race is in Red Mountain Park. It has a beautiful lake and lots of grassy areas. I kicked in in gear and did the last .2 at a 7.59 pace. It's tough to do because you're running on a concrete sidewalk (see picture) and there's not much room to pass people.

Today, for the second race in a row I PR'd. My finish time was 1:04:36. I bettered last years time by 3.23.

The New D Tags

This race used the new disposable D Tags. It comes on your race bib and you just loop it onto your shoe laces. No need to collect them after the race. Mine is still on my shoe.

Here's hoping that any of you with races today had a great day and a great race. And for everyone I wish a Happy Thanksgiving and lots of good health.

Arizona Ironman

What the heck. My 5k race I was going to run was cancelled. So, I thought I'd run the Arizona Ironman..

What, you say. You can't do that without training. It's 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running.

Sorry, I guess I got you confused. I ran the Arizona Ironman 5k. It's the charity race the day before the triathletes take the stage.

It was pretty cool. We started at the new Tempe Arts Center and ran along the Tempe Town Lake. There were about 225 runners and the weather was ideal. Maybe in the 60's. I think most of the runners were family of a triathlete that will be racing tomorrow.

I got to meet Paul from Houston. His daughter and son in law are racing tomorrow. He and I ran this morning. I told him I really wanted a sub 30 minute race. But, I've been having tendinitis issues with my left foot. The good news is my legs are well rested. The bad news is, I'm not sure how my foot will hold up. My plan was to do a 9 minute first mile, followed by a 9:30 and a 10 minute mile. That would get me under the goal of 30 minutes. I, in fact did a 9:10 first mile followed by a 9:41 second. I was feeling really good and ran the entire way, except for a water stop around 1.6 mile mark. Maybe 20 seconds worth of walking and drinking. The second mile was rolling hills (three of them - just like Boston). Just kidding, the hills were maybe 30 yards in length and were not an issue.

In mile three I watched as a man about my age was in front of me. I figured I better get ahead of him if I wanted any hope of a medal. Heck, it's just good practice to race against the closest runners to you. I tracked him down and was within 40 yards of him when we started the final portion of the race. I did mile three in 9:15 and as we turned onto Rio Salado and saw the finish line I pour on the gas. My pace for the last 1/10 of a mile was a blistering 6:57. I speed past bib # 99 and finished at the same spot the triathletes will be finishing IMAZ tomorrow. Turns out #99 wasn't in my AG, but was 2 groups older.

My previous PR was 30:16 and today I finished in 28:49 (garmin time). A new PR and under 30 minutes. You can click on the graphs below to see a map and my splits.

Good luck to all those athletes competing in Ironman Arizona tomorrow. I'll try to stop by to see you in action.

My First Marathon - PF Chang's Arizona Rock and Roll Marathon

Mile 1236, Tempe, AZ - The plan was to get up, eat some oatmeal and get out the door by 6 am. I put out my gear the night before and the morning went smoothly. I planned to park south of the university and get on a shuttle at University and Rural. I figured it would be less crowded than were I got on last year. Last year I was in a shuttle line with over 300 other runners. This year, maybe 30 of us. I sat next to Jim. He was running his first half marathon. Jim graduated from ASU back in 1968, which puts him in his 60's somewhere. We got to talk about some early Phoenix history and a little bit about the race itself.

Guess who signed my race bib?

My son says my bib number is binary 20. I like it too. I even passed a building with the address 1010. I should have gotten a picture, but it was early in the race. You'll notice I took more pictures later when I was walking more. I used my Treo mobile phone for the pictures.

The Start and miles 1-5

It was 20 degrees warmer than last year. It felt great. I had my running gloves and my Air Force sweat shirt that I bought at Goodwill. I left it at a water station about 3 miles into the race. The first 5 miles heads north away from downtown. Lots of Team In Training runners with their state names on their backs. I saw and talked with a bunch of them from Wisconsin, NYC, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Utah and Iowa. I wish everyone had their state on their back. It's a great ice breaker. As we headed north, one fan had a sign that said, "I thought Obama was running?". I didn't think of it quickly enough, or my reply would have been, "He's running, he's right behind Hillary." The RnR marathon is full of bands and spirit squads. I tried to give high five's to all the spirit squads. They liked it and since my name was on my shirt and I got to hear their appreciation. "Way to go Pat" "You can do it Pat" "Pat, lookin' good". I didn't worry about finishing, pace or anything at this point, I was just enjoying.

Miles 6-11

We turned onto Missouri Avenue to head east. I was still feeling great. All my splits were under 12 minutes per mile for the first 10 miles. I was under 1 hour and 52 minutes at the 10 mile mark. My hope was to be under 2 hours. 8 minutes is huge and I knew I would need it for later in the race. We crossed over the freeway (51) and many of the cars driving under were honking. I probably heard two dozen horns and it was a short bridge.

And the bands played on. You don't get to hear a full song and you hope their not taking a break when you run past. But, it's a great boost to hear them. Even, if you don't like their style of music.


Near mile 8 you get to see Camelback Mountain for the first time. You know you have to run past it and you see it constantly for the next hour or so.

Miles 12-19

Right as I got to the 12 mile mark, Mike Aish of New Zealand crossed the finish line. He won the race, but I kept running. In my training runs I always started to slow down around mile 11 and today would be the same. After 10 miles of sub 11:55 miles or better, my next three miles were over 13 minutes each. If I was just running the half, I could concentrate on leg turnover and finish strong. With the full, I was just happy to be moving forward. We entered into Scottsdale and I started thinking about fellow bloggers. Katie and Moon running in the Disney marathon today. Irene and Darrell in California, Jeff and Dan on the east coast, Firefly and Runnergirl from last year's race, Cheryl & Emil, the newest runners. The Wisconsin Wimmers. Eric, Chad, Lisa, Karen from Arizona. And the gang I got to meet at the Saturday night dinner. You all inspire me when I read your blogs and it helps to think of you when I'm running.

At mile 14 the marathon course is within a half mile of the half marathoners. I wish I would have thought of this when I was running. But I reached mile 14 at 10:19 am. Karen, my running buddy was at mile 7.5 right around that time. I wouldn't be surprised if Lisa, Marcy and others were around there. Oh, so close. The good vibes would have helped. I heard another runner say she stopped in the medic tent to get some Tylenol. Why didn't I think of that. Right before mile 18, I saw the medic tent. I dropped in and asked for Tylenol. They asked me how I was doing and if it was for general pain. I overheard them telling a women that she couldn't leave the tent yet until she had some more salt water. I quickly said I was feeling great, just general soreness. They marked my bib and gave me my meds and I bolted out of there.

This is a picture of me bolting. I saw a young lady walking so I asked her how she was doing. She forgot her knee strap and her ankles were bothering her. I suggested the medic tent for Tylenol and that they might have a strap for her knee. You know those rubber things they tie around your arm for giving blood. Maybe one of those. I then asked her to snap a couple of pictures of me running. She did and then I'm not sure where she went. We were in downtown Scottsdale at this point.

Mils 20-25

I got a call from Amy that they would be right before mile 20. It was great to see my wife and kids, Tyler and Emily. We chatted for a bit and I got to fill my water bottle with Gatorade G2. I was putting NUUN in my water up to that time and I think I did a great job hydrating and keeping my electrolytes in check. I did stop sweating around the half way point. Salt was starting to cake on my face and clothes. My hat that was drenched in sweat for most of the run was drying out. The second have of the race, I used the water stops for pouring 3-4 cups of water on my hat and head. Each time I did I would think about the Chicago Marathon and running out of water. No chance at this race, it was very well stocked.

It was great to see my family. A big boost. I ran the next mile in 12:18, 2 minutes faster than any other mile in that part of the race. My family, the Tylenol and the DQ all must have contributed. I've gotten many blizzards at this DQ.

But, today I ran past it and two McDonald's. Yes, I counted. The second McDonald's I saw a runner come out of it.

I noticed a lot of folks walking once we were in the 20 plus mile range. I would run for .1 to .2 miles before I was walking again. In that time I would pass a dozen people or more. Some of them would leap frog me when I was walking, but a lot of them were walking to the finish. I talked with one guy about the TnT program for a few minutes. I saw another guy with a 50 States Marathon tee on. I learned that he has done all 50 states. Pretty impressive.

It was a flat course. a few minor rises. I can't remember any downhills. Except at the bridge. This is the rise, not bad except it was around mile 23. As you cross over the bridge you look west and you can see ASU and Sun Devil Stadium. It's 3 miles away and you know that's the finish. At this point my legs, knees, hips are hurting. I've run further than I've ever run and everyone around you is just marking on. It's quiet, not like the start when everyone's talking. Almost eerie. We all just kept moving forward. Some jogging, most walking. No one running.

The Final Mile

I held off thinking about my mom and dad until I got to the final mile. My parents are in their 70's and still doing pretty well. My dad worked a lot of years in the restaurant business. He managed everything from supper clubs to breakfast joints. Lots of long hours and back breaking work so that my sisters, brother and I could have a better life. He didn't get to spend as much time with us kids as I get to with mine. I realize that I'm a lot more fortunate that I even have the time to run and be with my wife and kids. Thanks for everything dad. My mom is going into the hospital today to remove her gall bladder. She doesn't seem to be worried about it, but I am. At a very early age my mom moved from her home in Japan to live in America with 2 babies and no one besides her husband and his family. She taught her kids to be good and work hard. Thanks mom and I pray all goes well today. Mile 25 started with a detour around a water main break. We ran through the Salt River Project compound.

Ran down University past a water station manned by pirates.

And then I get a call from Lisa and Karen, my running buddies with the Tumbleweed Running Club. Yeah, it's just the three of us. Lisa yells, "we see you." I hang up and take a picture. Then we run. Karen tries to keep up, but her legs were killing her. She wishes me well and falls back. Karen, thank you. That short run with you really did help. I really appreciate it. It means a lot. Lisa and I went further. She carried me all the way to the end of mile 26. Lisa, thank you. I'm sure the runners we passed were amazed that someone could be running after 5 1/2 hours. I didn't really realize we were running at that point. I said before that I was Charlie and they were angels. And today they both were.


Lisa told me good luck and quit running. Amy, Tyler and Emily were somewhere near the finish line. I ran past them, but didn't see them. What I did see was a shadow. Someone was trying to pass me at the finish. The crowd was cheering us on and damn if I was going to let someone pass me. I forgot about the 26 miles and it was down to a race of .2 miles. I ran harder than I did at any time that day. My best mile split was 10:25 during mile 2. I was running at a 8:17 pace at the end. I ended up passing two other people and not letting anyone pass me. Thanks for pushing me their at the end. I wish I would have turned around and gotten your race number.

The Conclusion

My official time is 5:51:34. I finished 5738th out of 6453. The first part of the race was a nice steady 10-12 minute pace miles. It was great. The middle miles were fine and I got to talk with a lot of fellow runners. The final miles were hard. I felt like I was running on a bed of nails and I had some toe issues. The medics at the finish asked if I was ok. I said I was, when actually I was fantastic. I was overwhelmed with emotion. A bit chocked up. I got my medal. I shook hands with a fellow runner that just finished his 5th Arizona RnR. I got my picture taken. Met up with my family and drove home.

Today I sit with sore legs and a happy feeling that I got my first marathon done. Time to start planning marathon number 2.

Thank you, everyone for supporting me.

2007 Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon

Mile 1119, Scottsdale, AZ -

Dear Mr. Race Director,

Please let me take this time to thank you. It was a wonderful day for a race. The skies were overcast, but not a drop of rain fell during your half marathon. The volunteers on the course were friendly. We had plenty of water, GU2O and assorted GU flavors. The course was flat for the most part and Scottsdale always has plenty of sites to see.

My race went well too. The first few miles I ran with my Earlham College sweatshirt. Around mile 3 I dropped it off in the bushes along Scottsdale road. I hoped to pick it up later, but it was gone. If you have a lost and found and it's there, please let me know. If I never see it again, that's ok - it needed to be replaced anyway.

I ran along side two women at the start of the race. They passed me and were about 10 yards ahead until around mile 5. I passed them, they passed me, I passed them and so forth throughout the entire race. Around mile 7 I passed a guy that had a garmin that would beep every 30 feet or so. I would think it was my garmin, so I would check my wrist every time his garmin beeped. I got tired of the HR beep alert and the distance beep alert on my garmin a long time ago, so mine only beeps on the mile. I had to distance myself from him so I didn't have to hear his. But, of course, he and I would leap frog each other for miles. I passed one lady, she must have weighed 90 lbs and she was walking. I asked how it was going and she said she was hurtin' a bit. I told her to hang in there. A couple miles later, she passed me by.

Here's a picture. It looks like a sky cake with a wedge cut out.

But, it's really a building with the Arizona sky above. We've been cloudy alot lately.

My first mile was done in 9:54. I knew this wasn't going to last. I wanted to do as many 11 minute miles as I could. So, I got in to a good groove of doing 10:50 splits while I was running. My walking added to the time.

My splits:
1-9.54
2-10.31
3-11.24
4-10.47
5-11.16
6-10.45
7-11.10
8-11.54
9-11.36
10-12.00
11-11.24
12-12.59
13.1-11.23

As you can see, my splits slowly creaped up. But, for the most part I ran well. The last two times I ran I had a sharp pain in my left knee. Runner's knee. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to run today and would end up not finishing. I used my knee strap that I had bought months ago and it worked great. I did not have a single knee issue the entire day.

I loved this race because they gave out finisher's medals and the coolest tee. This is the race associated with the football bowl game. The football players may get better swag (I think they get a Wii), but I love my medal and tee.

But, the neatest thing about this race is that I set a PERSONAL RECORD for a half marathon. I ran this one in about 2:27:41. My previous PR was 2:37:21 at the Casa Grande half back in October. That's about 10 minutes faster.

After the race, I ate an apple, went to the john and headed back out onto the course. I wanted to get another 5 miles in. I ran the course backwards and got to see and encourage the extreme back of the packers. I ran out about 2 miles, saw the last runner with the sweep cyclist and saw the volunteers taken the course down. I ended up having to wait at street signals, so I turned around, caught up with the last runner and ran in with them. I almost got an extra four miles in. My legs were dead. Check out the map below. We covered a lot of Scottsdale in one big loop. When I was adding extra miles on, a cop pointed out that I was running the wrong way. It was a loop course with the start and finish near each other, but I told the cop I parked near the start and needed to go back. About 10 seconds later a confused cop yelled, "I thought the start was near the finish?"

Again, I'd like to thank you Ms. Race Director and all the volunteers of this years Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon.

................................................................................................

Running Schedule:

January 13th: Rock N Roll Full Marathon

January 26th: Run for the Islands 5k

February 17: Lost Dutchman Half Marathon

March 1: Ostrich Festival 5k
March 9: Valley of the Sun Half Marathon

March 29: Laughlin Half Marathon

............................................................................................................................................

Mesa Turkey Trot 2007

Mile 1052, Mesa, AZ - Another Personal Record bites the dust. I ran in the 2006 Mesa Turkey Trot last year and set a PR of 1:11:05. One year later I ran it again and finished around 1:07:59. 3 minutes and 6 seconds faster with a sore calf.

Here's the tee. I think it's pretty cool. We also got a $5 discount for Mi Amigo's Mexican Restaurant. I got to watch the start of the 1 mile and 2 mile races before my race started. Lots of folks running these races. I bet there were about 500 people for the 10k. The race was all on surface streets, asphalt with some dirt shoulders. I decided to rely on the water stops that were planned, so I didn't carry any water. This worked well and I never went thirsty. I had a gel around the 3.5 mile mark and that seemed to help. At the start it was pretty crowded, but I wanted to start slow and warm up my calf. Mile One split was 10:35, but there were times we were running around 11:30 shoulder to shoulder. I wanted to get my speed up like it was at Vegas last week. Mile two split was 9:57 and I was breathing good, but my legs felt tired. Mile three was my worst. The split was 11:58. There was 2 breaks during that mile. One for water and one for no obvious reason (that I can remember). Mile four's split was 11:18, so I was picking it up a bit, but I wanted to go faster. I tagged along with various runners that passed me, my unknowing pacers. Mile five was 11:33 with one break. Mile six was 10:20. I realized if I wanted to have a shot at a PR I better get it in gear. At the end you enter the park, the crowds pick up and you run along the lake. I passed a bunch of people and ran my fastest of the day, doing the last 2/10 of a mile in a split of 8:51.

This is the sweat shirt they gave out at the LV turkey trot last week. I really like it, but it's a medium. I can fit into now, but after it gets washed I think it will be too small. My wife, Amy has put dibs on it. Below is the data, if anyone is interested.

Running was made for days like today.

My car's thermometer read 47 degrees Fahrenheit as I was driving south into the desert. By 7 am it wasn't much warmer and I was deciding if I needed to wear my 'Ohio State Buckeyes' sweatshirt for the first part of the run.

Note to self: buy some cheap sweatshirts at goodwill for future events. I did that for two earlier halfs.

I wasn't willing to lose my OSU sweatshirt and I was getting used to the temps. I got down their about 40 minutes early. Perfect to get my bib number, tee and go to the bathroom. I got to the starting line as the announcer told us that the half marathoners should go to the line. There was between 30-50 runners. It was a small race. I think the photo shows the full field.

At 7 am we were off and running. After a few hundred yards I checked my garmin and it said 8:30 pace. I as mad because I thought my garmin was on the Fritz again and I wouldn't have data. Then I realized that I was flying with the rest of the pack and it was right. I quickly slowed down, but still did a sub 10 minute mile 1.

Note to self: when running with a small group be extra careful you don't start off fast.

This is the test track we ran on. It was around miles 11 and 12. I had just eaten a double latte gel and was glad to be back on the campus of Central Arizona College, so this was a good place to be.

At around mile 9 you run by these old buildings. I think they used to be motel rooms. Now they might be good for fire wood.

From miles 5 thru 9 you got a view of these mountains. Beautiful Arizona desert views.

Miles 4-6 you ran next to the cotton fields. I guess caterpillars like cotton, because they were all over the road . Thousands of them and thousand more caterpillar stains on the road way. I ran these two miles looking at the ground to avoid these poor guys.

Home for the caterpillars. The cotton fields.

The back half of the race I walked some. My garmin says I walked a total of 1.16 miles for 18 minutes or 8% of the race. It felt like I walked a lot more than that.

It also said I jogged 87% of the time and ran 4% of the time. I think running is anything faster than 9:30 pace. Jogging is between that and 13 minute pace.

I was pretty happy with my race. The first 7 miles I only stopped briefly at two aid stations and walked once to eat a gel. The second aid station I had to sit down and remove my shoe. I found a pebble.

Mile 8 was tough and I did most of my walking then. But, soon I was back on track and kept moving. The last 2 miles was sort of an out and back and I got to see a few runners that were ahead of me the entire race. I passed a couple runners and then got to see who was behind me as I headed for home. I think 4-6 runners were between me and the truck with the slow runners sign. Not sure if they were calling us slow or telling traffic to slow down. The course was open to traffic.

After 13 miles, I kicked it up a notch and finished with loud cheering from all those that finished before me. I crossed the finish line at about a 6:45 pace. Another Vanity Fartlek.

My PR for the half was 2:42:48 at the Valley of Gold HM in Tucson last March. I wanted to do a 2:39:39 or better, but was doubtful I could pull it off.

Today I ran a 2:34:49 according to my garmin. I think the official time is a couple minutes more. Not sure how that could happen. But, either way it's a PR!

Note to readers: I took all the pictures after the race. I even staged the running/walking pics of me. My time would have been much worse.

PostPost: My official time is -

32 PAT MANALAN 45 3/3 M 120 2:37:21 12:01

there were 35 civilian runners and 21 police/fire runners. I finished ahead of 4 of them. On the way back in I high fived everyone behind me and later went out to the course and cheered 3 of them in. You might notice they butchered my last name. No big deal.

Not sure how there was a 2:32 difference in the official clock and my garmin. I started the garmin when the starter said go and I crossed the start line within seconds. My garmin does have some stopped time and I know it paused at a water stop. So, I'll use their time as my new PR. I set PR"s for 2 miles, 3 miles, 4 miles, 5 miles 10k, 10 miles and of course the half.