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Race Report: R&R Arizona!
I did it!!! R&R Arizona was my second full, and it. was. AWESOME!!
I don't know what I did so right, but I felt amazing, the WHOLE time. I never hit a wall, my last 10k was my fastest 10k I've ever run! I really felt on top of the world for the entire race.
I traveled to Phoenix with two friends from my training group, we arrived late friday and hit expo Saturday. I caught up with a few friends Saturday and we went to a great pasta dinner at the Arizona Center. My other friend running the full and I took our time heading over to the start line, in fact, a little TOO much time.... we were in line to use the porta-lets when the gun went off. We started about 12 minutes late and were the last to start the full marathon. oops!! :) But the roads were totally clear and we loved not having to dodge people constantly. (of course we caught up to several as we went along).
My goal was a 4:30 time, and I hit the half at 2:13.13. :) So I was right on track, and felt fantastic--taking a Gu about every 50 minutes and having a bit of water every aid station. My friend, who hadnt trained as much (but has run 6+ marathons) started to have leg cramps at mile 16 and said, "just go for it!"
I felt bad bailing on him, but I just felt like giving it a shot. I picked it up, and kept picking it up for the rest of the race--I felt like I could go on forever. My second half was 2:04.xx and my last 10K was about 55 minutes!
My finishing time was 4:17:45.
I feel on top of the world!!! I never, ever imagined I could feel so great running the whole race, and definitely never imagined I could finish in under 4:20. I feel so awesome and grateful and lucky!
I felt very very little soreness yesterday and pretty minimal soreness today, only a little when I go down the stairs or stand up. The first time I ran the marathon, I truly felt like death--from mile 19 until about a week after the race. So its really night and day.
Logistically, the race was fantastic--very easy to get to the start and back to our hotel from the finish, pretty nice expo and gorgeous weather. It was my first time in Arizona, and I loved the scenery throughout the race. If you're looking for a January marathon, this was a great race!
