Race Report: R&R Arizona!

[Syndirelah]

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!