The MS Runner

The Phoenix Rock and Roll marathon is now history and I would really like to do this one again when I’m better trained and ready.  The race was well organized and I thought that it come off as one of the better ones that I’ve been to.  One good thing is that the marathoners start earlier that the half marathoners and they also have waves.  Based on what you thought your finish time would be, that’s where you started.  That way the start is smooth and you’re not running down people that shouldn’t be be there.  I started off thinking that I have no expectations and whatever happens, happens.  I meant to try and run real slow out of the gate, but I ended up going a bit faster than I should have.  My 10K time was 9:20, and my half marathon time was 9:07.  Normally that would be where I would want to be, but being that my training was off, I knew that I couldn’t keep that up.  At mile 20, I was 3 hours and 3 minutes, which is a 9:15 pace.  I’m thinking, I can keep this up, I can do this!  Boy was I wrong.  One thing that was a factor was the heat.  To most people, they don’t mind 75 degrees and sunny.  To me, that’s way too hot and I started melting and knew that I was going to wilt.  I finished that last 6 miles in an hour and 10 minutes which means that I faded faster than Tyler Hick’s career.  Was it “hitting the wall” or just the fact that I hadn’t run 20 miles since last May?  I’m going with that and the weather.

All in all, I enjoyed the experience and I would do this race again.  For now, I’m going to take some time off and heal my knee, and try and figure out what my next marathon will be.