Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half-Marathon

Race Goal
AZ Rock N' Roll 1/2 kicked off race season for me and my stars aligned goal heading into this race was to run a time at or faster than my current PR (1:28:06). I was a little unsure of what to expect with this race since the last time I pulled off a 1:28 half was when I was in the prime of marathon training last year. Now that I'm focused on triathlons I'm not running the mileage I was then and logging around 30 miles per week vs. the prior 70-80 per week. That made setting a race goal hard since I wasn't sure how to assess my current fitness based on the off season base training topped with the month of December being dedicated to holiday eating and drinking indulgence.

Pre- Race
In December I started working with a coach (Michael Vanderhyde) which is new to me but needed. I have a tendency to over do training so it's nice to have a well thought out plan focused on intensity with a rest day incorporated :) Prior to heading out for Arizona I chatted about the race with Michael who suggested to start out at a targeted pace I'm comfortable with and negative split the second half. The race plan seemed realistic since I could start at a pace I know I can hold and if I was feeling good I could pick it up otherwise just drop back and maintain the pace I started at.

I flew into Phoenix on Friday evening and met up with some of our Hood2Coast teamies for an indoor slumber party at my friend Cara's place. The chatter of race plans and being amongst their positive energy pumped me up for the race. We all hit the sack pretty early Sat evening and managed to get 7 hrs of sleep although for me it was pretty restless due to race jitters...

Race Day
Rise and shined to an early alarm (4:45am). Took down the typical pre-race breakfast - oatmeal,banana, and coffee/water. I'm a creature of habit so you won't see me sway on my race day meals. Rule of thumb on nutrition - if it works don't change it and don't let other people's noise on nutrition distract you.

After getting to the race and parked we had about an hour to spare. The walk over to the starting area through the crowds and lines ate up some time and we quickly found ourselves getting down to less than 30 min until the race start. For those of you who know me well I'm sure you can imagine how edgy I was getting since I usually like to have plenty of time and this was cutting it close! I didn't have time for my typical 2 mile warm-up so managed to get in 1 mile before I rushed to drop off my bag and towards the start line. On the way up towards our starting corral the race director announced they were delaying the start by 10 minutes since people were having delays with getting to the race. Whew! This allowed time for strides and stretching!

Race Time!
Prior to the race I chatted with my Hood2Coast teamie Drew Boom Shackta about pacing the first part of the race together since we were both unsure of how we would end up towards the end. After the gun went off we both got off to a good start, and I was trailing Drew trying to remain conservative on the first mile. My plan was to start out at 6:50 pace. Nailed mile 1 at 6:51, mile 2 at 6:45, and mile 3 at 6:42 where finally at mile 4 I connected back with Drew's heels where we started locking into pace together. A big thank you to Drew for pacing with me since the check-in's on our pace plan and working together throughout the race was a huge boost! A picture of us from the race is to the left :)

I felt comfortable as we picked up pace even though I did find myself questioning whether I was going to be able to carry the pace through the remaining miles. The thought of blowing up crossed my mind, but I didn't want to let up. I figured let this be the race where I try to go for it since it's only January after all! Most of racing is about staying mentally tough so I distracted myself by focusing on pre-race boosts friends offered about staying strong, make it count, and race like you want it! Finally reached mile 9 where I knew I needed to start putting some thought into how I wanted to handle the last 3-4 miles of this race. The talk with myself really came down to how bad are you willing to hurt since you could just accept running a time close to your current PR or actually go for it and try and get a faster time. At mile 9 Drew picked up the turnover and while I wasn't right on his heels having him ahead kept me focused on pace and pushig towards getting back on his heels again. Before mile 10 I got locked back in behind Drew again and when we hit Mile 10 I committed to giving those last 3 miles what I could. We dropped down to 6:21 pace and finished with 6:29 pace. Felt strong through up to Mile 12, but the last 1.1 miles was tough. Digging deep, pulling with arms, and Temper Trap "Sweet Disposition" was the finishing formula through that last 1.1 miles . I'm soooo happy that I pushed through those last 3 miles the way I did because I ended up snagging a PR to start off the new year and season with. Finishing races strong and a new PR feels great! I'm fueled to keep working towards my other race goals and energized for race season!!

Results - Chip Time: 01:27:55

Overall: 183 out of 15663
Division: 3 out of 1570
Gender: 23 out of 9505

Race Splits:
5 Km: 21:06
10 Km: 42:07
10 Mi: 1:07:48
Avg Pace: 6:43

Mile by Mile Splits:
Mile 1: 6:51:31
Mile 2: 6:44:68
Mile 3: 6:42:51
Mile 4: 6:41:51
Mile 5: 6:52:22
Mile 6: 6:39:71
Mile 7: 6:40:64
Mile 8: 6:46:78
Mile 9: 6:48:78
Mile 10: 6:34:30
Mile 11: 6:21:40
Mile 12: 6:29:79
Mile 13: 6:29: 56

*My watch read 13.21 for the course so I apparently did not run the angles the most efficiently or the course may not have been as certified as they claim.