Date : 20 Jan 2013 | Location : Phoenix Washington St-Scottsdale-Temp Sun Devils Stadium |Distance : 42.37km | Time : 5:14 | Pace : 7:25’/km | Condition : from near freezing 3degC to 20degC, running under noon direct sunlight | Route : mostly flat | Satisfaction level : 4/5
What a raced it was – a race totally into the unknown and I must thank my lucky stars for coming out of this alive and well !
This was my 5th full marathon. When I signed up for the PF Chang’s Arizona Rock and Roll Marathon (10th edition), I have no inclination how the weather will look like besides it being a winter for AZ. Boy, how wrong I was ! I arrived on Jan 15th to a freezing 0 deg C night temp and that was the 1-week coldest spell in >20 years in AZ. Although the temp got slightly better over the last few days, it was still freezing cold for all of us.
The pick-up of the race kits @ Phoenix Convention Center was a smooth one. Took me 20+minutes to arrive at the destination.. and a US12 parking fees. Much better than finding a public parking place as I have no idea where are those. The fact I could find my way there (using Waze of course) was an accomplishment itself. The race pick-up and expo was huge, much bigger than the one @ SCMS. I picked up both the Kids Rock and my own race kit. Corral 4 was my wave startup location based on the 4:15 finisher time I entered. Huge merchandize area selling everything from shoes to running tees/jackets (it’s winter !) to all forms of sports nutrition and training equipment/tools.
Saturday (Jan 19). Kids Rock for the kids. Venue : Temp Beach Park (20mins away from San Cervantes). We all dressed up in 2-3 layers of clothes as it was a 3deg C morning. Race starts at 9:30am and they are all divided by Grades, from Kindergarten to 6th Grade. Jadyn is in 3rd Grade while Jaden 1st Grade. The fun run distance was 1-mile along the ‘beach’ front while Kindergarten half of that distance. With 1,200 kids and many more adults, we arrived to a carnival like atmosphere. There were the Disney crew warming up the kids with songs and dances.. The race was a fun run and every kid gets a finisher medal – a cool rock guitar medal, and of course a nice running tee. The kids had fun and went back with even more stuff – more tee-shirts (as they gave away more free tees), pop-corns, engraved medals, blankets etc. The park is pretty nice place for the kids to run and skate on its promenade along the beach.
Sunday (Jan 20). The BIG day. I wanted to run a 42km to commemorate my 42nd birthday and this one came at a perfect time. The morning was equally cold – 3deg C. The race route starts from Phoenix, then goes thru Scottsdale before ending at Tempe near the Sun Devils Stadium. I planned to drive to Temp Beach Park to park my car and then hop on the Light Rail to the starting point at Phoenix. Alas, it was not to be as the roads leading to the park was closed and I have no idea how to go to the park – GPS did show that :( Alternately, I made a detour to the Phoenix and decided to park at the designated place. The race was scheduled to start at 7.50am. Arriving at ~6.30am, I was able to find the designated car park easily. No need payment, so it was great. The Arizona Center car park was a short distance walk to the starting lineup @ Washington St/3rd St. I did some warm-up, queued pretty long for the pee.. then we were ready to start !
The corral allows a wave start which is great so that there are no scrambling at the start with the fast runners at the front and slower ones at the back.. Standing at the starting line, you can see some runners started to take off their jacket which were used to keep them warm right before the race and threw them to the pavement. Those were then collected by the volunteers for charity. I kept myself warmed, at least as warm as can be – wore the long sleeve tee inside, followed by a Rock 2 Rock purple tee outside. Good thing I brought the gloves, else I would have gotten frost-bite. No kidding, it was THAT cold. Frankly, I would have gave up the race by the 1st 5k if my gloves did not keep me warm. The gear check-in (we call if baggage deposit) was simple. Just your last name and the UPS courier truck. Quick and easy process.
The flag off was smooth, took me close to 3 minutes to reach the starting line-up. The first 5k went on well. Then the air started to get too cold for my comfort as the faster you run, the more the cold air will go into the lungs. It was uncomfortable but I could bear with it. The first 10k was completed in 55:22, a pace of 5:32’/km. One thing for sure. The crowd, the cheer groups and the volunteers were fabulous ! One will not get bored as for every 10m, there will be someone clapping, cheering on the runners, showing giant playcards.. and this went on all the way until finishing line ! Simply fantastic. One of the highlights of my running history.
By the time I hit 15th km, I felt a twitch on my right calf, then quickly followed by my left. And it felt like PNM all over again. Cramp striking so early ! I soon felt uncomfortable but I still managed to continue run-jog-brisk walk. But the effects was clearly seen. My 2nd 10k slowed to 6:32.
I hit the half mark @ 2:08 and that as the time we went into the Scottsdale town center with great fun-fare and carnival-like atmosphere. But I was limping along. But the cheers helped a bit for me to jog, else I would have given up much earlier ! I started to do stretching by the curb more often but the pace has slowed to slow jog as for small stretches, then brisk walk. Now both my calves and also my quads are hurting and stiffened like hell !
The 30k until the finishing line was the hardest – it was a long stretch of straight road leading to Tempe and I was running (or rather walking) under the noon hot sun. There were no shades and the sunlight pierced through directly. I am glad I wore long sleeve and compression pants and my neck/face was fully protected by the sunblock… and I read somewhere that the ozone layer is thinner during winter.. Geez.. By 30km, my camp has subsided a bit but now, it was my left knee pain ! I could not run for a stretch without feeling the pain. Could be ITB I suspect.. and so I decided not to risk more injury and walked all the way to the finishing line, albeit with some very slow jogs from time to time..
Overall timing on my Garmin:
First 10k – 5:32
2nd 10k – 6:32
3rd 10k – 8:11
4th 10k – 9:05
Last 2.37k – 8:51
Overall, it was great race. The experience was invaluable. Who would really have opportunity to really race in a winter with a temp swing from 3 to 23 in 4-5 hours time !
I thoroughly enjoyed the race – the volunteers were outstanding (every water station could easily have 40 volunteers, or more !), the cheer group and spectators were simply fabulous in cheering.. they were simply generous with their inspiring words.. The runners were well behaved with great ethics (like stepping aside when slowing down/stopping – btw, not many people walk. Many just run or jog.. simply awesome !). It’s an experience I will cherish for a long time. The timing was a PW but I have no qualms over it – 1) it was a run @ an unknown weather condition, 2) I have not run for the past 3 weeks and now went straight into a marathon – I have to blame myself for that.
Moving forward, I need to bump up my training plans and strength training. The winter season where the sun sets @ 5:45 and goes totally dark by 6:30pm. It will be a challenge.. Next marathon – Phoenix Marathon on 2nd March 2013. Something could come up in between now and then :)
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| It was a chilly 3deg C at the starting lineup |
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| Put all my photos into a collage |
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| The finishing @ Tempe.. 23deg C |
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