Arizona Rock n Roll Half Marathon Recap

Well I survived another race.

It's only taken me a week to finally get around to recapping it. I blame a mid-week work trip to New York and some much needed house cleaning this weekend for my delay. 

So, back to the race recap.

I flew into Phoenix on Friday night. After grabbing some dinner, my cousin and I called it a night fairly early. On Saturday we did the usual: slept in, ate breakfast, survived the expo, figured out parking for the next day, drank lots of water, ate sushi, watched football, drank more water, ate pizza, and went to bed early.

Obligatory race outfit pic.

We woke up bright and early, grabbed our gear, some food to eat on the road and drove the 15 minutes to our exit.  We then ran into traffic. Lots of traffic. All trying to exit the same place. 

Then I realized I forgot my Garmin. Sad day.

I guess in years past the Phoenix race started in downtown and finished by Arizona State University. This year the marathon kept the same course but they changed the half marathon to start and end right by the ASU stadium. I guess when they made this decision they didn't factor in that there is basically one exit off the highway. Why not take some back roads? Being that we weren't locals, we weren't about to risk taking any route or exit other than the one listed in our packet. 

See that line of white lights. That's the bridge we are all trying to get across.

Having friends that put on major events and races I tried to put some of the blame on us. Maybe we should have left 30 minutes earlier or even an hour earlier but honestly that would have only put us crossing the bridge...maybe. As we continued to sit in traffic, it became clear that we were going to miss the start of the race. But so were all the people in line behind us.

I was starting to have anxiety about missing the start. So we tried to distract ourselves with eating our bagels and peanut butter, listening to top 40 hits and talking about the people that were getting out of their cars and walking to the start. We didn't have the luxury of abandoning our car being that we weren't getting dropped off and we were sporting my cousin's company car. 

Finally, after an hour of trying to exit the highway we were crossing the bridge. So close, yet so far. After passing about 5 cops that were standing around NOT directing traffic we made our way into the parking garage. We found the nearest port-o-potty, took a quick pit stop and then started jogging to the start. We were shocked when we came to the starting line and they were calling out corral 8. We were in 12. We had made it! {We later found out that they had delayed the start slightly. There was also a light rail at the start that passed periodically that slowed down the start.}

 

Honestly, I vaguely remember any of the race. I knew I felt good and we were staying on pace. We did have a lovely conversation with some stranger about the benefits of ice baths. It's amazing the knowledge you can gain for a couples miles about ice baths. We think he was a ghost. He appeared out of no where and disappeared just as quickly.  We later saw him educating others on the benefits of ice baths. 

Yes, we are matching. No we didn't plan it. 

Remember how we sat in the car for an hour drinking and eating? Well, I had to go to the bathroom starting at about mile 3. I was able to last until mile 6 or so. After the fastest bathroom stop in my history of races {I must have an over hydration issue because it's seriously happens every race} we were back on the road. Being Garmin-less I'd occasionally ask my cousin for our pace. We were rockin. 

Thumbs up. 

I remember thinking we got lost at one point because we were suddenly no longer in the city but what felt like the middle of the desert. I also remember thinking I might die at mile 11 or so, like I do every race. I also remember thinking I look ridiculous in these compression shorts but they are a life saver for my IT band, so...don't care.

 Jazz hands. 

As we approached the finish my cousin and I decided to sprint the last .1 of the race. No one else around us did. So that was awkward.  Almost as awkward as this finishing pic. 

More jazz hands. 

I'm not sure how I did it. Not only did I survive the race but I PR'd! I finally beat my fastest race, which happened to be the first half I ever did. The sixth time was the charm. 

After grabbing some water, stretching a bit and grabbing a bagel for the road we pushed our way through the crowd back to the car. It was weird not having anyone to meet at the finish line but it was also nice to get out before traffic got too bad.

  Hi Mom- We finished in our matching outfits and matching camelbacks.

Moral of the story: I still don't like Rock n' Roll races, too big, too unorganized, not nearly the number of bands as they promote, the entry fees are too high etc. But at least I got a PR! 2:13:52

xoxo

Kelly

P.S All photos were taken by my phone, unless they have a huge "Proof" across them. Those I borrowed from MarathonFoto. Please don't sue. I promise to buy a photo at some point in life.