I was really looking forward to this race because my son Kyle Aka "Ironman" new to this blog, was going to run his debut major marathon. I had been helping him train and he and his friends helped me on those long training runs pushing me to run them quickly. We arrived in AZ on Thursday late afternoon. It was going to be a busy 4 days for us as we planned to see family, spend some time at the Barrett Jackson Auto Auction and also run the marathon. Friday, we went down to my Mom's and spent the day with her and had a wonderful lunch at the San Tan Flat Saloon. Later, we returned to Scottsdale to our hotel and then went to the auction. We even were on stage for several of the auctioned vehicles and had been seen on TV a few times! Lol! Our youngest son Evan (9 yrs. old) bid on a few cars and brought one vehicle up to $110 k when we called it quits. It was hysterical and the bidders around us were thoroughly entertained by it all. Saturday, we had a delicious breakfast and then headed over to the expo. It was a Typical expo and it seemed a bit smaller this year. I got a glimpse of Frank Shorter and heard him speak about training. We picked up a few gu and we were on our way back to the auto auction for a few beers and another fun evening. Later, we met up with my in-laws for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. One of my favorite places to eat!!! I had a delicious pasta dish and lots of their dark bread with the oats on top. Yummy!! We got back early and were in bed by 9pm. Kyle wasn't feeling that well and our run on Friday morning at my Mom's was not great for either one of us, but I had experienced that before and knew that it would come together on Sunday God willing. Sunday, we woke at 5am and got ready quickly. Kyle still wasn't feeling right but he pulled it together during the race running. 3:19!!!! I can't begin to say in words how proud I am of him!!! He pushed hard and even ended up in the medical tent :-( afterwards but he is doing well now except for the post marathon limp and hobble that we all have. My husband was also running but had not trained hardly at all. He ran 20 miles and had to call it a day, yet still an amazing accomplishment considering he ran 17 miles total in the past 2 months!!! My friend Rebecca ran a 4:23!!! She and I ran together a few weeks ago when she ran her 20 miler in training. She prepared with running a lot of hills which I think made all the difference for her. She is like a little train... She is the little engine that CAN!!!! I was really impressed by her first marathon time... Way to go Rebecca!!! So, what can I say about my race? Somewhat uneventful but I have learned that my comfortable race pace for a marathon is 8:30's per mile. Although I couldn't sustain the pace (which was due to lack of speed work because of my hip flexor injury which I am still feeling), I have the potential to run a faster race. After several marathons, I have only broken the 4 hr a few times and this was my third. I had no idea what shape I was in because I had not raced since my 100 mile attempt this past October and that race completely wrecked me. I had made it 72 miles and had to stop because I could no longer even walk because of the pain in my hip. It was a big surprise for me to run sub 4 at this race and it really helped boost my confidence after being totally beaten down at Javelina 100. My hands were freezing at the beginning of the marathon and I had forgotten gloves. I have Reynaud's Disease and my hands were killing me by mile 5. I saw some people throwing off their gloves to the side of the road. One young girl threw off some hot pink knitted ones in front of me and I quickly grabbed them off the ground and put them on. It saved me from a lot of misery with the cold and I wasn't able to take them off until mile 22. I popped a squat at mile 15 behind a stucco wall on the side of the road... Yeah... I'm one of THOSE girls. ;-). My last 8 miles became very tough for me. When I saw 2:58 at the 20 mile marker, I knew that I would break 4 hours. It was my goal but I had doubts going into the race about meeting it. Kyle and I will be recovering this week as we prepare for our back to back marathon challenge next weekend. We both plan to just have fun with it!! Carlsbad will not be as kind to us with its hills... This is going to be interesting! | 