Pain is weakness leaving the body

I did it! I did the 4th annual P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll Half Marathon in Phoenix! I am so proud of myself! I've been training for 3 months, and still the farthest I ran during that time was 8.5 miles.

A day before the race, I was so nervous! Reading the "Day Before the Race Tips" didn't help calm my nerves. I know I'm doing everything all wrong!! I had stomach cramps all day (and night). I barely slept. But I did have everything ready the night before... ipod, hat, gloves, extra clothes, etc.

The morning of, it was 32 degrees (and felt like 25). I had on a tank top, a shirt, a thin running jacket and a sweatshirt; shorts, long johns, yoga pants and sweat pants; gloves, a beanie and my lucky pink Red Sox visor. Before the race I stripped off the first 2 outer layers and waited, freezing in corral # 18, for over 30 minutes before the start.

I kept a good pace the whole way, trying to dodge walkers and strewn clothes along the route. I even ditched my gloves after 9 miles. I made sure they were rolled up in a ball so they would be found together when Goodwill, or whoever needs them picked them up, and placed them near a lamp post so a runner wouldn't trip on it. I figure if the runner hits the lamp post he has worse things to worry about than a pair of gloves on the ground.

I slowed down for water at each stop and had some energy goo every 3 miles. I listened to my ipod, putting it on pause each time I would run by the Live bands. The crowds lining the race route helped energize and motivate. My favorite signs were "Pain is weakness leaving the body" and "You look hot and skinny when you run." There were the t-shirts, too. "Why Pass when you can run behind this?" I passed. "10 weeks ago, this sounded like a good idea. 13.1 miles."

Passing each Mile marker (and Kilometer marker) gave me a mental boost, and running with the familiar tunes in my ipod were also helpful. "Remember this song? You were listening to it to make it up that 1 mile stretch through that neighborhood where the cardinals are nesting. Remember the cardinals? How beautiful and bright red they are? No. Don't look at the stretch of road ahead that continues to the horizon. Just think of those cardinals, and this song..."

The last 3 miles were mostly uphill. Going into it, I was confident and so proud of myself. My training took me up 2.5 miles of incline all the time. Here, I passed so many people walking! Each person I passed was another boost for the ego and the energy.

The last water stop had to be the most emotional for me. This is it! I'm almost there! Just 2 more miles. The water stop had so many people, and they were all so loud and encouraging. I thought I was going to cry, and almost did! I can't believe I'm actually doing it, after all these weeks of training! But the water stop high didn't last at mile 11. I wanted to cry for other reasons by that time. I slowed to a super, slow jog, but I kept moving, and kept passing people. I'm almost there. I can't start walking now!!

The last 1/4 mile was amazing. After I went over the bridge to Sun Devil Stadium, I actually picked up the pace. That's it I'm done! The song from my ipod was streaming into my ears "We are the Champions my Friend!" I kid you not! I had the songs on shuffle, and THAT was the song playing as I crossed that finish line. How COOL is that?!

My time: 2 hours and 42 minutes and 14 seconds...13.1 Miles. Whew!

Here's a link to the course virtual tour.



This is me and my boss. We found out we were both training for the same race back in October and carpooled together. I'm trying to convince him to run the Bay to Breakers in May.