RNR AZ Marathon Recap

OK, so as Tash said, I had a great race. I was not sure I could hold the 3:30 pace group, but I held on with them until nature called. At that point I just could not catch up.

A couple of important things really helped me gut it out, and believe me miles 24 and 25 were gutted out. Glory Gensch (www.racecharities.org) is the reason I was out there. I know that I was able to get through some tough miles for her. I think she made an arrangement with the man upstairs for the perfect weather!

Trevor Kott (www.trevorkott.com) also helped me quite a bit. Trevor and Jake are the same age, so it was easy for me to find strength in the fact that Trevor his family and friends have been such an inspiration to Tash and I. No little ones should have to be that sick, ever, period.

I probably kept about 2 minutes off my time because of a guy from Madison that I met before. He recognized me and pulled me through the mile 25. He had a strong steady pace and I was not able to keep with him the last couple minutes.

The course was nice and flat. Bands were there, but didn't do much for me other than give me certain points to fix on getting to. I actually was entertained by all the grade school cheerleaders, they were really having fun, and it made it enjoyable.

The race was well managed with plenty of water and accelerade (yuck). Not too much scenery but a great turnout for both the half and full marathon.

If I get photos from anyone I will post them here. I am glad to hear that Jeromy will be going for his first marathon (I hope) at RNR San Diego.

I ran 2 miles Tuesday, it felt good. I tried 4 miles Wednesday....that sucked. I had to walk on these wobbly legs for a while.

But, with the 50K coming up Feb. 9th I need to make sure I have the miles in. So, today I had a good 10 miles at a 8:40 pace. Will try to do at least 12 tomorrow. Next weekend will be a big weekend for miles 24 on Sat and 10 on Sunday.

I just hope it warms up, to at least 20 degrees!!!

If he won't brag I will

Ryan ran the PF Chang's Rock-N-Roll marathon in Arizona this past Sunday and did fantasitc. He finished in 3:33:37 - an awesome finish and personal best. He has been training SO much (long Saturday and Sunday runs...URRGG) but it paid off in a great event for him. I'm know that it meant a lot to Jeromy and his family that Ryan was there to run with them in honor of Glory and www.racecharities.org

Here is a link to an AZ news channel that interviewed John (Glory's Dad) with Jeromy in the back ground. Sorry you'll have to cut and paste....I can't figure out how to link this)

http://www.azcentral.com/phpAPP/multimedia/flash.php?path=rtmp://azcentral.com%2Fnews%2F0113rockraceweb

Hopefully Ryan will get on here and recount his experience soon....as soon as he stops limping...and losing toenails....ask him about it, he loves to talk about it and show people. Yes, I know, it's nasty