Fiesta Bowl HM - 12-02-12
This race report is overdue. The rule I try to follow is "1 day per 1 hour of racing" and thus I am a bit late so feel free to drop my score accordingly when grading this assignment.
Woke up a few minutes before my alarm after getting a pretty good nights sleep.
Coffee and cinnamon raisin toast before leaving. Coffee is a new addition to my pre-race routine thanks to a new coffee-maker in the kitchen. I figured it couldn't be any worse than the diet coke I usually drink on race mornings, especially since the carbonation has been bothering my stomach when I run lately.
Pre-Race
Christine and I got some of the last parking spots and walked over to the race "village".
One of the first tents I saw was my old team tent, Team Diabetes. Got the chance to chat with Coach Dave for a few minutes.
Found the gear check (so Christine could drop my gear bag off after the start) and started towards the start line.
Last year, my watch didn't find the satellites till partway through the race so I turned my watch on 30 minutes before the start time.
Took off my sweats and got a little warm-up run in before getting a good luck kiss and heading off to line up for the start.
Found the 2:07 pacers and told them I was planning to stay ahead of them, but if they catch me, they should give me a hard time
The 2 hour pacer showed up a few minutes before the national anthem and starting gun.
First miles
The 2 hour pacer was planning on about a 9:04 minute per mile pace. I was able to hang with him easily for the first several miles while still keeping my heart rate in my target zone.
Honking car and Christine cheering me on and stopping to take pictures. Fellow racers congratulated me on my support team. Some of the guys accused me of being unfair by breaking the "no outside assistance" rule. It's true. A kiss and encouragement are very helpful during the race.
Middle miles
(enter the 2:07 pacers)
More honking car and Christine cheering me on.
Final Miles
(started hearing the 2:15 pacers getting close)
Finish Line
With one turn to go and my 2:00 goal long since passed, I simply wanted to be done.
Just before the turn, Coach Dave yelled some encouragement at me. As I looked toward the turn, I saw a familiar face... Christine was standing there with the camera. I had thought she would have left for her appointment by then, but no, she decided to stay till I finished. That was the motivation I needed to stay ahead of the 2:!5 pacer and I crossed the finish line in 2:14:54.
Post Race
Was handed my medal and quickly found Christine for a quick congratulations kiss before she left for her appointment. Then I went through the Athletes race food and grabbed a few things. Not my favorite post race food, but not every race can have breakfast burritos (like Mount Lemmon did once) or pizza (IMAZ).
Signed in at the massage tent to get a massage. It was not too long of a wait to get probably the best post-race massage I've had (though Las Vegas was pretty good).
Conclusion
This race report is waaaay overdue. I had it in draft and forgot to finish it and publish. I enjoyed rereading it so I thought I would publish it and motivate myself to start doing more race reports as I start ramping up for my next adventure.
Woke up a few minutes before my alarm after getting a pretty good nights sleep.
Coffee and cinnamon raisin toast before leaving. Coffee is a new addition to my pre-race routine thanks to a new coffee-maker in the kitchen. I figured it couldn't be any worse than the diet coke I usually drink on race mornings, especially since the carbonation has been bothering my stomach when I run lately.
Pre-Race
Christine and I got some of the last parking spots and walked over to the race "village".
One of the first tents I saw was my old team tent, Team Diabetes. Got the chance to chat with Coach Dave for a few minutes.
Found the gear check (so Christine could drop my gear bag off after the start) and started towards the start line.
Last year, my watch didn't find the satellites till partway through the race so I turned my watch on 30 minutes before the start time.
Took off my sweats and got a little warm-up run in before getting a good luck kiss and heading off to line up for the start.
Found the 2:07 pacers and told them I was planning to stay ahead of them, but if they catch me, they should give me a hard time
The 2 hour pacer showed up a few minutes before the national anthem and starting gun.
First miles
The 2 hour pacer was planning on about a 9:04 minute per mile pace. I was able to hang with him easily for the first several miles while still keeping my heart rate in my target zone.
Honking car and Christine cheering me on and stopping to take pictures. Fellow racers congratulated me on my support team. Some of the guys accused me of being unfair by breaking the "no outside assistance" rule. It's true. A kiss and encouragement are very helpful during the race.
Middle miles
(enter the 2:07 pacers)
More honking car and Christine cheering me on.
Final Miles
(started hearing the 2:15 pacers getting close)
Finish Line
With one turn to go and my 2:00 goal long since passed, I simply wanted to be done.
Just before the turn, Coach Dave yelled some encouragement at me. As I looked toward the turn, I saw a familiar face... Christine was standing there with the camera. I had thought she would have left for her appointment by then, but no, she decided to stay till I finished. That was the motivation I needed to stay ahead of the 2:!5 pacer and I crossed the finish line in 2:14:54.
Post Race
Was handed my medal and quickly found Christine for a quick congratulations kiss before she left for her appointment. Then I went through the Athletes race food and grabbed a few things. Not my favorite post race food, but not every race can have breakfast burritos (like Mount Lemmon did once) or pizza (IMAZ).
Signed in at the massage tent to get a massage. It was not too long of a wait to get probably the best post-race massage I've had (though Las Vegas was pretty good).
Conclusion
This race report is waaaay overdue. I had it in draft and forgot to finish it and publish. I enjoyed rereading it so I thought I would publish it and motivate myself to start doing more race reports as I start ramping up for my next adventure.
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