P.F. Chang's Half Marathon Recap

So I ran my first official half marathon on January 15th. The race was awesome and I wanted to write about that day. So let's start at packet pick-up the previous day on January 14th.

Connie and I drove to Phoenix to the convention center (the very same convention center that Phoenix Comic-Con is at!) At the start I got my race number off a board and went inside to turn in everything to pick up my actual bib and shoe chip. We then meandered in further where I got to get a technical shirt (actually very nice to run in and have run in it several times) and a swag bag (lots of neat free stuff, plus the bag is awesome for carting around my laptop). We walked around and got lots of free samples (Larabars = AWESOME AND DELICIOUS) and bought some things as well. I got this water backpack for my marathon and I've been using it while training and it really holds a ton of snacks and water. The expo was really fun and it was really interesting to see all the different runners and what they were buying. I also registered for real time facebook updates as I was completing the race (which didn't work!) and had fun in general. Our friend Rochel met up with us and we met up with another friend, Rebekah, and her friend who was running the full marathon (jealousy!). After we all had walked around a bit we left for lunch and then headed home.

I filled out my emergency card on the back of my bib and chipped my shoes and generally got ready for everything that evening so I wouldn't be panicking in the morning as I am wont to do when I am doing new things. Then I headed to bed for what I thought would be a full nights rest...my husband picked a WONDERFUL night to begin sleeping on his back and snoring, but I digress. The next morning I got up, ate a bit of toast and peanut butter, grabbed the drop off directions and the Hub and I took off to Tempe.

Using the directions we headed toward downtown where it started to rain, that's when I began to have a slight panic attack...I dislike running in the rain, especially with my glasses, I can't see a thing. It cleared up when we hit a detour (the directions on the website said one thing, in reality another thing) so we go to Mill Avenue and I hopped out of the car (after a good luck kiss from the Mister) and walked the rest of the way to my race corral.  My corral was 17, which was actually quite a ways down, it was early but the crown was brimming with energy, it was super exciting. But I had to wait quite a while for my energy to actually be expended. It took forever to get through the corrals. They were letting a few minutes pass between each corral so the runners would be staggered and we could all fall into out natural pace. As we got up to the starting line I discarded the sweater I brought with me (that was neat to do, I felt like a real runner!) and headed through the start.

I have to say that running through the center of Mill Avenue is really exciting. There are always cars and it was just neat to have the road to run on. And run I did.I hadn't really looked too much at the map of the course because I wanted to be surprised about where I was. I know 13 miles is not as long as 26 but we really covered a large area.

This photo is from the Relay switch area, which was about halfway through the course. I had been making really decent time and very excited. Also: I will forever wear this Batman shirt to my races, because as I was running people (absolute strangers!) would shout "Go, Batgirl, go!" or "Woooo Batgirl!" and I knew they were cheering directly for me. Which as someone who has never played sports I will say that people cheering for you is AWESOME. It's make me correct my posture and quicken up my pace. The crowd really does give one energy.

The race really consisted of me weaving through people. My race pace is apparently a lot quicker than I thought and on pure adrenaline I am able to NOT EVER WALK. This happened with the 12K I ran in December. I just fell into a comfortable pace and just kept going. I was able to not walk during the 12K so during the half marathon I told myself, "Okay Sara, you can run 7.5 miles without stopping to walk so we are going to do that for the first 7.5 miles and then reevaluate how you are feeling." SO I kept running, got to the 7.5 mark, "Okay," I thought, "Now run without stopping to the 10 mark, you feel fine." SO I hekpt going and when I got to the 10 mile mark my thought process turned to, "Screw it, it's only 3 more miles, pick up the pace and finish this thing." And I did.

I finished the race with the biggest smile ever. I got to run into the stadium on ASU campus, people cheering like crazy My hubby was waiting for me as I walked through the Finishers area to get my medal, water, bananas, and gatorade. I don't really like gatorade but when you run a race it turns into a most delicious liquid. A few of my friends tried to make it but apparently I ran too fast for one of them (:D) and parking and traffic were atrocious for the other. It means the world to me Evan made it and that my friends did try, thanks ladies!

After I gathered all the last of my things, I got a solar blanket from the marathon people and walked with The Hub to the car which was about another mile away. As I was walking I heard my last name being screamed and looked and 2 of my students were in a van with their parents. And there I am in my shorts, awesome, but the girls were waiting for their sister who had done the half as well. They were surprised I was there (what, a teacher can't have an active life?) but they like me at school so they were happy to see me as well.

The solar blanket is now hanging up in my classroom now. It's a giant banner essentially and is fantastic on my walls. So here are the final stats of my race. The mileage on my phone might differ slightly from the official race results but it gave me an idea of how I did! I was able to keep an average pace of 10:32 mine/mile. Which is a minute less than my normal running. I'm really proud of myself and I can't wait for my marathon. I really liked doing the half-marathon and I will definitely be doing more of them in the future.

Phone Times:

Mile1: 11:01

Mile2: 10:27

Mile3: 10:52

Mile4: 10:52

Mile5: 10:56

Mile6: 10:39

Mile7: 10:18

Mile8: 10:26

Mile9: 10:39

Mile10: 10:15

Mile11: 9:46

Mile12: 10:13

Mile13: 9:37

Official Results:

5K: 34:14

10K: 1:08:06

10Mile: 1:47:30

Finish Time: 2:18:24