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<p>At the request of <strong>4boysmom</strong>:</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">A free entry into the Arizona Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon was a good excuse to visit family in Phoenix and escape the Chicago winter for a few days. We flew out of Chicago as a snow storm was blowing in and landed to sunny skies and highs around 70F. Oh the joys of winter in the southwest! </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">On race day, the weather was great. Probably high 40s/low 50s with cloud cover at the start. The half marathon course looped north from Tempe through Scottsdale, with some nice scenic views along the way and finished by the ASU football stadium. The course had been modified to a loop this year to separate it from the point to point marathon (that started in downtown Phoenix), and had an overall gradual incline to mile 10 then you drop all that elevation in the last 5k. Who'd have though that a good idea would visit a Rock'n'Roll event?</div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">We got there with plenty of time to spare so traffic and parking was not an issue. A friend got us entry into the VIP area so we had indoor bathrooms and a separate gear check before heading to the start in downtown Tempe. I wasn't too confident in how my body would hold up at race pace, due to a lingering hip flexor/abductor issue, so decided to use some BioFreeze and play it by ear. </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">I was in Corral 1, DW was in Corral 2 and her sister and cousin were a bit further back. The corrals were not policed well. No surprise there. Once the race started, after a 10 minute delay due to congestion in the parking lots, I got past the typical early sprinters/wrong corral runners and knew that it was not going to be a PR (1:25:11) day. </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">Miles 1 & 2 were 6:32 but did not feeling as easy as they should, probably from being on my feet a lot for the prior two days. On the plus side, my abductor and hip felt OK. I hit the first 5k in ~20:30 then my splits started to fade into the high 6:30s, then 6:40s and bottomed out at 6:51 for mile 7. I was feeling terrible at that point then had a gel and ditched the small water bottle I was carrying. Without the bottle I instantly felt more comfortable - I have no idea why I decided to carry it in the first place. My splits starting going in the other direction and I started picking off runners. That included one woman who kept lifting her arms up... at first I thought is was for the cameras but then determine it was either for a stitch or just an odd way to run. She finished in 1:30 and won her AG. I guess it worked for her.<br>
</div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">Anyway, things were improving and thanks to the late downhill section, miles 11 and 12 were my fastest (6:21, 6:17). A few folks passed me but mostly I was gaining ground. However; I kicked too early at the 20k mark, as we came off a bridge, and hit the final stretch. One guy passed got me back in the last 400 meters and I recall thinking that he likely had a good kick when I'd first passed him. Turns out the guy (a fellow Chicagoan no less) was 1 second ahead of me on gun time but, unfortunately for him, was 9 seconds behind me on chip time.</div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">
<div>Official Chip time: 1:26:37 </div>
<div>
<div>AG Place: 11 / 974</div>
<div>OA Place: 156 / 15663</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Official Splits:</div>
<div>
<div>5M: 33:10</div>
<div>10M: 33:34 / 1:06:44</div>
<div>
<div>13.1: 19:53 / 1:26.37</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I didn't get the sub 1:26 time I wanted but still I came away with a negative split mostly due to the sub 20 in the last 5k. My performance was actually similar to the 2011 Chicago Rock'n'Roll HM where I'd run 1:26:49 (a PR at the time)</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>My Garmin pace and elevation look like this:</div>
</div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">
<div><br><a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/races-places/chicago-marathon/mlk-weeklies-jan-16-21?plckForumPage=ForumImage&plckPhotoId=0ff1880a-2655-4f0b-8d13-fbc5e050f2e4&plckRedirectUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.runnersworld.com%2Fcommunity%2Fforums%2Fraces-places%2Fchicago-marathon%2Fmlk-weeklies-jan-16-21" style="color:rgb(201,45,27);" target="_blank" title="Click to view a larger photo"><img alt="" src="http://sitelife.runnersworld.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/15/13/0ff1880a-2655-4f0b-8d13-fbc5e050f2e4.Medium.bmp" style="display:inline;padding-top:7px;padding-right:7px;padding-bottom:7px;padding-left:7px;"></a></div>
</div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">We skipped the post race party (and food/beer at the VIP tent) and headed out to meet family for brunch. However; leaving the race site when we did was a nightmare. For some reason they did not allow us out of the parking lot the way we came... that would have had us back on the hwy in 2 mins. NO. They sent us towards the race course and hence we were trapped by road closures. I think we drove the course backwards and actually spent more time in the car than racing. </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">
<div><br>
Overall it was a good race that I'd do again (for free) and I think my performance was about right for my fitness level and bodes well for this year. Also, DW got a PR (low 1:42s) despite feeling sick towards the end AND stopping to kiss DD (with grandparents). I think she should be running 1:40. Maybe I'll pace her for a HM this year.</div>
</div>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">A free entry into the Arizona Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon was a good excuse to visit family in Phoenix and escape the Chicago winter for a few days. We flew out of Chicago as a snow storm was blowing in and landed to sunny skies and highs around 70F. Oh the joys of winter in the southwest! </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">On race day, the weather was great. Probably high 40s/low 50s with cloud cover at the start. The half marathon course looped north from Tempe through Scottsdale, with some nice scenic views along the way and finished by the ASU football stadium. The course had been modified to a loop this year to separate it from the point to point marathon (that started in downtown Phoenix), and had an overall gradual incline to mile 10 then you drop all that elevation in the last 5k. Who'd have though that a good idea would visit a Rock'n'Roll event?</div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">We got there with plenty of time to spare so traffic and parking was not an issue. A friend got us entry into the VIP area so we had indoor bathrooms and a separate gear check before heading to the start in downtown Tempe. I wasn't too confident in how my body would hold up at race pace, due to a lingering hip flexor/abductor issue, so decided to use some BioFreeze and play it by ear. </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">I was in Corral 1, DW was in Corral 2 and her sister and cousin were a bit further back. The corrals were not policed well. No surprise there. Once the race started, after a 10 minute delay due to congestion in the parking lots, I got past the typical early sprinters/wrong corral runners and knew that it was not going to be a PR (1:25:11) day. </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">Miles 1 & 2 were 6:32 but did not feeling as easy as they should, probably from being on my feet a lot for the prior two days. On the plus side, my abductor and hip felt OK. I hit the first 5k in ~20:30 then my splits started to fade into the high 6:30s, then 6:40s and bottomed out at 6:51 for mile 7. I was feeling terrible at that point then had a gel and ditched the small water bottle I was carrying. Without the bottle I instantly felt more comfortable - I have no idea why I decided to carry it in the first place. My splits starting going in the other direction and I started picking off runners. That included one woman who kept lifting her arms up... at first I thought is was for the cameras but then determine it was either for a stitch or just an odd way to run. She finished in 1:30 and won her AG. I guess it worked for her.<br>
</div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">Anyway, things were improving and thanks to the late downhill section, miles 11 and 12 were my fastest (6:21, 6:17). A few folks passed me but mostly I was gaining ground. However; I kicked too early at the 20k mark, as we came off a bridge, and hit the final stretch. One guy passed got me back in the last 400 meters and I recall thinking that he likely had a good kick when I'd first passed him. Turns out the guy (a fellow Chicagoan no less) was 1 second ahead of me on gun time but, unfortunately for him, was 9 seconds behind me on chip time.</div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">
<div>Official Chip time: 1:26:37 </div>
<div>
<div>AG Place: 11 / 974</div>
<div>OA Place: 156 / 15663</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Official Splits:</div>
<div>
<div>5M: 33:10</div>
<div>10M: 33:34 / 1:06:44</div>
<div>
<div>13.1: 19:53 / 1:26.37</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I didn't get the sub 1:26 time I wanted but still I came away with a negative split mostly due to the sub 20 in the last 5k. My performance was actually similar to the 2011 Chicago Rock'n'Roll HM where I'd run 1:26:49 (a PR at the time)</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>My Garmin pace and elevation look like this:</div>
</div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">
<div><br><a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/races-places/chicago-marathon/mlk-weeklies-jan-16-21?plckForumPage=ForumImage&plckPhotoId=0ff1880a-2655-4f0b-8d13-fbc5e050f2e4&plckRedirectUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.runnersworld.com%2Fcommunity%2Fforums%2Fraces-places%2Fchicago-marathon%2Fmlk-weeklies-jan-16-21" style="color:rgb(201,45,27);" target="_blank" title="Click to view a larger photo"><img alt="" src="http://sitelife.runnersworld.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/15/13/0ff1880a-2655-4f0b-8d13-fbc5e050f2e4.Medium.bmp" style="display:inline;padding-top:7px;padding-right:7px;padding-bottom:7px;padding-left:7px;"></a></div>
</div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;"> </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">We skipped the post race party (and food/beer at the VIP tent) and headed out to meet family for brunch. However; leaving the race site when we did was a nightmare. For some reason they did not allow us out of the parking lot the way we came... that would have had us back on the hwy in 2 mins. NO. They sent us towards the race course and hence we were trapped by road closures. I think we drove the course backwards and actually spent more time in the car than racing. </div>
<div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;line-height:normal;">
<div><br>
Overall it was a good race that I'd do again (for free) and I think my performance was about right for my fitness level and bodes well for this year. Also, DW got a PR (low 1:42s) despite feeling sick towards the end AND stopping to kiss DD (with grandparents). I think she should be running 1:40. Maybe I'll pace her for a HM this year.</div>
</div>
<p> </p>
