New year and time for some new races. I loved doing this race in early 2020 before everything locked down. At the time I learned how great Arizona weather is during the winter. It is also a convenient 5-hour road trip from home. We drove out on Friday and picked up our race packets. The goal was to walk the 5k on Saturday as a team and then for me to do the Half Marathon on Sunday. This also would earn me a Re-Mix challenge award and another Heavy Medler (7th) award.
The 5k went well and included a fantastic sunrise. I love that my significant other can do these with me, but I do have to tone down the pace. It’s all good as I do these for the distance and the fitness benefits. We spent the remainder of our day enjoying food and relaxing at our hotel where some of the pools were open.
Sunday, race day, arrived and I headed to the start line. Since my last post in San Antonio, I had missed about a week and a half of training due to the holidays and me just being lazy. I was somewhat worried about this race. Would I get injured or would I still have enough training? As it turns out I was perfectly fine.
When I feel good, I usually have a good day of racing. I might have done the first half of the race at a little too aggressive of a pace as the second half would prove a little more challenging. However, I found the strength to push through the mental and physical discomfort and finish with one of my better times. I enjoyed my mile 7 selfie and the mile 9-10 buttes.
The last two miles were tough. It was starting to get really hot and my legs were really hurting. But once I pass mile 7 I am committed to the finish. There is a balance I continue to struggle with and keep with my mind and body. Part of my brain says “This is painful, we should quit, you’re going to injure me”. Another part says “You need this in order to better your health! You will come out of this challenge much stronger!”
Success! I crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 39 minutes. This was a nice 6-10 minute improvement over the times I had achieved from Sep-Dec.
I returned to the hotel and cleaned up. We stopped for some coffee and some wings before leaving town. Tempe, I love ya, but California is my home. What a great weekend!
