Phoenix Half Marathon Recap (sorry a bit long)

RunConquerCelebrate

The night before the race I felt horrible I had a hard time breathing because my nose was so stuffed up, and I also had a cough. I did not get much sleep and to be honest when the alarm went off at 3 AM I consider not going, knowing that it was going to rain and how I felt I thought it was not going to be a good idea. But I got up and got ready, when I arrived at the bus pickup it was not raining. We all hoped that it was going to stay that way before the race started.

We got dropped off and I did my best to stay warm under the heaters, 10 minutes before the race the wind started to pick up and 5 mins before the race the rain started to come down. It was not pouring, it was not sprinkling but it was in between those two. It was raining side ways with wind.

The race started and I told myself "just pace yourself" I did not want to start out too fast and than die at the end, thanks to everyone for their racing tips, tips on being prepared for the rain and also running with a cold. Those tips really helped me I wore my wind breaker and that helped keep me somewhat dry, I wore a visor to help keep the rain out of my eyes, and I had my cough drops with me and those helped me in not coughing a lung out during the race.

I kept looking for the 2:20 pacer but could not find him, I found the 2:10 but I knew they were a bit fast for me so I decided to just pace myself.

It rain I think for the first 3 or 4 miles, I was making sure that I was not going to slip on the wet road. I felt good for the first 6 miles. According my Nike App which has kept track of all of my races and runs says that I PR on my 10k distance. (I ran the 10k race in the Phoenix Marathon last year) my Nike App says I ran it at 55:57, last year I ran it at 66 mins.

I think around mile 6 or 7 it started to rain again, this time it was a light rain and it did not last for long. I walked at every water station that I stopped at, I needed to make sure my throat was not going to get dry and it allowed me to catch my breath and sometimes blow my nose ( I know gross)

At mile 8 I saw the 2:20 pacer I asked him what pace he was running he said 10:40, so I was able to stick with that group for about 2 miles and than it started. At mile 10 I felt my right thigh starting to cramp up, I slowed down a bit to be able to give it a quick massage. I kept running than at mile 11 it happened again and this time my toes on both feet felt like they were starting to cramp up. I have never felt that before and it felt weird, I thought they were going to cramp up so bad that I would not be able to keep running. So I slowed down a bit more, at this point my goal was to finish under 11 minutes and under 2:30. Before I got sick I really wanted to push myself and run a 10 to 10:30 pace. But being sick made that goal really hard.

So here is my highlight of the race, at mile 11 or so I hear the cops say "move over to the right Elite runner, move over" so we all moved and next to me passes one motorcycle cop and a little bit after him was this guy running I knew than he was the marathon winner, man this guy looked like he was running on air, his toes seemed like they barely touched the ground. I wish I had my phone out I would have taken a picture. I was in awe, I mean you see the marathon winners on TV but I have never had one pass me by on a race. It was awesome.

I kept pushing since I knew I had a little over a mile left, we made the turn and I could see the finish line I did my best at sprinting without cramping.

Crossing that finish line and receiving my medal felt great, I had fun, I read a lot of the signs that people made there was some funny ones like this one " If you want to poop smile" and this one "This seemed like a good idea 4 months ago"

This is my base time for my next Half Marathon in December, I will train better and work on increasing my miles and working on my pace so that I can beat my time next race.

How do I feel right now you ask, Horrible. My sinus hurts, I am breathing through my mouth, my whole body aches and I have this really ugly cough. But i did it, I accomplish my goal. I did not walk during the race that was one of my other goals (only a bit at the water stations)

Thank you all for your support and your advice you guys are awesome.

Now tell me how do I recover LOL!!!

SonicDeathMonkey80

Good recap, and good job on the race!

My recovery advice is ibuprofen and ice for inflammation, and walk, walk, walk. When I'm home, I tend to loaf on the couch, so my favorite days are when I work because of all the walking. Or I'll go shopping or something like that to stay on my feet until it warms up. I thought it sounded counter-intuitive, but it does wonders!

ZenInTexas

Great job!!! Those were tough conditions, you did awesome! How cool to see the marathon winner. To help recover try and move around as much as you can. Go for a walk tomorrow. Get a massage if you can. But you're going to be sore for a couple days.

RunConquerCelebrate

Good recap, and good job on the race!

My recovery advice is ibuprofen and ice for inflammation, and walk, walk, walk. When I'm home, I tend to loaf on the couch, so my favorite days are when I work because of all the walking. Or I'll go shopping or something like that to stay on my feet until it warms up. I thought it sounded counter-intuitive, but it does wonders!

Thank you, OK walking to the kitchen to get the ibuprofen and some ice

I do have some grocery shopping to do tomorrow so that will help with the walking (even though I am walking funny)

fleetzz

Congratulations! I don't know if I would have even run being that sick. You are pretty impressive! Now rest, and heal, and recover. So you can run the next one!

SonicDeathMonkey80

Good recap, and good job on the race!

My recovery advice is ibuprofen and ice for inflammation, and walk, walk, walk. When I'm home, I tend to loaf on the couch, so my favorite days are when I work because of all the walking. Or I'll go shopping or something like that to stay on my feet until it warms up. I thought it sounded counter-intuitive, but it does wonders!

Thank you, OK walking to the kitchen to get the ibuprofen and some ice

I do have some grocery shopping to do tomorrow so that will help with the walking (even though I am walking funny)

Hey, I was hobbling at work last Monday following my Sunday race. It's completely normal, but just keep moving, and "drain the legs" by going for a very slow run when the joint aches/pains go away. That's my only rule - I'll run on plain sore legs (it feels so good), but not on achy/pained joints. I imagine there some kind of musculoskeletal healing going on that doesn't need to be aggravated.

RunnerElizabeth

Great race Shirley! I know how much it sucks to race when you are sick! After a big race I usually recover with a with a walk to the Belgium brew house down the road. ;-)

Try some vicks under your nose for the goop. It helps a little bit.

UrbanRunner81

You did great. My suggestion is relax the rest of the day. Tomorrow go for a walk to loosen up the muscles a bit. You did great. Congrats!

RunConquerCelebrate

Great job!!! Those were tough conditions, you did awesome! How cool to see the marathon winner. To help recover try and move around as much as you can. Go for a walk tomorrow. Get a massage if you can. But you're going to be sore for a couple days.

Thank you Jen, I will try to go for a walk tomorrow even if it is a short one, it is pouring right now and not sure if it is going to rain tomorrow. YAY!! for being sore

RunConquerCelebrate

Good recap, and good job on the race!

My recovery advice is ibuprofen and ice for inflammation, and walk, walk, walk. When I'm home, I tend to loaf on the couch, so my favorite days are when I work because of all the walking. Or I'll go shopping or something like that to stay on my feet until it warms up. I thought it sounded counter-intuitive, but it does wonders!

Thank you, OK walking to the kitchen to get the ibuprofen and some ice

I do have some grocery shopping to do tomorrow so that will help with the walking (even though I am walking funny)

Hey, I was hobbling at work last Monday following my Sunday race. It's completely normal, but just keep moving, and "drain the legs" by going for a very slow run when the joint aches/pains go away. That's my only rule - I'll run on plain sore legs (it feels so good), but not on achy/pained joints. I imagine there some kind of musculoskeletal healing going on that doesn't need to be aggravated.

Got it, that was going to be my next question, when should I start running again but you just answered it. It was funny because after the race and walking around the area for runners it was funny to see everyone walking all weird

RunConquerCelebrate

Great race Shirley! I know how much it sucks to race when you are sick! After a big race I usually recover with a with a walk to the Belgium brew house down the road. ;-)

Try some vicks under your nose for the goop. It helps a little bit.

Thanks Elizabeth, yes it sucked to run sick but I had been waiting for this race all last year i just did not feel like giving up that easy. I will try vicks tonight I actually bought some Nyquil so that I can rest

RunConquerCelebrate

You did great. My suggestion is relax the rest of the day. Tomorrow go for a walk to loosen up the muscles a bit. You did great. Congrats!

Thanks I did my best on trying to relax today, we had to go to church but back home just chilling I will try to go for a short walk tomorrow.

SonicDeathMonkey80

Good recap, and good job on the race!

My recovery advice is ibuprofen and ice for inflammation, and walk, walk, walk. When I'm home, I tend to loaf on the couch, so my favorite days are when I work because of all the walking. Or I'll go shopping or something like that to stay on my feet until it warms up. I thought it sounded counter-intuitive, but it does wonders!

Thank you, OK walking to the kitchen to get the ibuprofen and some ice

I do have some grocery shopping to do tomorrow so that will help with the walking (even though I am walking funny)

Hey, I was hobbling at work last Monday following my Sunday race. It's completely normal, but just keep moving, and "drain the legs" by going for a very slow run when the joint aches/pains go away. That's my only rule - I'll run on plain sore legs (it feels so good), but not on achy/pained joints. I imagine there some kind of musculoskeletal healing going on that doesn't need to be aggravated.

Got it, that was going to be my next question, when should I start running again but you just answered it. It was funny because after the race and walking around the area for runners it was funny to see everyone walking all weird

I usually go for a sloooooow run 48hrs after an event. Like last week, I ran on Tuesday at a 10:40 pace and barely got my heart rate up. Don't feel like you're under pressure to do anything you don't feel like doing. Everybody recovers differently.

RunConquerCelebrate

Good recap, and good job on the race!

My recovery advice is ibuprofen and ice for inflammation, and walk, walk, walk. When I'm home, I tend to loaf on the couch, so my favorite days are when I work because of all the walking. Or I'll go shopping or something like that to stay on my feet until it warms up. I thought it sounded counter-intuitive, but it does wonders!

Thank you, OK walking to the kitchen to get the ibuprofen and some ice

I do have some grocery shopping to do tomorrow so that will help with the walking (even though I am walking funny)

Hey, I was hobbling at work last Monday following my Sunday race. It's completely normal, but just keep moving, and "drain the legs" by going for a very slow run when the joint aches/pains go away. That's my only rule - I'll run on plain sore legs (it feels so good), but not on achy/pained joints. I imagine there some kind of musculoskeletal healing going on that doesn't need to be aggravated.

Got it, that was going to be my next question, when should I start running again but you just answered it. It was funny because after the race and walking around the area for runners it was funny to see everyone walking all weird

I usually go for a sloooooow run 48hrs after an event. Like last week, I ran on Tuesday at a 10:40 pace and barely got my heart rate up. Don't feel like you're under pressure to do anything you don't feel like doing. Everybody recovers differently.

Trust me I do not feel under pressure, but I do love all of advice I get here from all of you.

michable

Thanks for recapping your race for us. Well done to run under those conditions! Was that your first half marathon? I am training for my first half, so love to hear everyone's race stories to get an idea of what it might be like!

Thanks again!

amandamurdaugh

Excellent recap! Congrats on your half! You did awesome

essjay76

Woohooo!!! You rocked it out! Good job sticking out the weather and cramping! And to be sick too! Congrats!! ????????

RunConquerCelebrate

Thanks for recapping your race for us. Well done to run under those conditions! Was that your first half marathon? I am training for my first half, so love to hear everyone's race stories to get an idea of what it might be like!

Thanks again!

Yes this was my first Half, I know that if I was not sick I could have done better but this just gives me motivation to push harder and perform better at my second half in December. When is your first Half?

RunConquerCelebrate

Excellent recap! Congrats on your half! You did awesome

Thank you

RunConquerCelebrate

Woohooo!!! You rocked it out! Good job sticking out the weather and cramping! And to be sick too! Congrats!! ????????

Thank you

sarahz5

Thanks for sharing the recap! I am so impressed that you went out and got it done in the rain, sick. It's kind of nice to have a baseline you know you can top next time... I am running into the sad fact that I have no chance of topping my first half time in this next one, and it's a bummer!