Phoenix Rock n Roll Marathon Recap

Above: Brice and me at mile 19. Taken by Mary as she juggled two very bored children while waiting for me. I said it before and I'll say it again, "a marathon is NOT a spectator sport."

Well, the day finally came and Brice and I churned out the marathon. 26.2 miles of experiences, gut checks, emotional highs and emotional lows and I'll see what I can do to capture them all right here. First, kudos to Brice Moorman for his PR in the marathon!! 4:33 (we're disputing our chip times). As well, I was happy to knock out a 4:23, a little faster than I projected. So all is well.

Random thoughts and observations:

• Before I dive into this I have to say thanks to Mary for being patient with all the time that this training took. I love you.
  
• Everyone should know what it feels like to run through a 300 yard finishing area where thousands of people are cheering, no screaming for you to succeed. There's not a lot that can top that.
• If someone is supposed to be the standard bearer for the 4:30 marathon, then he should keep his pace at a 4:30 pace. That guy probably forced a number of people to hit the wall because of the initial pace he set.
  
• Yet another good reason to be a man, we get to pee in side streets while most, but not all, women were forced to wait in lines for a port-a-potty.
• We saw two women with prosthetic legs running the marathon, and beating us for a good portion of the race. They are my heroes!!! I will never forget them!
  
• Brice, your "running joke" about the PR was very funny (it's his first marathon, so the PR was in the bag).
  
• Seeing my family at mile 19 was awesome!!! Even better was when the kids wore my "finisher's medal" for the rest of the day. They thought dad was pretty cool and that's worth a few dings and scratched paint on a piece of metal tied to a ribbon.
  
• Anyone who volunteers for the water stations, medical, finish line, driving, etc. is awesome!! I finished the run with bambi legs, which caused me to move at the whim of a gentle breeze or subtle tilt of the pavement. As such, I found myself drifting away from the bottle of water I so desperately wanted and a volunteer chased me down to get it to me. Thank you whoever you were!!
  
• The bands during the race were amazing. I was indifferent about them prior to the race, but they made it very fun.
• I learned that you can turn a good marathon into a serious gut check if you get cocky and up the speed at mile 20. I thought I was good because I passed the area known as "the wall," but "the wall" can find you anywhere during the marathon.
  
• I'll admit that I am now a big fan of whoever the person was that created the "running skirt." Was that my out-loud voice???
  
• The cup of coffee that I had from Starbucks just after the marathon was about the best cup of coffee I've ever had in my entire life. Also, I apologize to the lady behind the counter because I walked past the pastry display and laughed quite uncontrollably because I realized that I could eat that entire shelf of sugar and still not surpass the calories I had just burned. That's a peculiar and pretty darn cool feeling.
  
• Kudos to Elite Racing for putting on an error free event. It took a lot of work to make it move so seamlessly. Great work, but your shirts at the expo still sucked! Cotton?!?!? Really?!?!?!?
  

Also, here's a brief "day after the marathon" input. If you really want to know with pinpoint accuracy the elevation changes in your house, even if it is only one floor, run a marathon. My legs are sore today and I am very aware of things like the step into the shower, the weather strip that leads out the front door, the guides in my sliding glass doors for the backyard, the uneven spot in the tile down my hallway, and there's even a step from carpet to tile. I'd like to say I'm joking, but no...

One final thought. Find something you really want to do, ought to do, or should do and write it down in a clear goal, and share it with the world. It'll change your life. Do it now.

Now get back to work...