Rhett

Phoenix Marathon

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Location:

Lake Havasu City,AZ,

Member Since:

Sep 29, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

23 marathons

6 Bostons (2007-2011, 2017)

3 Half Ironmans

2 Ironmans

3 50 Milers

1 Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim

Marathon PR:

     2:59:00 St. George 2008

     2:58:03 Boston 2010

 1/2 Marathon PR:

     1:25:41  Havasu Half 2009

     1:24:09 Painter's St.George 2010

 Half Ironman PR:

      5:25:02  HITS Havasu 2014

5K PR:

       18:23  LHC Turkey Trot 2014

        18:22  LHC Turkey Trot 2017

50 mile PR:

        7:56:14 Avalon50 2016

Short-Term Running Goals:

Break 3 hours again

Doing it a Boston would be sweet!

It was sweet!

UPCOMING RACES

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Have fun!

 

Personal:

Married

4 kids

Optometrist

 

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Salomon Sense Pro 4 Lifetime Miles: 320.00
Salomon Ultra Pro Lifetime Miles: 387.00
NB 1500 V6 Lifetime Miles: 219.00
Adizero Pro Lifetime Miles: 57.00
Hoka Clifton 8 Lifetime Miles: 346.00
Brooks Ghost 14 Lifetime Miles: 343.00
Brooks Ghost 14 #3 Lifetime Miles: 163.00
Inov8 G270 Lifetime Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
11.5046.2011.000.000.0068.70
Asics DS Racer Miles: 35.20Reebok Reelflex Miles: 10.50Adidas Adios Boost Miles: 14.00Asics Tarther Miles: 8.00
Race: Phoenix Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:13:05, Place overall: 86, Place in age division: 14
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.0026.200.000.000.0026.20

Phoenix Marathon

Things definitely did not go as planned in the preparation for this marathon.  I was unable to run for 6 weeks in the middle of my 16 week training program becuase of a calf issure, but was healthy for the final 8 weeks.  Then I came down with a head cold 5 days before the race that seemed to zap a lot of my energy. That being said, I felt very blessed to be able to be in as good of shape as I was to start the race.

Friday night I had a pre-race dinner at Black Bear Diner with Blake and his family, and Jeff and his family and a couple other friends.    Blake, Jeff, and I all had pancakes for our pre-race carb loading.  They were good and the company was even better.  Blake and I went back to the hotel and got our things ready for the race and checked the weather which said it would rain all night and all the next day and that we would have 10 to 20 mph head winds. Yuck!

After a surprisingly good night's sleep we awoke to dry weather but strong winds.  We took the long bus ride up to the start and found Jeff and mentally prepared.  The flags were wipping in the wrong direction but it was still dry out.  After the national anthem accompanied with some firework,s we headed to the starting line.  A few minutes before the start it started raining hard.  It was about 60 degrees out so it felt good. The cool thing is, the wind stopped blowing when the rain came. 

I had been debating what pace to run, and since I had a cold and was not feeling 100%, I decided to go with the 3:10 pace group. It ended up being the right decision.  By the end of the first mile the rain had stopped and it was pretty calm out. Only a few times during the race did I feel like I was running into a head wind and I just tucked in behind our pacer at those time. 

The first half of the race has most of the down hill in the race and the only serious up hill.  The whole race only has about an 800 foot drop the second half is pretty much flat.  At the half way mar,k I knew I was going to have to work to keep that pace up the rest of the race, but I felt like I could.  I hit the halfway mark at 1:34:22 (7:12 pace), perfect for a 3:10 marathon.

The next 7 miles I tried to just keep things steady and did a good job.  From the half to mile 20, my average pace was 7:14, but I was starting to feel it during that 20th mile and knew I was going to have to dig deep.  Over the next few miles I started to fade a bit and miles 23 and 24 were my only miles over 8 minutes.  I averaged 7:52 over the last 10k, but finihed strong over the last couple miles.  I even ran the last 0.4 with a 6:40 pace.  I'm pretty confident this course is about a quarter mile long as everyone's watches registered about 26.45, just like last year and I know I ran the tagents. 

Anyways I finished with a 3:13:05 (7:22 pace) which gave me a BQ by 1:55.  I'm not sure if I will register for Boston, and if I do, it may not be fast enough to get me in anyways, but it sure feels good to be back into the BQ club.

Congratulations to Jeff who entered the sub 3 club with well earned 2:59:56 and to Blake who set a 6 minute PR. 

This is a very well organized event, and except for the course being a bit long, I would I wouldn't change a thing about it.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for winter marathon.  It is February 28th next year and I'm pretty sure I will be back for my 3rd shot at this race.

Asics DS Racer Miles: 26.20
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

30 minutes stationary bike to work out any soreness from the marathon.  Legs feel remarkably good.

Core work.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

30 munites elliptical.  My legs feel 100% so I'll probably do an easy run tomorrow.

Core work

Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
2.500.000.000.000.002.50

2.5 easy miles (AP 8:05) to see how I'm doing post marathon.

I am suprised that everything felt perfectly fine this morning. My theory is that my cold held me back on race day, so I didn't run as fast as my legs were prepared for, so I am not as sore as usual post marathon.

Core work.

Reebok Reelflex Miles: 2.50
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

45 minutes stationary bike

Now that the marathon is over I am going to shift into triathlon mode through November when I will do a Half Ironman here Lake Havasu City.

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

Core work

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

1 hour stationary bike

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.004.000.000.004.00

4 miles at temp effort (6:56) on a beautiful Wednesday morning.

I had to make it quick so I could make it to the school for the kids  end of quarter awards assembly. Cade (9) read the most words out of anyone in his grade this quarter... 1.2+ million words, amazing!

Adidas Adios Boost Miles: 4.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

1 hour stationary bike

core

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.008.000.000.000.008.00

8 miles, AP 7:20 - It was an amazing morning. I need to take advantage of the next month or so before the mornings start getting hot.

Asics Tarther Miles: 8.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
1.000.003.000.000.004.00

4 miles on another beautiful morning.

I'm taking another easy week since it is Spring Break and I'm just enjoying spending the mornings hanging out with the kids.

Asics DS Racer Miles: 3.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
8.000.000.000.000.008.00

8 easy miles

Heading on a long ski weekend with the kids today.

Reebok Reelflex Miles: 8.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.006.000.000.000.006.00

6 miles that felt way harder than they should have. It is always amazing to me how quickly the pace I run a marathon at becomes difficult after a few weeks of recovery.

Asics DS Racer Miles: 6.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

15 minutes stationary bike

20 minutes stair intervals

15 minutes stationary bike

Seated calf press

Planks

Felt good to mix it up today.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.004.000.000.004.00

Not a lot of time this morning. I had to take the kids to school so I made it short and fast.

4 miles AP 6:52

Beautiful morning.
 

Adidas Adios Boost Miles: 4.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

1 hour stationary bike

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.006.000.000.000.006.00

6 miles pushing the pace a bit especially on the last couple miles when I was in the 6:40s.

AP 7:27

Adidas Adios Boost Miles: 6.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
11.5046.2011.000.000.0068.70
Asics DS Racer Miles: 35.20Reebok Reelflex Miles: 10.50Adidas Adios Boost Miles: 14.00Asics Tarther Miles: 8.00
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