Whiskey Row

My disposable outer layer

We are the first ones here

The race was to start at 6:00 am. We got there a little early – about 5:20. The start was on a street corner in front of Hotel St Michaels. We knew we were in the right place because we saw the overhead banner- Whiskey Row Marathon. But we were the first ones there! Okay one other guy was arriving at the same time as us. Just one. We walked into the hotel looking for a restroom to use. As the race got closer a few other people showed up. But not til about 5 minutes before did the “crowd” show up! Next time I’m staying in Hotel St Michael so that I can walk out just 5 minutes before start!

I was looking around, trying to decide if I had a chance of winning that day. There didn’t seem to be very many women, so I decided that it might be a remote possibility…

10 minutes before start

I had no time goal for the day. The whole race was 5,000-7,000 feet elevation, and I didn’t know what that kind of elevation would do to my pace.

We had hills to climb right off the bat. The air felt thin and I wanted to walk within the first few miles. My pride didn’t want me to be the first person around walking. I did start to walk 5 miles into the race though. I think I saw someone else walk and thought ‘okay, now I can too’. Even though I was one of the first to start walking, I thought, ‘these hills are going to catch up with everyone. Maybe if I start walking now, I’ll be better off later’. And I believe I was right about that.

When I started walking so early in the race I thought ‘Do I really want to do this today? This is going to be a looooong day. Maybe I’ll take the whole time given’. I wasn’t worried about missing the cut-off, but I just thought that suddenly I was in for a long day. But after questioning myself I decided ‘yes, I do want to do this today. Karen and Cynthia are watching my kids. Noah is mountain biking. No one is relying on me to do anything. All I have to do is enjoy the scenery of Prescott! I just have to let go of my pace, and just keep moving forward’.

So that’s what I did the rest of the race. I just kept moving forward. When I wanted to walk I walked. It was ALLOT. Sometimes I felt like I was walking more than running. But then I’d run a little. As long as I was moving along the 26 mile course…

The course was to run up a hill, climbing from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. You knew when you were at the top- there was a beautiful lookout. Then it was down hill, but not all down hill. Back to 5,000. Then turn around and go back up that big hill. Nothing was flat. It was never ever flat. Always up or down. The first and last 5 miles were paved. The rest of it was on shady dirt road.

I wrote texts in my mind to my friends sometimes. Texts that said “I’m doing the buddy walk today…but where are my buddies?” This is a reference to an inside joke from one of our earlier races…Long Beach I think. And at the half way point I did a mind text that said “I’m half way through, now Ill turn around and walk home!”….

It felt so good to get to the highest point for the 2^nd time. This was mile 17. Then I knew the hardest stuff was over. There would still be some hills to climb, but I had reached the highest point for the last time. My pace was at this point averaged close to 10 minute miles- just under. Over the last 9 miles I was able to shave it down to a 9:22 pace on my watch.

My legs felt strong and good in the last 9 miles. I was happy to find that I could still take the down hills fast. I thought about Top Of Utah Marathon where my quads hurt so bad that I had to walk down hills toward the end.

I started to catch up with people I hadn’t seen in awhile. The crowd really spread out and with maybe 5 miles to go I found myself alone. I couldn’t see anyone and started to panic that I had missed a turn. I decided to keep moving forward and hope for the best. I was so happy when I saw other runners again.

I remembered there had been steep ups and downs in the first few miles. So I knew I still had some steep hills to climb in the last couple of miles. But I wasn’t worried anymore. I just kept thinking ‘do what you can do today’. I kept thinking that training was the time to do the pushing, and today was the day to let my body do whatever it was prepared for. Whether it was walking or running hard. And some of it, luckily, was running hard!

I was happy with the experience because it seemed like a great opportunity to work through challenges. I had a chafing spot that I fixed. I pulled out my aquaphor and took care of the problem before it got any worse. I worked a small pebble out of my shoe. Some races I’ve just held onto my rhythm and ignored pains, figuring that I’d deal with the consequences later. It felt good to solve problems and keep working my way through this race.

It felt good to be in the moment, realizing that I wouldn’t work through this race in the usual timely manner, I started to just enjoy the moment. To think about only the mile I was in. Or the hill I was on.

But in the end my pace and finishing time wasn’t bad at all! It ended up allot faster than I thought it would be. I’m happy with my finish time but I’m most of all happy with my mental acceptance for the day.

I love PF Chang’s Marathon because I can work into my rhythm and just hold it. I can take it easy or I can push my pace and be really challenged. But sometimes I like to seek out a course that cannot be easy. A course that is challenging no matter what. It won’t be my last elevation race. It won’t be my last hilly race. I’m already wondering about Flagstaff marathon now. How does it compare?

I went back for the awards ceremony at 5:30 pm. I had no idea where I came in. I couldn’t really tell out there because I saw other women ahead of me but figured some were part of the half marathon and some might be relay? I wasn’t sure. But I thought there might be a chance….turns out I did get an age group award- 2^nd place in age group! I was 6^th woman out of 46 female marathoners and 39^th marathoner out of 166 marathoners. Very exciting to get an extra medal for an age group place. A perk to small challenging marathons I suppose!

And the best part of my marathon day was when Mitzi texted me that very day to tell me that my 2 little nieces, age 10 and 8, just completed a progressive marathon and were super excited to show me their shirts and medals! What an exciting thing to see someone you care about catch the excitement of running! Hearing that was like the whip cream and cherry on my marathon sundae:)

Age group award! 

Extra Info: Of course food and running go hand in hand for me and so I need to put in a plug for the food establishments of Prescott! We stuck with a chain for lunch- 5 guys, but enjoyed some local establishments later in the day- A bakery in downtown historic Prescott- called “Granny Annie’s Bakery” I think.  Anyway this women working in the shop makes it all herself. I had my first chocolate Napoleon. It was really great. But she had many amazing choices- cookies, cannoli’s, cream horns, fresh pie, cinnamon rolls, etc etc….amazing. And then we ate dinner later at Firehouse Plaza. We sat outside upstairs and enjoyed the ambience of the perfect day and good food.