Bob Mann: 2012 Rock N Roll Arizona Marathon

Sun Jan 15, 2012

On Sunday January 15, 2012, I ran a marathon in my 21st state. It was the Rock N Roll Marathon in Phoenix AZ. One of the reasons I chose this particular race was that I had a small monkey on my back when it came to RNR marathons. I was registered for the RNR marathon in San Diego in 2008, but had to skip it because of my broken ankle. Then I was registered for this same race in Arizona in 2010, but skipped it when my father had pacemaker surgery the day before my flight was to leave.

I had heard mixed things about RNR races, both from friends and from online reviews. Some people loved them and some people hated them. Without question, the races are expensive. Frankly, more expensive than is reasonable. But I wanted to give this one a shot. And really, with the cost of airfare and hotel and meals, the amount that this race costs versus the usual marathon rate is just a drop in the bucket.

From the reviews, it appeared as though the course is flat and fast. And the typical Phoenix weather in January is mild. So the conditions should be nice for a comfortable race. As it turned out, the day was cloudy, which helps keep away the possibility of overheating. I was told that Phoenix averages 350 sunny days per year, so this was a nice stroke of luck. In all, it was ideal conditions for a long run.

Still, I had low expectations for my time. Ever since my last marathon in Utah last September, I've been having difficulty maintaining a decent pace on long runs. I'm really not sure why. I had taken some time off (or mostly off) after Utah so my training mileage was down. But I built it back up in December, and actually ran more miles in December than in any other month in 2011. My weight had also crept up a little, but only by a couple of pounds. So maybe I wasn't quite in peak physical shape, but I shouldn't have been too far from it. Yet still, I seemed to have lost quite a bit of speed. Maybe it's just because I'm getting older. As time goes on, I will need to get myself in better shape. But for now, I knew I was good enough to knock another state off the list, and that's all that really mattered to me. I guessed that I would finish the race between 4:00 and 4:10. Of course, I was hoping to break 4 hours, but my body really felt as though that would be a stretch, so a time slightly over that would have been perfectly fine with me.

I arrived in Phoenix on Friday, two days before the race, and went straight to the expo in downtown Phoenix before heading to the hotel in Tempe. I was meeting up with my friend Dan, who had attended Arizona State for law school. When I determined that I would be running this race, I asked him if he wanted an excuse to go back to his old town for a weekend, and he decided that a long weekend away from work would be good for him. We didn't do much Friday night. Saturday we spent some time wandering around the ASU campus early in the day, and then later on watched the NFL playoff games at a local sports bar. We also got to meet up with a couple of running/fitness friends, Frankie and Stephen, who live in the area, as well as some friends of theirs. We had a very enjoyable evening watching football, eating dinner, and drinking beer. Well, not too much for me...

Sunday morning I got up nice and early and took the light rail from Tempe into downtown Phoenix for the start of the race. Frankie came out to meet me. He had parked nearby and rode his bike, and was planning to spend the day biking around town, stopping to see me at a couple spots along the route. It was certainly a beautiful day for a workout!

As the race began, I managed to get off a quick first mile. Typically the first mile is fairly slow since the crowd is always quite dense. But somehow, I did my fastest mile of the day in the first mile! The split was 8:33. I don't think I've ever before had my fastest mile in a marathon be the first mile. That was a faster pace than the one I intended to keep, so I slowed down, then settled into a nice groove around 8:50 for the next bunch of miles. The first half of the race was completely flat, and mostly straight. We started westward, then turned north for about 5 miles, then turned east until right around the halfway point. The neighborhoods were residential and light commerical. Nothing too ugly. Among the conflicting stories I had heard about this race was that it was all strip malls and other such ugly scenery. I didn't find it offenseive at all. After the halfway point, there was an out-and-back into downtown Scottsdale, then the race headed south to Tempe, where it ended in the parking lot of the ASU football stadium. It would have been nice to finish on the 50 yard line inside the stadium, like we did at Notre Dame's stadium in South Bend. But oh well, this would have to do.

Anyway, the lure of the Rock N Roll Marathon series is that there are bands stationed at frequent points along the course. These are all local bands that I'd never heard of, so it's not like Elvis and Sinatra were playing. As you run past the bandstands, you can really only hear the bands for half a minute or so before you're out of earshot again. To me, that rather negates the point of having all these bands. Nonetheless, I guess it was a nice touch. Most of the bands were playing covers of various famous tunes, and I recall hearing songs by Journey, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Buffet. And I also recall an oldies group singing "At The Hop" by Danny and the Juniors. One of my favorites from the 1950s!

I crossed the halfway point at about 1:57 on my Garmin. I didn't expect to maintain a similar pace, so even at this point I thought 4:00 was still unlikely. Sure enough, my pace began to dip right after the halfway point, to about 9:10 per mile. I was still happy with that, and I would try to keep that up for as long as I could.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Way back early in the race, I had stepped in a pothole in the pavement. I stumbled briefly, but I never rolled an ankle or anything like that. In fact, at the time I didn't make anything of it, and I don't recall exactly when it happened. I think it was around Mile 5. However, by the time I reached Mile 17, that foot (my left one) began to ache. Almost instantly, my pace slipped way down as I began to favor that ankle.

Over the next couple miles, the ankle was really hurting. If I really tried, I probably could have pushed through the pain and kept running. But it bothered me enough to where I preferred to take walk breaks whenever I felt it necessary so as to give the ankle a rest. As a result, my pace over the last 9 miles was terrible. I was getting passed left and right

My slowest mile of the day was Mile 24, in which I clocked a 13:17. This might be the slowest mile I've ever recorded in a marathon. Checking my log, it was slower than anything I recorded in Wyoming. The only other possibility would be my first marathon in Chicago, but I didn't record splits in that race, so there's no way to tell.

Obviously I wasn't happy that I was poking along like this. Still, I could tell that the foot was not badly injured. It was more of a minor inconvenience than anything. Even coming into the race I knew there would be no PR attempt, so frankly, being a little slow didn't bother me much at all. I would much rather be slow than to beat myself up shaving off a few minutes and seriously injuring myself in the process. And of course, checking another state off the map was the most important thing. I crossed the finish line in 4:19:43. The only slower marathons were the two previously mentioned: the insanely difficult one in Wyoming, and my first one in Chicago. And really, I was perfectly okay with that.

I hit the medical tent right beyond the finish line for the first time in my running career. I got a bag of ice wrapped around the ankle, just to be safe. I didn't linger in the medical tent very long becuase there were runners there who were obviously in much worse shape than me, either becuase of injury or serious dehydration. I moved on and found a place to rest for a while before heading back to the hotel. The B52s were playing a free concert in the park nearby, but I had somehow meandered in the opposite direction, and didn't feel like hobbling back the other way. So I settled for listening to "Love Shack" and "Rock Lobster" from a distance.

I got to hang out with Frankie briefly again. I really appreciate that he took so much time out of his day to support me at various points around the race. After getting back to the hotel and showering and resting up a little, Dan and I headed out to watch more football, drink beer and eat greasy food. Always a nice reward for running a marathon, fast or not! The following day I returned home to New Jersey.

In summary, sure, the bum ankle and the slow time are a bit of a disappointment. But as always, I am most pleased about completing another state. As for the RNR Marathon experience, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It wasn't a phenomenal race, and I'm not sure I'd ever go so far as to say it was worth all the extra money. But it certainly wasn't terrible. There's a chance I might attempt another RNR marathon before too long, because I've got my eye on Seattle for June. In the meantime, I am already registered for a tiny marathon in Lake Geneva WI, which is the town my dad was born and raised in. That race will be in May, which should give me ample time to get myself in better shape, if I so desire. Or I can simply try to maintain my current shape and settle for more mediocre finish times. I'm torn between trying to be fast and just trying to have fun. We'll see how I feel...

And now the photos. Click any image to enlarge.

Me and Frankie in the dark, before the race

And another shot

Waiting in the start corral

A bunch of runners waiting

Just about to pass the start line

I enjoy taking pictures of some of the more amusing signs. This race had a bunch. This one ends with "Don't poop".

Unfortunately, a little blurry. "Is that Gu in your pocket or are you happy to see me?"

"Tebow may walk on water, but he isn't here running a marathon, is he?" (P.S., I got a lot of "Go Gators" from the spectators. I was surprised to get that so far away from campus).