It's a grand Sunday. After yesterday's 10K race, I wasn't shure how much energy in the tank I had left. I will never run two long distance races in one weekend again. I didn't realize I did that when I accepted the invite/discount for the City of Peoria Half Marathon.
Peoria is a suburb city to the West of Phoenix. The race began at a very nice park in West Phoenix: Rio Vista Community Park. I've ran a few 5/10K races there so I knew I wouldn't have a problem driving to this location. One thing I wasn't all that thrilled about was that this half marathon had a 8am start time. By 8am I'm enjoying a nice cup of coffee after a long run so I wasn't shure how well I do if the weather was on the warmer side. Thank God it was a funky weather weekend. Yesterday was much cooler today along with drizzle and cloudy & gloomy morning. I loved that I didn't have to worry about the Sun. This morning was completely different. It was cold when I arrived an hour early for today's race. Ten minutes before race time, I was still napping and enjoying quiet time in the car.
I wasn't expecting much for this race because I never know which Xavier will show up for any given race. It could be the one that has a great race from start to finish or the one that just gets clobbered early on and gives up hope for a good race time/outcome. My concern from the early get go was the number of runners entered for this race. I could tell that it was less that 250 (220 officially completed this race). I'm always worried that I'll cross the Finish Line dead last. Even though the number of runners was quite smaller, this was a fast bunch of roof rats!
I started off well and felt inner cadence soon after the first mile. For the most part, the first 3 miles are always the toughest for me. This time around, the first 3 miles were easy and began to feel the 'blahs' by Mile 4. I may have started out a bit too fast so I felt a bit of a fade. I depended on a few around me to help pace me for two miles. Once I hit Mile 7 I felt good. By Mile 10 I knew I was on to a good thing and realized that I could finish with a time I could never have imagined. I did a bit of quick math in my head and decided to go for it. I picked up the pace for the last 3 miles and just ran en Chingas. I finally understood during this time that proper training is the key. My legs were still feeling good and I have enough energy to git er done!
I am proud to state that I finished with a time of 2:14:26. Praise Baby Jesus! I'm still in shock. By the end of the race my body and legs felt great. Warmer temperatures and the Sun weren't really a factor once I was in the zone. This was just a great experience. I'm competely bummed that not one person from my running groups ran this race. Most ran two bigger races last weekend so I was on my own for this race. I'm actually known for running different races that most in my group so it's no surprise but this was a local one. Either way, I'm happy and thrilled I ran this race.
The purpose for this race was to simply get my miles and long run in for a half marathon I'm excited about on March 23rd. So this weekend I got my miles in and accomplished a 1 Mile PR, 5K & 10K PR, & a Half Marathon PR. I'd say it was a great weekend for running.
After the race, I headed home to get ready to enjoy Devoured Phoenix Culinary Classic. This event features tasty edibles and samples from independently owned restaurants in Phoenix and Scottsdale along with various Arizona wineries as well those from around the world. So I ran, ate and drank like a King and enjoyed time with good friends, and returned home to enjoy cuddle time with my babies. Only thing that could have made this weekend any better was to have Rodan here with me.
Overall, I'm thankful for the blessings and joys this weekend brought my way. There's so much sadness throughout the world and in our own personal worlds that sometimes we're got to crave a way to get through the madness and take back our own joy. I'll never be a fast runner but that's OK. I'm thankful that I'm able to run. I'm grateful that I'm allowed and luck to plan a day so that I can run miles and miles. I attended Mass yesterday but look forward to attend Mass tomorrow morning so that I may properly Thank God, my Angels and Saints, and all those that have helped me along the way during this journey. Right now I'm thankful for this Good life!
*****Cheers & Blessings!*****
Current Music: Gary Go's Wonderful
Current Mood: Pure Awesomeness!
