Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Sedona half marathon (Race Recap)

Sedona, AZ
Saturday, February 1
Half Marathon #197
Weather - chilly at the start, sunny

We planned to get up pretty early, even though it was only a 25ish minute drive to the race. Basically, the race guide was somewhat confusing and I wanted to make sure that we would be able to get a parking space. We were able to grab some food from the lobby on our way out, which was nice. Imagine our surprise when we got back to Sedona and the high school where we parked was right by where packet pick up was. 
Pretty sunrise!
We used the bathroom in the hotel before grabbing our stuff from the car and walking to the start line, about a half mile away. Cycled through the bathroom line a few times and then we headed to the chute. Pre-race selfie!

View from the chute
I had told Ben that we needed to run our own races, so we started at the same time, but I lost him within the first five seconds. So fun backstory. We signed up last fall, as I really want to hit 200 lifetime half marathons, but I want to do some new ones and scenic races. I *knew* this would be hilly, but like most races, I didn't look at the profile until we got to Arizona. In my head I thought it was 500ish feet of gain. Nope, turns out it was going to be over 1,000'!!! Ok, so modify all  my goals and just walk as little as possible.

The course actually wasn't too crowded once we got going. We had a nice half mile or so of downhill, which on an out and back course meant we would have an uphill finish... 

Climbing started basically right after that first climb. First mile I managed under 11 minute pace, and I think I made it about 15 minutes before I started to take walk breaks. 
There was also a 10k race, and they started either 10 or 15 minutes after us, and it wasn't too long before they started to catch up to us - I felt bad for the fast people trying to weave in out of other runners. We had some fairly runnable road until about mile 3 (which again, meant that there would be a big climb on the way back).
There is really not much to say about the course itself. On a closed road. I had missed the first aid station because there was no signage prior to it and I was on the wrong side of the road. I had managed to stay ahead of the 2:35 pacer (which was much faster than my initial 2:45 goal) for the whole first half.
I saw Ben when I had maybe 3/4 of a mile to the turnaround. 
My stomach was feeling a bit off, so I peeled off and used the bathroom at the aid station. I felt a lot better, but I could see that the 2:35 pacer had passed me while I was stopped. We had already done over 600' of gain, so I knew there was less climbing on the way back and I cruised down a the hills - at one point I saw Melissa!! The way I was pacing I thought there would be a chance for me to come in under 2:30 if I worked REALLY hard. Once I got up the hill by the 10k turnaround I pushed my pace (and mile 11 was my fasted of the day) - I thought I had lost my 2:30 when I got to the last hill before the finish, but I pushed and managed to cross with about 20 seconds to spare. Wooo!

I didn't see Ben when I crossed so I slowly made my way to the beer garden, and didn't see him. No phone service made it tough, but we finally met up back near the finish.

Official time - 2:29:38
Overall place - 818/1383
Gender place - 413/813
Division place - 35/91
Out split - 1:15:09
Back split - 1:14:29 (with the bathroom stop, still negative split!!)

Garmin time - 2:29:38
Garmin distance - 13.12 miles
Average Pace - 11:25
Elevation Gain - 1,052'
Mile 1 - 10:48
Mile 2 - 12:59
Mile 3 - 10:45
Mile 4 - 10:49
Mile 5 - 11:36
Mile 6 - 12:24
Mile 7 - 13:13 (not bad with a bathroom stop!)
Mile 8 - 10:36
Mile 9 - 10:21
Mile 10 - 11:48
Mile 11 - 12:28
Mile 12 - 9:56
Mile 13 - 10:52
Mile 13.12 - 8:08 (wowie!!)

We hung out in the beer garden for a bit, waiting to see Melissa:

Thoughts:
  • Lots and lots and lots (and LOTS) of emails for this race. They did Zoom calls as well for course talks and Q&As.
  • Multiple options for packet pickup in the days leading up to the race, and I think they even had race day pick up.
  • Lots of options for parking and shuttles, etc. With the multiple distances, I'm glad that we arrived early and were able to get in/out pretty easily.
  • Race is absolutely beautiful, especially for a road race! 
  • Definitely challenging for a road race. 
  • Aid stations were ok, and cup free. Mostly just water, but sometimes when I asked for water I got some electrolyte mix that was also fine. Spaced ok, but there should have been some signage for them ahead of time, and a notification of which side of the road!
  • Pace groups - I don't normally use them or want to run with them, but on a tough course like this, I did like to see where I was in relation to those paces. 
  • Stupid gender neutral shirt.
  • Awesome medal!!
  • Beer garden was not free, you had to buy tokens, and they ran out of good beer, but we had already bought the tokens? So that was annoying.
  • Early registration is $70 plus fees, which is pretty standard. I signed up in October and paid $80 plus fees, so not much of an increase. This was the first year the race sold out. Other distances are 10K ($45) and 5K ($35).
  • Would I run again? Probably not, but only because it was really expensive for lodging, etc - nothing around Sedona or Cottonwood (half hour away) for less than about $200 a night (unless you were to go somewhere super sketchy).

Week in Review (January 28 - February 3)

Tuesday (14,269 steps) - Peloton and walked Olive before going to work. Gym at lunch, doing the StairMaster and some strength training. 
Walked Olive when I got home.
Wednesday (22,114 steps) - Walked Olive before going to work in the office. Went for my run at lunch - just easy miles, which I haven't had in a while. 
Walked Olive when I got home.
Thursday (13,035 steps) - Rowed before I logged in for the day. Took Olive fora  long walk at lunch and did a Peloton ride. Finally started packing for the weekend and squeezed in some strength training. Torchy's for dinner!
Started watching "The Handmaid's Tale" - truth be told, I'd started it a while ago but since I wasn't far into the series we are goin to watch together.
Friday (15,722 steps) - Took Olive for a walk before we headed to the airport. 
No delays in our flight. 
Our biggest issue was getting a rental car! Normally I just walk right up, grab a car and go. First car we got into we could NOT get the carplay to work. Second car, loaded everything up and no keys?? Third car was finally the one that worked. We headed towards Sedona, but we stopped and got lunch about a half hour north of the city since we were starving. We found a cute Mexican restaurant that had a good lunch special. Yum!
Imagine our surprise when we got to Sedona and discovered that the host hotel where the packet pick-up was going to be was RIGHT where we walked off course and DNF'd Cocodona in 2022... Getting our bib was a bit disorganized and the venue was horrible for that many people - so crowded! Ben and I went for a walk up the trail for a bit and got some pictures around sunset - beautiful!




We headed back down to Cottonwood, where our hotel was and checked in and got cleaned up. Ben wanted to get a beer, so we headed back out. The first brewery we went to was in a super sketchy area and nothing looked interesting, so we left. We ended up going to Clarksdale and stopped at the brewery that was on course for Coco! Even though there were a few hours left of January, I had one beer - I figured I skipped this brewery two years in a row during a race and who knows when I'll be back.
Due to our late lunch, neither of us was very hungry. We stopped at the gas station near the hotel and picked up a handful of snacks and water/coffee for morning.
Saturday (33,183 steps) - Sedona half marathon!
We walked back to the car and decided we should just start driving back down towards Phoenix, as we were staying there for the night. We went to The Stillery for lunch, and it was AMAZING - burger was delicious and the mac and cheese was probably top 5 best I've ever had.
We checked into our hotel before going over to our favorite local brewery - Front Pourch.
We lounged around the room all evening, watching Pitch Perfect 3. We ordered a pizza for dinner and had it delivered.
Sunday (14,589 steps) - Managed to sleep in until 8, which is pretty late for us. We got breakfast and packed up our stuff and headed out. I had found a trail nearby where I wanted to go on a hike. I was really surprised to see the number of people and cars there already! I guess that with the forecast being close to 80, people wanted to go out sooner.
I had glanced at the elevation profile, and all the climbing was in the first mile, and it was a nice 5k loop. I just love the desert!


Our second stop was going to "Yonutz!" - a specialty donut shop. I had seen an ad on Instagram, and it looked interesting. 
Ben and I split a cookie dough donut - two donuts that are fried and a scoop of ice cream in the middle, with toppings added after. Expensive, but delicious, and splitting one was a good idea.
The first brewery that we tried to go to was unexpectedly closed - the sign on the door indicated that they are very behind in rent. We found another location that looked nice. Parking was a nightmare, so we had to park kinda far away and walk over. It was nice (but hot) sitting at an indoor/outdoor patio. Finally, decided to just get gas and get back to the airport. No delays with our flight and I watched "Yellowjackets" on the plane. There WAS a medical emergency shortly before landing though (right near where I was sitting), so that was different. We didn't have to wait too long for a shuttle back to the truck and got home just before 10:30. A had made us dinner, so we ate before bed. LONG WEEKEND.
Monday (23,328 steps) - Felt fairly horrific when I woke up. After not drinking for a month and somewhat liberally over the weekend, I'm reminded how much better I feel when I abstain. I logged in to work early, did A's taxes, and then we had to head down to Golden so she could get to her classes for the day. I went out for my run, which was SLOW, but it was a glorious day out - tee shirt and shorts - and then took Olive for a walk.
I'd vote for Fred
For lunch I ran to King Soopers and picked up some groceries so I'd have food. Delicious!
Changed Goosie's outfit for Febraury - isn't her Valentine's Day dress cute?
Did a few deliveries after work & Handmaid's Tale.

Stats:
  • 136,240 steps
  • 22.88 miles of running
  • 17.89 miles of walking
  • 70 minutes of cardio
  • 50 minutes of strength

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Week in Review (January 21 - January 27)

Tuesday (14,378 steps) - Peloton ride and walked Olive before work. I wore the new scarf that Ben's mom made for me and it was nice and warm! Plus, I love the colors.
Gym at lunch, another HIIT on the StairMaster. I think this one was level 5 (?) and it was definitely challenging! The easy is so easy (at the start), but the faster paces are rough!
Also did an upper body video. Driving after work. 
Wednesday (23,601 steps) - Walked Olive before going to work in the office. Went for my run at lunch. It was chilly, but not awful, and thankfully no ice on the path.
I had a great workout and hit all my paces, for once running every rep faster than I was supposed to. YAY!!
Took Olive for a walk after I got home and did some driving.
Thursday (11,066 steps) - Work from home. Used the rower before I logged in for the day. Took Ariel to get coffee, took Olive for a long walk, did a Peloton ride and a full body strength workout. Driving after work and Torchy's Thursday!
Friday (13,679 steps) - Since I had a signing, I walked Olive before going to work, skipping the group walk at Wash Park. Took her for another walk when I got home. Met Ben at 4 Noses for a NA beer. Pizza and Squid Games.
Saturday (18,321 steps) - Snowed a decent amount overnight. Put Olive's boots on her hind feet (she hates them way too much for me to deal with them on the front).
She had a great time playing in the snow! Playtime was interrupted when we saw a few coyotes near the path, which is rare.
Got dressed for our run, stopped by the rec center to recycle our Christmas tree (RIP, Bruce Jr.) and then drove up to Boulder to meet up with Larry and Terri. I had thought that even with the recent snow that Terri's hill would be packed down, but as we would discover, it is was... Pic at the start of our run, Ben is not amused.

We saw a whole herd of deer, which was fun. They were jumping and prancing and generally enjoying the morning.
Due to conditions, we were only able to do two repeats (which was fine with all of us, since it was cold and snowing).
After we finished we went to Murphy's for lunch and beer (for everyone but me, still doing dry January). I had a delicious club sandwich.
We stopped at Sierra on the way home because Ben wanted to get some tall socks to wear with his work boots. Squid Games?
Sunday (15,423 steps) - Did some cleaning and had our Dutch Bros. before going to Big Dry Creek to get our run done. For some reason both of us were dreading it, although it wasn't that bad. We went to 4 Noses and got food from Ninja Ramen. Yum!
Took Olive for a walk. No recollection of the rest of the day at all. Squid Games.
Monday (18,610 steps) - Work from home. Took Olive for a walk and went for my run. I expected the trails by the lake to be muddy, so I opted to run the road - it wasn't bad at all!
Did a few deliveries after work and then took Olive for a walk. Squid Games!

Stats:
  • 115,078 steps
  • 20.01 miles run
  • 15.52 miles walked
  • 80 minutes of cardio
  • 40 minutes of strength

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Week in Review (January 14 - January 20)

Tuesday (12,927 steps) - Peloton and dog walk before going into the office. Went to the gym at lunch. Did another HIIT program on the StairMaster, one level up from last week. It's definitely a good workout, even with the slower climbing. 

Also did some upper body. Took Olive for  walk when I got home before going out and doing a few deliveries. 
Wednesday (22,870 steps) - Walked Olive before going into the office for work. Had another workout/tempo run at lunch, which obviously I was dreading. It was actually relatively nice weather (for January), and I ran most everything outside of the warmup in a tee shirt and thin tights! I didn't quite hit my goal pace of 9:55, but I did get under 10:30 for the 19 minutes (I know it shouldn't be that hard to sustain, and yet...) - even with a few minutes of walking. When I was actually running, I was in 9:40-9:55 pace range, I just struggled to hang on for the whole time. Meh.


Thursday (14,022 steps) - Work from home. Did some time on the Peloton before taking Olive for a long walk since the weather was INCREDIBLE. I wore only a sweatshirt and was fine, almost hot. After lunch I actually pulled out my step and barbell and weights and did a BodyPump video. Holy cow, I haven't done one of these in ages and I was sweating to death while doing this. I did forget how much it hurts to have the bar on the back of my neck though, I might need to invest in some foam (or a pool noodle) to fix this. Did some packing for our weekend trip, but didn't finish. We did our usual Torchy's Thursday, then I took Olive for a walk. We are now watching the Dexter prequel, which is decent. 
Friday (13,521 steps) - Wash Park with Olive and the gang. Another boring day for Olive at work.
Also heard back and I'm back on the Roost team for another year. If I hadn't taken a few years off during Covid I think this would be my 10th year, so this is probably year 8! Go Roost!
Thankfully, I got home from work before any weather came in. Dropped Olive off and did a few deliveries before meeting Ben at 4 Noses for an NA. Ben picked up pizza and I finished packing/cleaning. Dexter.
Saturday (10,876 steps) - I had my alarm set for 7:45, so of course I woke up at 6. Double checked all my gear, poked around, ate breakfast and had coffee. Got Olive all dressed up in her puffy coat and boots for a walk. She doesn't mind the coat but HATES the shoes (still).
She made it about 2 minutes before she started chewing on her front boots. It was incredibly cold and I got tired of it, so I took off the front boots. She doesn't seem to mind the back ones as much. She loves the snow and had a fun time burrowing, like usual. 
After a few minutes I noticed she was chewing on her front paws so we headed back home. We left the house at 9:30 with a quick stop at Dutch Bros. before going to pick up Ariel in Golden - it was snowing pretty decently, so I was glad Ben was driving us.
We were really surprised to be boarding on time, but then we sat on the plane for nearly two hours while they fixed some valve. It was truly bizarre, they actually were letting people off the plane, so when it all got fixed we had to wait for everyone to get back on, which took forever. BUT, we made it out!
We had to wait for Lisa to get out of church, but it wasn't bad and it was warm enough for me to pace outside and get all my steps in for the day. Juju was with her, and we went back to Lisa's house in Elgin for dinner. Lisa and I watched a movie "I See You" that I swear I had already seen, but couldn't remember how it ended. Was midnight before I got to sleep. VERY long day.
Random pic of Lisa's dog, because he is adorable
Sunday (10,226 steps) - I had set an alarm so I could go for a short run before we drove down to San Antonio. It was much colder than I expected it to be, so I wore my joggers and a hoodie (which I never do). Especially for Texas, feels like 10 and windy was COLD. I ran up and down her neighborhood, including a new section that hadn't yet been completed last year.



Juju made breakfast tacos, we had coffee, and got out the door by 9:15. The drive to San Antonio was 1:45, but we stopped at Buccee's along the way to get some drinks and a snack. Our first stop was Ariel's grannie's house - I haven't seen her in many years. We spent a few hours talking and then headed to Ben's parents house. We got there just in time to join them for brunch.
Bill, Ben's stepdad, is President of the Board of their building, and he gave us all a very thorough tour of the building. Lisa and Juju stayed long enough to get the tour of the building and their unit before they had to head back home. 
Ariel me, Ben's mom
Bill showed us a slideshow of their Vermont property (they sold their 80+ acres in 2020, and unfortunately we never got to see it in person) and the grounds of Shelburne Farms where he was a tour guide for years. Very neat to see the photos and hear stories. We continued the tour and watched the sunset from the 22nd floor (the room where they do social hours and get togethers - I swear they are more active socially than me and Ben).
They don't have dinner in the building on Sunday evenings, so we decided to go out. The first two places they wanted to go were closed, so we went to the 410 Diner. It was delicious! I got a BLT with egg and a side of mac and cheese.
It was after 9 before we got back to their building, but that just meant it was time for dessert! We had ice cream and talked until 10!!
Monday (10,221 steps) - I actually slept pretty well and got up just after 7 to do a quick run. It felt even colder! The temperature was supposedly only "feels like 14" - but it felt more humid. Bill had shown me a good neighborhood to run in behind their building. It WAS a very quiet neighborhood, I didn't see a single vehicle on the roads the whole time I was out. It was a little hillier than I expected, but I'm glad I went out - plus, I saw the yard of the month!
Quick run to the room to change clothes before meeting Ben's parents for breakfast - I had french toast and strawberries.
His parents are incredibly popular and friendly and seemingly knew everyone! Many people came up to introduce themselves and they had all obviously heard stories about both of us, inquiring about Ariel's school and my running. We were just about to head to the airport when I got a notification our flight was delayed an hour. We opted to grab our bags and have a quick lunch before going to the airport. I had a club wrap and carrot cake!
Bill drove us to the airport and I got a selfie of me and Ben's mom in the back of their fancy electric Mercedes.
We left for the airport with an hour until our flight was supposed to leave, but with a 15 minute drive and only a dozen people ahead of us in line at security, we still made it to the gate just as they were starting pre-boarding. I watched a few more episodes of Squid Games 2 on the flight. We actually didn't even land that late and Ben picked us up. We stopped for dinner at Table Mountain Inn for dinner on the way to take Ariel back to school. 
I had thought about taking Olive for a walk, but it was really too cold for it. Unpacked and watched an episode of Dexter before I called it at 9 to go to bed early. 

Stats:
  • 94,663 steps
  • 8.52 miles run (and that's only because I voluntarily ran in TX, didn't have anything on schedule)
  • 15.39 miles walked
  • 60 minutes of cardio
  • 40 minutes of strength

Sedona half marathon (Race Recap)

Sedona, AZ Saturday, February 1 Half Marathon #197 Weather - chilly at the start, sunny We planned to get up pretty early, even though it wa...