Another Marathon Weekend in the Brooke House - Lost Dutchman's Marathon

Well...the running continues. It's very cool to be able to run year round and not have to bundle up!! Scott has continued to run events since the P.F. Chang's 1/2 marathon on January 18th. On January 31st, Scott ran a 1/2 marathon in Surprise (about an hour from the house) and ran a PR race time of 1:39 and was very pleased with this time. He felt great after his run, which tells us that all of his hard work and training is paying off!!




Last weekend we ran a Full Moon 5k in Scottsdale...only in AZ can you run a 5k in February at 7pm and not freeze!! It was a very small race, and the moon didn't exactly cooperate, but we had fun and Maggie had a PR 5k time of 33 minutes.



This weekend was the Lost Dutchman's Marathon weekend. It was down in Apache Junction, about 30 minutes from Chandler, and hosted multiple invents including a 2 mile, 8k, 10k, 1/2 marathon and full marathon. Scott signed up months ago to run the full marathon and Maggie joined in to run the 10k. Maggie did really well, running in 1:10 even. Pretty exciting considering a year ago she was recovering from foot surgery and now is running long distances on a regular basis. Needless to say the surgery was the right call because she has been running pain free since she completed her recovery!!


Scott ran the full marathon and did really well, finishing in 3:54.

Scott's report:
This was the best marathon I've run. Not because of the time but because of the race management and relative convenience. It was by far the worst I've felt in any race but for different reasons. I tried experimenting with salt tablets during this race, thinking it would benefit me toward the end... but it actually gave me leg cramps at mile 11. I pretty much ran the last 15.2 miles with extremely heavy legs. I should know by now not to "experiment" on race day... oh well. I learned.
They bussed us way out into the middle of nowhere in the mountains at 6am and had camp fires and stretching mats in the middle of a field. It was pretty cold (35 degrees) at the start so it took a while to warm up. I got to chat with a couple runners who were recently featured in Runners World before the race. One was an 18 year old who had just run the Grand Canyon rim to Rim (48 miles) to become the youngest runner to accomplish this. The other was a retired gentleman who runs marathons every weekend. He hitched a camper to his pick up truck and travels year round to races. I think he's been doing for a few years now.
The first 11 miles went pretty well.... I was probably somewhere in the top 25 but then I hit some sort of wall. My legs cramped up and I figured it was the salt tabs. I kept trying to drink fluids but nothing worked. After a while I just shuffled towards the end. 3:54 was a good time but I was a bit disappointed... my training was leading me towards a 3:25ish. Oh well, I guess there's enough races to keep trying.
As for now... I'm looking forward to some needed time off! Probably two weeks - if I can make it that long!

It's Racing Season

Without even noticing it, I'm in the middle of a running "racing" season. It started with the PF Changs Phoenix 1/2 Marathon with Maggie and then last weekend I ran the Desert Classic 1/2 Marathon. I ended up setting my personal 1/2 marathon record in that race (1:39:14). That race was full of setbacks.... it started with me showing up a bit late and starting 4 minutes after the gun went off. I played catch up and caught everyone in the field but 10 people. Finishing 11th felt pretty good except it was the most boring course I've ever run. Out and back in the middle of the desert. This is the type of scenery you imagine when you think of the desert. Nothing but dirt, rock, and cactus with a road right down the middle. There was also a military base off in the distance that had bombs going off! Not sure what that was but there was a hint of gunpowder stench in the air. I forgot my sunscreen and sunglasses so that's never good in the middle of the desert! A good day nonetheless!

This weekend, Maggie and I will be doing a 5k in the dark. It's a "full-moon" 5k in Scottsdale that will have lanterns lining the course. Should be a fun evening.... if we can see.

Next weekend I will be running my 3rd marathon (Lost Dutchman) in Apache Junction, AZ. It's a downhill course the entire way so I'm hoping to set another "personal" record there as well.

After that I'll have a few more on the schedule but the summer will probably limit the insane running. If all goes well, we'll be in town in November so I can do the JFK 50 mile again. Hopefully I can finish in the daylight this time!