Time to beat was 5:25:22. Finish time for this marathon was 5:16:53. Yes, a PR!! I was aiming for less than 5 hours because I thought I trained better for this race. I know, I know I should be happy (and I am) but I am slightly annoyed. Average running pace was 12:06.

Overall, it is a GREAT race!! The course is flat with just a few inclines. I have yet to be friends with them because I walk through them instead of running. There was wind from mile 13 till about 17.5 miles and then again from mile 20 till almost till the end. That did not make me happy. 🙁

I loved the crowd support. There was a man giving little dry martinis. So cute! I did not dare drink one. I should have because I wanted beer but they were all out. I did not know and by the time I realized it I did not want to run back for it. I think this was about mile 22.5 or so and I just wanted to finish the race.

I love the medal. So colorful! I will post pictures tomorrow when I get home. I am typing this post on my iPad and don’t know how to upload them.

The only thing I did not like about the race was that the start and finish locations were not close together. When I am done with a marathon, I just want to get something to eat and then shower. Today I had to walk about half a mile to get to the shuttle buses and then be on the bus for a 20 minute ride to take me back downtown. I was hurting and I struggled to get off the bus. Well, at least there were buses. Before I found out about the buses at the expo, I thought I would have to take a cab back to the hotel.

If you get a chance to run this race, do so. You will love it!

Next on my list is to run an ultra marathon on March 31st. There is a 7 hour limit so I think I will be OK with finishing in 6:59:59.

Happy running!

What a great day for a race!  The race began at 6:30am so I had to be up at 4:30am.  By the time I got ready, stretched, and ate a peanut butter & jelly sandwich it was about 5:15.  Of course I made it just in time to drink water, go to the bathroom, and stretch some more.  I guess I got lucky and ended up in Corral 7 which was not too far from the starting line.

I don’t have correct mile split times because my Garmin was off.  I have it set up to Auto Lap by Distance.  According to it I completed 14.01 miles.  Seriously?  Who is wrong the Garmin or the people that measured the course?  Overall I was pleased with my finish time – 2:26.  My goal was to finish it in less than 2:30.  I knew I was not going to set a PR for two reasons: 1) my training has been so so this summer and 2) I had this pain on the bottom of my right foot that by the end of the race the pain was all the way up my leg and to my lower back.  After the race I had to stop at the medical tent for an ice pack.

I did like the race and the course.  The weather was just perfect!!!  To be honest I really don’t care too much about the live music along the course.  The only reason I ran this race is because I signed up for it last year during the 2010 race expo.  There was some kind of promotion going on and I had the chance to register for next year’s race for only $55.  Yes, that is correct.  I was thinking of signing up for the half marathon in Las Vegas in December and almost fainted when I saw the fees.  Why, why, WHY?   Why so much?  I cannot justify spending $140 for a half marathon.  Seriously why so expensive?  I see that next year there will be races in Madrid and Scotland so I will be interested to know how much the fees are for those races.  One race that I MIGHT do is the marathon in New Orleans.  It is only $95 till October 31.

Any thoughts on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series and their ridiculously fees?