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Arizona Road Racers Summer Series 5k

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We recently took a trip to Arizona. The last time all 4 of us (well it would have been 3 of us back then) had been to my hometown/ home state was 7 years ago.We had an action packed, fantastic trip. Our main purpose in going was to attend the wedding of my cousin.  As it had been so long since I had been home, the girls and I stayed for 10 days. We had a great trip and I have more activities and pictures to show you on another day.

Today, I wanted to share with you a 5k I competed in while in Arizona. The Arizona Road Racers have a summer race series. How they do the races in August is beyond me! Clearly, it has been a LONG time since I lived in the AZ heat. Anyway, the race was perfect because both my cousin (not the one getting married) and I were going to be in town since this race was the day of the wedding. She lives in a southern state and I live on the East Coast. We keep up with each other’s running on a social website called ‘Daily Mile.’ We had talked about finding a way to run together. Yay! Our chance came while we were both in AZ.

The weather was perfect both for the race and more importantly, it was a gorgeous 85 for the wedding (which for the end of May in Phoenix is unusual).

So, I know this might be a silly thing to point out, but can you tell much difference in the before and the after shot? Me either(other than the wind blowing my bangs around). I think I like running/racing in Arizona. It is so dry that the sweat mostly evaporates as you are running. That never happens in my humid current state. I really dislike most post race pictures of me at the races I do in my current home state. I usually look like I just stepped out of a shower I am so drenched with sweat. So, I will proudly display, and even zoomed in on, my after race picture this time.
My Dad came along as our official photographer and our cheering section. He used to run marathons when I was a kid, so I am usually calling or texting him before my races at home. Then I call or text him again after. It was fun to have him at a race – in person! He was supposed to get a shot of me and my cousin crossing the finish line.
He also kept teasing me about being in the ‘old lady group.’ We did remind him that if I am in the old lady group, what does that say about him? He and I like to tease each other, so it is all in good fun. Anyway, this race had a handicap start. I had never seen this done before. They took all the age groups average times from the prior year and came up with a handicap for each group. We started in reverse order based on the handicap. Which meant the male 19 -? age group went last and started 11 minutes after the rest of us. It also meant we could tell about how long we had been on the course when they all started zipping by us. I think if I was in the faster groups, that start later, I would not like this type of start. It would be frustrating to dodge all those ‘slow’ people, of which I am one even though I usually run at an 8:30 pace. I am in the 40-45 age group. My group had a 3:30 handicap.
Above, you can see my cousin crossing the finish line. Apparently, my Dad really was looking for an ‘old lady’ to come across the finish line because he missed me and only got me in the corral at the end of the race. I finished about 30 seconds in front of my cousin. We both had a great race. She was totally kicking my butt the first mile. I caught up to her and we ran the 2nd mile together. She stopped to get water and from then on out, I was in front (just barely). She kept telling me she ran at a much slower pace than I normally do, so I kept thinking I couldn’t let her beat me…I think she was just making it up because she did a great job and kept me right on my toes.
I know for me it was not the best race I will ever have. I doubt the lack of sleep, jet lag and huge Mexican dinner I had eaten at the rehearsal dinner the night before helped very much. However, I had a fantastic time and am so glad that I got to race in Arizona, run with my cousin, and have my Dad at one of my races.
My official results:
  • 26:53 for the 5k
  • 8:40 average pace per mile
  • Overall 446th (this is with the handicap start out of 1187, so I’m not sure it means anything)
  • 15/79 in my age division (40-45)
We ran near the base of this mountain, which is near Camelback Mountain. The mountains are one of the things I miss the most about my home state.
Now in case you want to know the best way to recover after a race while you are on vacation. I offer you my post race recovery suggestions.
Go swimming with 6 adorable children. Then get 12 people through the 3 showers at my parent’s house (think we may have completed that task in 1 hour!) and meet other relatives for lunch at In-N-Out Burger…Yummmy!
Later this week I will have another post for you about our trip to Arizona.
That post will feature my 2 beautiful girls as flower girls in my cousin” wedding…It was so beautiful!
Read other posts about our trip to Arizona:

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How to Pack the Car for a Road Trip with Kids
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Comments

  2. Kim (TheMoney-Pit) says

    Wow! What a great time.. I never run that fast, although I do enjoy InNOut quite frequently so that may be my problem! Bwa-ha-ha-ha! It looks like you had a great time!

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  4. six sisters says

    Looks like a great time!! This is a fun post!! Thanks for sharing on our “Strut Your Stuff Saturday”. Hope you come back next week. -The Sisters

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  5. K Coake says

    It was a gorgeous day. Perfect for running a race. I would think it would be a great place for running a longer race b/c it would be mostly flat. Yes, the In-N-Out was great…we visited quite a bit while we were there! Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. K Coake says

    Oh sweetie, please don’t ever be embarrassed by your pace or style of running. You are doing it and it sounds like you are enjoying it…that is most important! If you have time/want to I wrote another post entitled ‘Finding My Stride’ you might want to read. I talk about an ‘ah ha’ moment I had on this topic. Anyway, I’m so glad you enjoyed reading this post and that you took the time to comment! I miss those mountains so much! Probably like you miss your Grandmother! Thanks for stopping by and for commenting.

    Reply

  9. Dara G says

    I enjoyed reading this! I’m just starting out as a runner and my pace is so super slow it’s embarrassing! I can only wish to one day run as fast as you did this one in. Also, I love Arizona! My grandmother lives near Camelback Mt. too. 🙂

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  10. Kristine Toone says

    Awesome! I LOVED running with you 🙂  Well done!  It really was a perfect morning for a race!!

    Reply

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