Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Arizona

I finished!  I was hoping to finish it in 6:20, or at least 6:30 but I did a few minutes better than that.

After finish, with my hubby, James.

What a day!  James dropped me off near the start around 7am and it was a nice and cool morning.

About an hour before the race I drank 10 ounces of Almond Milk with a Vega meal shake.  This is my favorite pre-walk meal and always sustains me for 7-8 miles.

I started in Wave 7, the last Wave.  After about a mile or two I caught up to another fitness walker. I stayed with her until mile 7, at which point I pulled back a bit to eat my bar.

I had a vegan, gluten-free chocolate meal bar around mile 7.   The bar didn't sit well with me and I started to slow down a bit after mile 8.  It was not my usual Vega meal bar, but Whole Foods was out so I ended up buying something else. Mistake - lesson learned.

After eating the 'mystery meal bar', my pace was up and down after mile 8.

James met me at mile 16 with a banana (which I only took a bite of) and a handful of almonds. He also brought me the Vega electrolytes that I occasionally use, but the best was the Vega gel he gave me.  After having that I did really well.  It sustained me until the very end.

I sipped water at almost every water station and, around mile 20 the ladies gave me some ice for my water bottle and I chewed and sucked on it for a bit.  It was refreshing.  

There were only a few hills on the course, and I did so good on them.  The hill training paid off.  

I really did plan on taking pictures during the marathon of some of the scenery, but I honestly did not feel like pulling my cell phone out of my waist pack.

I stopped 3 times (maybe it was 4) to use the restroom.  There were no lines at all so that was nice. I paused my Garmin at each restroom break as well as when stopping to meet James.   I did not pause my Garmin when stopping to drink water.

My official race time is 6:24:35.  

I neared the finish line and had some tears well up.  Then I saw my mother-in-law smiling at me, taking pictures and I was there, enjoying the moment I crossed.  

I had no foot problems at all.  The Injinji socks and my shoes did perfect!

Around Mile 16 before I had my banana, almonds, electrolytes and gel.

Next for me, maybe a half marathon in between the Ultra I want to do if I have no schedule conflict in April.

And hell yes I'm buying that 26.2 Mile decal for the Honda's window!  Already ordered it!