Tucson Marathon

December 8, 2013 7:00 AM
Tucson, Arizona

Annette and Ross were excellent hosts during my visit to Tucson

	Time	Pace	Division	Division Place	Gender Place	Overall Place	Bib #
Owen	3:28:08	7:56	M35-39	21/61	111/480	132/892	511

Written by Owen:

I did this trip by myself as a reward for winning our weight loss challenge.  My original plans were just to fly into Tucson the day before and then fly home right after the race.  But then I was asked to go to Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, Washington for a week, the week before the marathon.  So I adjusted my plans and flew from Seattle to Phoenix, then a short connecting flight into Tucson on Friday night.  I arrived very late at night, and just barely made it to the rental car counter before it closed for the night.

As I'm driving to my hotel I see a policeman light me up.  I knew I wasn't speeding and couldn't imagine why he was pulling me over.  He asked if I realized I was driving without my headlights on.  D'oh!  No, I didn't, of course.  My car turns them on automatically, so I wasn't in the habit of turning them on.  I had been driving for about 20 minutes, very late at night, but I guess the roads were lit well enough that I didn't notice.  He reached in my window and turned them on for me and set me on my way.  I felt really stupid, but was glad I didn't get a ticket.

Saturday morning I woke up  and called Annette. She is a really good friend from back when she lived in Utah, but moved to Tucson years ago.  We arranged to meet after I went to the expo.

I did my typical "day before the marathon 2 mile run".  I just started at the hotel, and turned around after I had run a mile.  It was so beautiful:

The scenery during my 2 mile run.

The path around my hotel.

The view from my hotel room.

I went to the expo, which was on the grounds of my hotel (I splurged and stayed at the host hotel).  It was a small expo, I got my bib, and bought some throw-away gloves since the weather forecast called for cooler temps.

Point to point courses mean early wake-up calls.

 Annette and her husband Ross met me at my hotel, and we were off for some sightseeing.

They took me all over showing me all the really pretty scenery above, and more.  We had a great day visiting, and catching up on our families, etc.

Sunday morning I caught the first bus (I always do).  We got up to the start and it was very cold and windy.  The shuttle driver said he didn't have anywhere to be so he let us stay on the bus, which was really nice.  It was heated, and had a bathroom in the back.  So I stayed on it until 5 minutes before the start.

This race was mostly downhill, but I wasn't quite as fit as I was in St. George, so I was just going to take it easy.  The race was cold and windy, but I felt good.

There was some construction that caused a re-route of the course from their typical layout, which added a pretty nasty hill at about 20 miles.  From that point forward I started slowing down, but still finished with a good time (my second best) at 3:28:08.

Annette and Ross were waiting and cheering at the finish.  I had to catch a plane home immediately after the finish, so we said our goodbyes, and I took the shuttle back to my hotel.  I had just enough time to shower and drive to the airport.  I really enjoyed the trip.  If I had to list my top 10 places to live, I'm pretty sure I would add Tucson.  It is so beautiful and reminds me a lot of Southern Utah.

Santa Scramble 5k

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2013 Outer Banks Half Marathon

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2013 Lung Strong 15k

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2013 St. George Marathon

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BB&T Sunset Run 5k

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2013 Tri the Creek Kids Triathlon

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2013 Scream Half-Marathon

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2013 Peachtree Road Race 10k

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Finally Answers to Malissa's Hip Pain

Written by Malissa

I wanted to give an update about all that has happened with my hip since my last race:

I took a month off of running in hopes that my pain would go away. I iced and stretched daily. The pain in my quad went away but I still had really bad pain in my hip. I started strength training in hopes of building leg muscles that would help me run more efficiently in the future and then maybe my hip pain would go away.

I was getting more and more frustrated because nothing was helping my hip pain. One of the many times I complained about my pain and frustration on facebook, a friend mentioned that I might need a hip adjustment. That got me thinking and I remembered how on all my running shoes my right heal is more worn off than my left.

I made an appointment with a sports chiropractor. Dr. Bill told me that I had a tilted pelvis and that it was important for me to keep my hamstring loose. He wants me to stretch it a couple times a day and also wanted me to strengthen it so he wants me to incorporate the pelvic bridge into my strengthening workout.

Dr. Bill said the regular pelvic bridge was too easy for me so he wanted me to do the pelvic bridge with a ball.

Towards the end of my appointment he noticed that my left leg was shorter than my right. He measured from my belly button down to my inner ankle bones on both legs. Sure enough my right leg is longer by 5mm. He said most likely it has been like that since birth. That made so much sense to me because I've had joint/hip pain most of my life but it has only gotten worse since I started running. He gave me a heel insert to put in my shoe and told me I should notice a big difference when I walk and run.

*side note* When I told my dad that my right leg is longer than my left, his first question was, "does he think it has been like that since birth?" I guess when I was 2 or 3 my parents took me in to the doctor because I was falling all the time. The doctor had me walk for him and then told my parents that babies fall a lot. I have tripped a lot in my lifetime so much that one of my nicknames growing up was Gracie.

Dr. Bill gave me the okay to run. He said I should start off slow by running a mile and then I could slowly add more miles as I strengthen my left leg. The first week I noticed my hip didn't hurt to walk but it still hurt while I ran. The most I could run without it hurting was a half mile. By the second week I was up to a mile twice a week. On National Running day I was determined to run 3 miles. I got the ok from Dr. Bill, grabbed my running partner Lynne, and hit the greenway.

We took it very slow but it felt so good to be out running again. My hip felt pretty good until about two and a half miles. The pain was a little different, it was more like pressure instead of sharp pain.

I'm getting really excited for my next half marathon training. Dr. Bill said I should notice a huge difference because I will be running more efficiently. Now I just need to find a place that I can get specialty flip flops made because running shoes and dresses just don't look cute together...

2013 Hatfield & McCoy Marathon

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2013 Ducktona Dash 5k/Fun Run

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2013 Country Music Marathon and Half-Marathon

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2013 Charlotte RaceFest 10k

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2013 North Carolina Half-Marathon at Charlotte Motor Speedway

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2013 RnR USA Nation’s Capital Marathon & Half-Marathon

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2013 Columbia SC Marathon Relay

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Which Marathon for Nevada?

Written by Owen:

As part of my challenge to run a marathon in all 50 states plus DC, I have to choose very carefully what marathon to run in each state.  I don't want to repeat states, as I am anxious to complete this goal and don't want to "waste" a marathon on a state I've already completed.

I haven't had much trouble deciding until now.  For Nevada, there are two that I honestly can't decide between.  Here are pros and cons for each that I've compiled based on reviews from people that have run each, from my marathon preferences, etc.

We will be living in Utah at this time, so both are a convenient drive.

	Pros	Cons
Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon 11/17/2013	The strip at night Las Vegas is just so much fun. HUGE spectator support Sleep in, no early morning wake up call Fremont street at night	Rock 'n' Roll Series (notoriously poorly organized) Overcrowded Half-Marathon congestion (30,000 half marathoners on poorly designed course) Preparation to run at night, (when do I eat?, rest?, etc?) Half of the course is very boring & isolated
Hoover Dam Marathon 12/14/2013	Hoover Dam is so special to me.  My dad was an electrical engineer there for many years Boulder Beach, Lake Mead start/finish line (lots of childhood memories here) No auto traffic (all trail/paved walking path) Stunning views of Lake Mead, Hoover Dam	A double out-and-back course  (run 6.5 miles, come back, then do it again) I would have to wait to run the Tucson Marathon until 2014, because it is Dec 7 Very little spectator support A little too small (~200 finishers) More hills (400 ft inclines four times) see here.

So now it's up to you.  I want everyone that reads this to vote, which one should I run?

2013 Mercedes-Benz Marathon

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2013 49er Gold Rush 5k

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2013 ING Miami Marathon

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2013 Mississippi Blues Marathon

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Year in review

Written by Owen

Looking back at 2012
Races, and running in general, have definitely been at the center of our 2012. We had a great year and look forward to another great year in 2013.

Races we ran in 2012 (We raced in 11 different states in 2012: California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia)

	5k	10k	Half- Marathon	Marathon
Owen	4	2	2	9
Malissa	7		3	1
Michael	11	4	2
Kyle	3
Alicia	8

Miles we ran in 2012
Owen: 1,935
Malissa: 601
Michael: 803
Kyle: 19
Alicia: 92

Goals for 2012
1) Weight loss: Malissa and I both "fell off the wagon" a bit on this one.

2) Debt: We made progress, but have not completed it yet.  We did a TON of traveling and made great memories.

3) Malissa's prayer journal: She didn't do very good with this.

4) Owen's 2,400 miles: I only planned on running 4 marathons in 2012 which left a lot of weeks to rack up the miles.  I ended up running 9 marathons in 2012.  Because of tapering down the miles before each one, and recovering after, plus my injury in February/March I fell short of my goal. I'm really happy with 1,935 miles.

5) Malissa's goal for after the Big Sur Marathon: she planned to take a short break from long distance and work on getting her 5k time below 30 minutes. She also wanted to train more with Kyle and Alicia:  She hasn't yet broke the 30 minute barrier, but did lead a mom/daughter running group that was very successful.  Kyle decided he didn't enjoy running as much and enjoys riding his bike more.

6) Michael planned to run in the Run For Your Life Grand Prix Series.  Michael did awesome in this series, out of hundreds of competitors in the 19 & Under division, he took 4th.  Only the top 3 got awards, but at age 11 he understood how awesome his accomplishment was.

7) Owens 50 marathons in 50 states by his 50th birthday. I knocked 9 more states off the list.  I've since adjusted this to 50 states plus D.C.  So I've got 10 done with 41 to go.

Goals for 2013
1)  Weight loss: We both want to get to our ideal weight.
2)  Move to Utah: We plan on putting our house up for sale and moving to Utah once it sells. We hate to say goodbye to all of the great friends we've made here in NC, but really miss Utah.
3)  Owen's goal of 2,000 miles.  I came just short of it in 2012, but hope to stay healthy enough to reach it in 2013.
4)  Freedom from debt: It has been an incredibly long journey, but we are very close to becoming debt free.
5)  Michael wants to beat his PR in the half-marathon.