2016 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon Weekend - The 5k

2016 Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona 5k
 

I have to say, I love running this particular 5k event.  After I’d run the inaugural 5k last year (in final preparation for the next day’s race), I remembered really enjoying the race but my mind was so focused on the Marathon that I didn’t have any truly specific memories of running the 5k beyond tagging along with Ryan Hall and feeling truly relaxed and pleased.  As we drove home after the race weekend and throughout 2015 Charlene and I both knew that we wanted to run that 5k again, this time with our full attention.

Charlene and I both had the honor and pleasure of being invited to participate in the 2016 Rock ‘n’ Roll 5k.  With a year’s worth of anticipation we were both very eager to experience it again, in some ways it would be like experiencing it for the first time since we’d be fully in the moment.

I will admit to being a little nervous about this race:  It was to be the first true test of my racing capability since having surgery to repair the torn and separated labrum in my left hip.  There is a major difference between running a 5k and racing one to the best of your capability (as you no doubt know), and I hadn’t tested speed in over ½ a year.  

As part of our normal routine, Charlene and I arrived at the race site a little over an hour early:  It helps ensure good parking, leaves plenty of time to get your head on straight, and you can get in a full session of dynamic stretches and exercises to warm up.  While we were getting ourselves ready for the race and trying to shake off the morning chill we were asked to talk with ABC15 Arizona; they wanted to know where we’d come from to participate in the race(s), why we came to this particular event, what we considered special about the Rock ‘n’ Roll race series itself.  I don’t remember stepping forward to do the “mini” interview but I found myself up front and center with a smiling MaryEllen Resendez addressing me and a spotlight providing a pool of warmth:  My teeth stopped chattering and I tried my best to share my enthusiasm for the race with her.  My sister said I seemed pretty comfortable in front of the camera but to be honest I didn’t care about it at all, I was trying to entice MaryEllen to run the race too (I don’t think she did, I should have been more succinct).

Charlene and I spent a good 30 minutes or so milling about the pre-race zone soaking up the excitement and getting ourselves loosened up.  Both of us planned on letting ourselves run our best race during the 5k; we didn’t have to save strength for the Half Marathon since we already knew it would be a run/walk program due to it being my longest run in 6 months.  The excitement kicked into high gear for us as we joined the thousands of other runners in the start corrals, the race MC/announcer was really getting everyone charged up.  The pre-race nerves I had all morning finally started to calm down as gun time approached.  After a quick pre-race selfie with my sister (our #runningsiblings tradition) I put a Glukos Energy tablet in my cheek and got ready for my very first hard run.  As a general, and very good, rule you should not try new fueling or racing gear on race day but at this point I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.  The fact that I intended to run hard during the 5k made it perfect for testing Glukos since my effort levels would by sky high and the amount of time short (besides, I already knew where the porta-potties were just in case my stomach argued).

We weren’t just “let go” at the start of the 5k, we were launched.  I’m reasonably sure the MC was pulled to the edge of the platform by the suction our sudden departure created.  I do know for sure that several of the first 50 runners and I had to get control of ourselves within the first quarter mile as we all started out faster than planned due to the high energy levels.  Unlike last year, I kept mind in the present while running this course:  The variety of sights, sounds, and even “feel” of the terrain was truly inspiring.  I began to understand why I’d enjoyed the first run on the course even though my mind didn’t register it; we started out in a semi-modern industrial setting by running on an overpass crossing the Tempe Town Lake; transitioned into a stretch road that carried us along the northern edge of LoPiano Bosque Habitat (desert beauty in all it’s glory lit by the morning sun); ran briefly next to a nice neighborhood of cheering people; dropped down to run beside Tempe Town lake on a nice bike path (great spot to pick up speed too); and then finally turned sharply to sprint across the lake on a bridge (sister to the one we started on) which brought us home to the finish line.

I hung around the finish line/secure zone for the few minutes it took for Charlene to finish by taking the time to stretch and catch my breath once I passed the photo walls and found an empty spot on the fence.  I was very happy to find that my heartrate and breathing calmed down very quickly, a good indicator that I haven’t completely lost my conditioning during the recovery from surgery.  I know that I had as big a smile on my face as my sister did when she came through the crowd of racers and photographers after her strong finish.  We both started talking about how much we enjoyed the course and how fun it was to really run it hard as we made our way over to bag check and then to Tempe Beach Park and the Finish Line Festival.  While Charlene took a few minutes to make a quick Periscope video showing the post-race activities I took a couple pictures of the racers still crossing the North Shore Beach Path imagining that I was a spectator seeing me cross that path, in my mind it was a lot like looking in an infinity mirror (watching myself run and seeing myself as I run). 

When she finished up her video, and I finished daydreaming, we walked around the festival for a few minutes to check out the tents and see all of the excited kids.  I wish we could have stayed to watch them run but I needed Ice and Charlene needed coffee.  We found a nearby Starbucks in the Downtown Tempe shopping area and let our minds and bodies relax.  I couldn’t help but check the online results while she enjoyed her tall, hot, double-carma-frapy-lip-foamy-nose drink. 

I almost fell out of my chair when my 5k results came up and showed that I’d finished 2^nd in my Age Group.  It took some time and effort to get Charlene’s results up for her 5k efforts; they showed her finish had tied for 3^rd place in her Age Group.  What a wild and awesome way to finish our first race of the weekend.

Up next – The 2016 RnR AZ Half Marathon.

*Disclaimer:   I was an invited guest to the RnRAZ, the views, reviews and opinions expressed are my own and not influenced by the organizers nor sponsors or any other company/individual affiliated with the event.

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