Southwest Series Half-Marathon: Arizona Recap

A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 19; 7th Edition
91.7 miles run in 2025 races
Race: Southwest Series Half-Marathon: Arizona
Place: Flagstaff, AZ
Miles from home: 1547 miles
Weather: 39 degrees, 69% humidity, slight wind

My race on Sunday, a half-marathon just a week after a big race breakthrough post-knee surgery, was a mixture of feelings. For one I was extraordinarily pleased with how I had placed given I had just raced one week prior, was running at elevation, and all of the other things that made it more difficult than it normally would have been prior to my knee injury. On the other hand I didn't really have much of a desire to race again just three days later at even higher elevation in Flagstaff at nearly 7000 feet.

Somehow, the next day when I was making the drive from Farmington NM to Flagstaff AZ something clicked at me and my emotions changed. My ankle has been a little sore the past couple of weeks on the same leg as my reconstructed knee. It's obvious the two are at least tangentially connected. Also my knee is just a little sore and inflamed which gives me trepidation even though I know or at least I'm pretty sure that nothing is wrong. 

Nevertheless, when I got to Flagstaff I suddenly regained an urge to race. It appeared that the two gentlemen who bested me in the race on Sunday would be racing again. As such I was hoping to exact a little revenge on having been beaten by both of them in New Mexico. I know they would both be tired as it appears they were running the two half marathons in between and I was taking time off so to speak. But in every race you take the runners as they are. I've said this for a long time that you should never once apologize for who shows up at the race. Getting to the starting line is probably equally as difficult as getting to the finish line. I know neither of these runners were too bothered by the fact that I had a brand new knee and two surgeries in the past year so I figured it was simply time to lace them up and go

Race Morning:

I wasn't as close to the race start as I was the previous two races I have done but I wasn't much further away just barely over a mile. That meant once again I could get up relatively late with regards to the start of the race and still make it there on time ready to go. We were promised another cool crisp day and the weather delivered. I had noticed that the guy who won the half marathon on Sunday did not finish or did not have a result on Monday even though I saw that they had posted a picture of him running. I didn't know what had happened and if he would even be here. The second place finisher however did post a result in the previous two races so I assumed he would be there attempting to run as fast as he could as well. Then I realized that none of this matters as any could show up for any race at anytime.  I just had to race who was there.

As I pulled into the parking lot and parked, I realized I had to use the bathroom again. Blessed with the luxury of my lodging being so close and me being a fast driver, I eschewed the portapotty and potential line and simply went back home. Seven minutes later and I was back in the parking lot hearing the ending instructions being given out by the race director.

The course was like so many other races that the Mainly Marathons people put on and that was more or less a one mile out and back that we ran 6 times for the half marathon. This one would be run completely on a crushed gravel surface with long gradual uphill to finish the back portion of each out and back. That means, I would be getting the same downhill portion to start each loop. But that was only after another longer gradual uphill to begin each loop.  And small undulations in between.  I am not joking when I say you were rarely running flat for long on this course even if it didn't look too hilly to begin with.

My prediction was that unlike in Farmington where I really enjoyed the return portion, that the out portion would be my better miles today.

Instructions were given, the countdown was done, and away we went. 

First Three Miles:

I took off with the race director in the lead but within 100 yards I could feel my lungs were just really going to be working hard today. Before long the runner who I was most concerned abut winning followed another runner who I had seen previously but didn’t know he could run this fast as they passed me. 

I was shocked my first mile was exactly 8:00 when it felt half a minute slower. As we finished the first out and back, I had an another 8:00 mile even with the hill on the course which would seemingly get higher each loop. At the 5k turn around, the new-to-me runner turned around. That explained his sudden speed burst. He was now done for the day! 

The sun was now fully over the horizon and on the return trip of the first two loops we were running directly into it. I was beyond happy I was wearing sunglasses. 

With the other runner gone, now it was just me and the guy from the first day. I had learned right before the race started that  he had done the 5k on the second day of this series but it was clear he wasn’t doing that today. What was also clear was that no matter what race he was running today, I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with him at the pace he was going. (His first two miles were 7:51 and 7:45). 

Then as shocking as my first two miles being right at 8:00 was, it was even more shocking that my third mile was an 8:23. That mile felt faster than the previous two. Today was obviously going to be interesting.

To the 10k:

As I came down to the turn at the 4th mile I was surprised to see another runner closing in behind me. I thought the only person I had to contend with for an overall victory was the guy in front of me but now I had another pushing me from behind. I would like to say this spurred me to new faster times but all that followed was a 8:16, 8:18, 8:18. Consistent but slow. Those first two miles now seemed like an apparition. Meanwhile, as I saw the lead runner coming back at me it was clear he was not running the 10k and would indeed be racing me for the half overall finish. Bummer. I really didn't want to work this hard today.  My lungs were burning. I had no zip.  And I still had seven miles to go.

But just as quickly as the guy behind me appeared, he disappeared. I have no idea where he went as I ran back to the start. Did I somehow miss him in the wide open plateau? One of the problems with these races, for those of who are actually racing, is the sheer unknowns. Racers can start early and then you are ranked against them in results even though you never really raced them. (This is what happened with the guy who placed second on the first day.  I saw him during the race already started and then right at my third loop saw him finished wit ha medal.) People can jump in and out of races as they please. There is just no real continuity to each day. I get that is not what the stated goals for this race series is but to me, if there is a start line and a finish line and a moving clock, it is a race. I want to know who I am racing.

Onto Mile 10:

The lead runner had just about a two minute lead over me and this is where we would stay for mile after mile. My 7th mile was the worst of the day so far at 8:27 but then I followed it up with an 8:10. There was no rhyme or reason to my running. My lungs were burning from the height, the stress and the acrid smoke in the air. I have always had wussy lungs. When I was a young fella I had to had lung treatments as they would filled with so much phlegm that you could hear it rattle when I took a breath. The fact I can do any of the endurance stuff I do now is the product of miracles. Most of the time now I am free of breathing problems but when they rear their ugly head it is extremely noticeable.

I ran an 8:22 tenth mile but somehow had cut the lead to the runner in front of me by 30 seconds.  I made the turn at the table that contained rubber bands you could grab to help you keep track of your laps (but which were not mandatory to take) and headed back out. Could I pull out a win?

Heading home to Finish: 

By the time I saw the leader next, the answer was clear: no I could not. I ran an 8:25 mile and even though it was clear he was slowing down as well, my body did not yet have in it what I wanted. Even with just one loop left I couldn’t summon the power to make it close. I ran an 8:39 mile and was beginning to wonder if I would even break 1:50 for the race.

I wove through the crowds of people, doing my absolute best to greet them all and cheer them on. But I was using every bit of energy I had just to keep moving forward. On the return trip of each loop we were running full on into the rising sun. The first two loops had been awful as we could barely see. It was better now but still tough. There was also a surprising amount of wind. I was glad I had kept my gloves on when I almost ditched them at the start.

I dug in and climbed the long hill to the final straightaway. All day it has been up and down small hills and this big hill leading to the downhill straightaway to the finish. I could not find a rhythm. I could not find my lungs. I could not find the energy to take first place.

Here, nestled at 7,100-something feet I was going to taste defeat again. As I got about a third of the way along the final stretch, I could see the runner in front of me finish. He started each day with a button-up shirt on but always took it off to run bare-chested. He was always easy to see from afar as he was also the only other runner moving about my speed. The other runner who had been behind me again appeared out of nowhere.  This time he settled in behind me at about the same distance as he had been previously.  He wasn't getting any closer.  He was not a threat even if he was running my race and even if he was even on my same lap.

The clock was ticking up so fast. This straightaway was longer than it seemed at well over 1/3 of a mile. I kept glancing at my watch and too much time was slipping by. I knew this was going to be slower than Sunday's race but  was hoping it wouldn't be THAT much slower.  Crunching gravel gave way to the few feet of pavement at the finish. I was pushing with all I had to make sure I made it respectably close behind the shirtless.  

As it stands, I made right at two minutes as I finished in 1:48:57 to his 1:46:54.

This is my third slowest half marathon ever with the only two slower are my first race back after knee surgery in Alaska in July and the death march I did in a half-Ironman two years ago barely a month before I tore my knee. (Technically my half-marathon carrying a canoe is my slowest but that doesn’t count.  Heck, the 70.3 shouldn’t either, if I think about it.) But given all the variables for this race it pleased me I was able to run as fast as I did. 

To begin with, these past two half-marathons are two of the highest half-marathons I have ever un. Throw in everything else I have already droned on about ad nauseum and this is a really good barometer of where my fitness is at.  

I have come a long way since my first one-mile run the last week of June. I will get faster. I will lose weight. I will run more. I will hit the gym to re-establish leg muscles which have been left to die the past two years. I refuse to simply go out there and jog (or even worse, walk) races where I am giving less than my best. I truly do not understand how able-bodied people think that is an achievement. I will be looking to improve not just on my post-surgery times but to also take some shots at setting a new half-marathon personal best.

It might not happen, but if that’s true, it won’t be from a lack of pointed, intelligent, hard-working effort on my part. This is just the beginning and I am pleased with my start.

Three weeks and change until I take on the next half-marathon in Alabama. Much lower elevation; much higher humidity. Pray for the Sweatatron 3000 that the weather isn't exactly what it always is down there!