We Did It!

Dan and I both completed the 1/2 and full Marathon as part of the Arizona Rock N' Roll Marathon... and we have the aching bones, muscles and bodies to prove it!


Rewind... we left Madison and a high temperature of -2 on Friday to head to Vegas to pick up the kiddos! We got in late Friday and picked them up bright and early on Saturday morning so we could start our journey to Phoenix! We drove past the Hoover Dam, something they had not seen before and marveled at its construction and beauty. Dan also told a funny joke.


Question: What did the fish say when it hit a wall?
Answer: Dam!


That got a good chuckle and we continued across the state line into AZ. About 2 hours into our trip the temperature gauge read 72 degrees and we turned on the A/C, something we won't do at home until late June or July! The drive went quick, we picked up our race packets in Phoenix and then headed to my folks' house where demolished a tray of croissant sandwiches and a veggie platter! They headed out for a wedding while we watched some TV, prepared a pasta dinner and Dan and I hit the rack early, for our marathon!


We got up at 4:30 am to catch the 5:30 shuttle from Tempe to downtown Phoenix.


We arrived early, had some coffee, water and listened to one of the Rock N' Roll bands until it was time for Dan to get in the corral for the Marathon start, which was 50 minutes ahead of the half marathon start. I walked up past the start line and told him to look off to the right for me... and I'll be darned... I waved when I saw him and he blew me a kiss!

Then, I headed to my start line on the other side of the plaza and waited for my corral to hit the start line. We started in waves, so I didn't actually start running until about 9:10am. Once I did, I thoroughly enjoyed the first 7 miles or so! Every 3/4 of a mile to a mile there was a band playing some good old rock and roll songs, people were dressed up as Elvis, a bridal party in tutus and wigs! The race was really high energy with so much to take in, it really made the first half of the race go fast! I talked to my parents right before the start, so I knew they'd be near mile 7... the encouragement I needed to run without stopping at least that far! They rang their cow bells and cheered me on right at mile 7...

and then 22 steps later at the aid station, I walked. Whew! And that's also when I realized everything the waist down was hurting, especially my hips. From that point on it was a run/walk for me, but I managed to run the last 1.1 miles while listening to Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" which was very motivating! And, the fact that it was a low of 48 and a high of 78 didn't hurt either! I finished the race in 2 hours and 45 minutes! It felt great to be done!


Dan's race perspective... I was feeling pretty good. I wasn't all that nervous until like 5 minutes before the race began. For some reason, I was all kindsa confident. Which, in retrospect is pretty silly, considering I had never run that distance in training. The farthest I ever did was roughly 22 miles.


The first 5 miles were a breeze. I was talking to people all around me and high-fiving the on-lookers. I was running about a 9 minute mile.


Miles 5 - 10 were still fairly easy. There was just so much to take in, ya know? I mean, I have been to Arizona a couple times but never got to enjoy the sights. Anyway, I really soaked in everything around me. I still high-fived the onlookers and talk to a few people. My pace slowed to right around 9:30 per mile.


Mile 15 - I started to notice the pain. you see, in a marathon, it's not about keeping your breath... it's about the muscle and joint pain and I started feeling a lot of that. So, I popped a couple ibuprofen and kept trudgin. the pace was about 10 minutes per mile.


Miles 16-22 - these were the hardest. I felt pain everywhere and was almost at a limp at times. I had blisters on my feet and the pain was overwhelming at times. This was also the ugliest stretch of the course and when I had the most hills. Needless to say, this is where I "hit the wall." I walked at every aid station and tried everything to keep my mind occupied. My pace slowed to near 12 minutes a mile. I was having a tough time.

After that, it did get a little easier. I mean, at mile 22, there's only 4 miles left! That's what I kept telling myself. "it aint no thang!" and repeat.


At mile 25.8, one of my blisters burst and I felt immense pain in my left foot, but I refused to walk over the finish line! I finished and pretty much collapsed at the end :-)



Happy it's over and so happy I did it!


Dan and I finished within about 15 minutes of each other and met up with my folks' and the kids! We each got a medal at the end, pretty cool!


Needless to say, neither Dan nor I were in very good shape. Our muscles were tightening up, we stunk to the high heavens and our feet were bleeding. We hopped the light rail to the car and then headed to re-fuel at my favorite pizza place in AZ... Oreganos. Kari and her cutie pa-tootie daughter Payton met up with us and we enjoyed 2 salads and 2 pizzas to share!


Once full, we headed home to wash the stink off us! Since we hadn't done our Christmas celebration with the kids as of yet, they were anxious to open their presents!


My parents left their tree and some of their Christmas decorations up, we all changed into our pajamas (so it felt like Christmas morning), popped in some Kenny G Christmas music and watched the kids open gifts, starting with their stockings first! Each got 1 or 2 CD's, Becca got a Hanna Montana 3-D DVD with the glasses and DJ got a $25 Burger King gift card! Then, they tore into their gifts! Clearly they were good kids in 08' because they made out like bandits! I'll let them tell you about that!


From Becca's perspective... So, I got this really cool digital camera and I love it!!


Today I kept using it everywhere and I bet that at the end of the year I will hopefully have 5 scrapbooks done!! Then for my scrap booking I got this HUMONGOUS kit that i could use for it and I can't wait!! Then I got some books and I actually like these books because they are Nancy Drew books and I absolutely love mystery books so Pam and Les did a fantastic job on my Christmas presents!! OH!! I forgot to tell you that in my stocking I got some country CD's and I was sooo happy for that because I love country! And then I got the Hannah Montana DVD that Michelle was talking to you about. So, I just wanted to let you all know what I got and how much I loved them!


From DJ's perspective... This trip is pretty fun so far. The drive here was easier than I thought it would be. Had lots of room in the minivan we drove up her in. We got here late afternoon and just milked the time we had to chill. The next morning we got up at 7:30 and watched Dad run a full 26-mile marathon, and Mishy run a 13-mile half marathon. After watching them in pain, we went over to Oregano's and ate some pizza. Mind you, Dad was still in extreme pain. We came back home and watched the Cards beat the Eagles and the Steelers beat the Ravens. Those games were really fun to watch! We opened presents at this time. That was exciting! I had a Peyton Manning Christmas.


I got a Peyton calender, poster, and book (which also features his dad, Archie Manning). I also got a football (awesome), a David Cook CD, and a $25 Burger King gift card. After that we watched the Dark Knight. Today I got to sleep in and we went to film a videography of Michelle's grandfather. During that time, Pam, Alex, Becca, and me went to Subway....yummm. And now I'm here. Haha. Goooood tiiiiimmmesssssss.



From Alex's perspective... The trip was pretty long, but I slept most of the way. Awesome. Got here in the late afternoon and just hung out with Pam and Les. The next morning we watched Dad run a marathon and Michelle run the Half marathon. I'm pretty proud of them for doing that. Then we came back and opened our presents. I got two military books, one on the battles that changed warfare and the history of the U.S. Army. I also received the Dark Knight (sweet), and a lot of CDs. The last gift I got was the complete series of Band of Brothers, which you can see me open in the picture below. I'm very happy to receive all of these gifts.



And, my parents got Dan and I the Barefoot Contessa cook book and a whisk!

And, here's the group shot!

After presents my mom and dad cooked us a yummy Christmas dinner of prime rib, mashed potatoes, green beans and salad! It was so delicious, everybody's plates were clean enough to go right into the dish washer! But, before dinner, my mom had some little present looking things on the table called "crackers" which are a European tradition. You pull the cracker open and inside is a joke, a puzzle and a present! I got earrings, Dan got a magnet, the kids and my mom also got a magnets and key chains and my dad got a mystery calendar, which still remains a mystery!

It's been a wonderful visit with a lot more on the schedule... we'll post when we're back in the frozen tundra!

The Arthurs