Fifty By 50: Marathon Day- Full for Jason and Half for Me (Dec.10, 2023)

It's the morning of the marathon and we had to be up super early.

We needed to be over to the parking lot at a nearby mall to catch the buses that would take us up to the starting point for the race.

Those running the marathon were being bussed up between 5am and 6 am and then for the half marathon runners, we were heading up between 5:15 and 6:15.

So we were up at 4 am getting ready.

Got our bibs on and ready to go.

The marathoners had blue bibs.

The half marathoners got orange bibs.

The race info said to dress warmly as it would be cold early in the morning and you could leave a pack at the start line and pick it up at the finish line.

I just decided to wear a long sleeve top over my short sleeve top thinking when I warmed up I'd take it off and tie it around my waist.

It was still dark out when we got to the pick up area.

There were line ups of buses after buses.

I parked near where the buses were picking up the full marathoners and walked over to where the half marathoners were being picked up.

I hopped on the third bus in the line up.

There was so much activity going on in the parking lot/pick up area.

It was just buzzing.

I was the first person on my bus so I got to pick any seat I wanted and I sat right in the front seat.

There were so many people and there were tons of porta potties but the line up for them was ridiculous.

We got to stay sitting on the bus until 7 am which was nice because it was cold outside.

Got to watch the sun come up.

The marathoners were starting at 7 am and then the half marathoners were starting in waves every three minutes starting at 7:30.

I figured that it would take me about 3 hours to run the 21k so I planned on starting in the fourth wave which would start at 7:39.

Look at all the buses, they were probably about 50 of them.

Everyone just milling about waiting to start,

I love all the buzz and the energy before a marathon.

It was a bit chilly, had to put my hood up.

I was getting anxious to start just so I could warm up a bit.

Everyone making their way down to the starting line.

The starting line.

The sun on my shoulder.

One last selfie before we were off.

I started off behind the 3 hour pacer but it was all downhill at the beginning and I felt really good so I passed the 3 hour pacer and the 2.50 pacer pretty quickly.

Eventually passed the 2.40 hour pacer as well.

I was feeling great but then we hit a few uphill sections and it started to get tougher.

I did make it to the 2.30 pacer and kept up with him for a while.

We were running on the shoulder of the highway and the highway was still open with traffic going on it and somewhere between mile 6 and 7 for me, I heard this voice on a loud speaker telling me and the other runners I was kind of next to to get over to the left and it was a cop on a motorcycle and he was escorting the marathoner that was in the first place.

So he passed me when I wasn't even half way done yet - he did begin 40 minutes before me but still, that's pretty amazing.

After that, a lot of the marathoners started passing me, I could tell the difference because I could hear their footsteps and they were moving so much faster than all of the runners that were around me that were kind of running at the same pace.

I ended up having to stop and use the porta potties at some point, I think around mile 8 or 9 and so I kind of fell back from the 2.30 hour pacer and never made it back up to him but I did stay in front of the 2.40 pacer so I felt good about that.

I struggled near the end, did some walking which I didn't want to do but I don't want to beat myself up about that too much - I finished it and that is a great accomplishment in itself.

I accidentally paused my fitbit around 17k and didn't notice for about another 1k so my fitbit only clocked 20k but I assure you I did run the full 21k.

The exercise details.

I feel pretty good about this pace for the run.

As you can see, I slowed down substantially near the end, that's because I was walking a bit but overall I was happy with my times.

I had hoped to do it in 3 hours and it said 2.44 on the finish line clock when I passed through so that was awesome.

Got my completion medal and a banana then I headed back to the course hoping I'd see Jason and be able to cheer him on.

There he goes.

He did it in just over 3 hours and 30 minutes which was over an hour improvement from what he ran in Iceland which I was so impressed by.

Showing off our hard earned medals.

We walked around a little for a bit of a cool off.

I was sweating so much that my face was all salty - don't know if you can see it but I couldn't wait to get back to our place and shower it off.

We had to get in line ups for the buses to take us back to the car.

There were huge line ups but luckily we didn't have to wait that long.

It had turned into a gorgeous day.

We got to the car and I was craving a coffee - I skipped having one before the run just hoping to avoid bathroom issues on the run - so we found a Starbucks and I got myself an iced gingerbread oatmilk chai and it was so delicious.

We also got concretes from Freddy's which are like blizzards from Dairy Queen but made with frozen custard - so good.

I also grabbed a burger because I was feeling hungry.

Back at the airbnb, we showered then just kind of chilled by the pool for a bit.

It was hot out but the pool water so soooo cold.

I wanted to get in but I just couldn't.

I went in up to my ankles and that was enough for me.

Jason did a cold plunge and he went in up to his thighs and stayed in there for about 10 minutes.

He said it was refreshing.

I don't know how athletes submerge themselves right into ice baths - I couldn't even leave just my foot in for more than a minute.

Before we came here to Tucson, we did some research on food to try and one of the things Tucson is known for is Sonoran hot dogs and I really wanted to try one so we found a spot that sells them.

Taqueria and Hot Dog is the place we picked.

It was just a little food truck in the parking lot of a convenience store but it had good reviews.

I got the Sonoran hot dog with all of the fixings.

I just looked it up on google and this is the description of a Sonoran hot dog.

What is Tucson Sonoran hot dog?

It is popular in Tucson, Phoenix, and elsewhere in southern Arizona. It consists of a hot dog that is wrapped in bacon and grilled, served on a bolillo-style hot dog bun, and topped with pinto beans, onions, tomatoes, and a variety of additional condiments, often including mayonnaise, mustard, and jalapeño salsa.

Jason had tacos.

There were lots of fresh toppings to go along with the tacos.

After the hot dog and the tacos, we decided to try another famous Tucson restaurant, Eegee's.

It's actually a fast food chain and they are known of their icee's.

We tried the iconic icee which is basically like a shaved ice.

They had all different flavors you could choose from and you could mix as many flavors as you wanted.

Jason got strawberry and lemon and I just went with mango.

It was good but it was a lot, there was no way I could finish.

I get brain freezes very easily so I had to eat it super slow.

We were both feeling like trying some pizza for supper so Jason found a spot with good reviews and we headed over there.

Zio Peppe.

This mural was on the side of the building.

Jason.

Moi.

You can tell I got some sun on my face today.

We got a few appetizers to start off.

We got the arancini.

The had street corn + risotto, lime crema, queso fresco.

I'm not normally crazy for arancini but they were ok.

Then we got the bread which came with garlic olive oil and a sweet sauce to dip it in (honey chamomile goat cheese).

We quite enjoyed it.

They had a pizza on special that had beef short rib on it.

It was ok.

We also tried a pasta dish, Green Chile Garganelli Bolognese.

This is what it had in it.

It was good.

After we ate, we headed back to our airbnb and had an early night as we were both pretty tuckered out from the early start this morning and the run.

I was looking at instagram and saw this post - I would love to see these in person.

We checked the race website and the results were up.

I actually did the run in 2.35 - which makes sense as I ran in the 4th wave which started at 7.39 so 9 minutes after the 'official' start of the half.