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P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Half Marathon

This race report could also be called, "37K and 37 Degrees," since there were 37,000 runners in yesterday's race and the temp was only 37 degrees! 

Before I talk about the race, I have to mention the Expo the day before.  For those of you not familiar with this race tradition, the Expo is where you go not only to pick up your race bib (number) and timing chip for the race.  They also have booths set up from various companies with products and services targeted to the sporty crowd -- from energy bars and drinks to apparel to sign-ups for all kinds of other races. 

Here's a photo to give you a sense of the scene from the Expo at the Phoenix Convention Center -- which was reminiscent of the other convention center I was in earlier this week in Vegas for CES - but with very different products!

Needless to say, I was like a kid in a candy store!  Sampled CLIF Bars and a new competitive bar from Kellogg's.  Bought all kinds of race mementos (postcards, a charm, a patch, a tank top....) and Nike apparel at 20% off. 

One of my favorite purchases, though, was something called "The Stick." According to their website, "The Stick is a revolutionary device used to segmentally compress and stretch muscle. It is highly effective in the treatment of muscle pain and trigger points."  I'd heard of The Stick before; a guy in my spin class recommended it.  Well, I tried the thing out at the Expo and was sold instantaneously.  You have to feel it to believe it, but this thing is amazing!  Really works out the kinks.  You can read more about it and buy one for yourself here.

After spending about an hour and a half at the Expo, I was ready to head back to my hotel to relax and carbo-load before the race.

The next morning, I was ready to race.  Well, as ready as I was going to be in spite of the fact that I didn't train a ton, had spent the earlier part of the week in Vegas, and was on my fifth airplane flight in six days by the time I got to Phoenix.  Thank goodness I brought long running pants and a long-sleeved top, because as I mentioned before it was cold.  At the Expo the day before I'd also bought disposable gloves and a race shell made of Tyvek.  What will they think of next?  Hard to tell how much warmer I was with it on, but I damn sure wasn't taking it off as I stood for an hour in the cold waiting for the race to start.  The race started about 15 minutes late because they were "checking the course" for some unknown reason.  We were finally ready to go and I crossed the starting line mat at 9:01 am.

Even with 37,000 people, thanks to wave starts and the fact that the start was on a very wide street, I was able to start running right away (as opposed to some races in which you're almost walking for the first 1-2 miles because it's so crowded).   I shed my disposable layers right away and almost immediately wished that I hadn't.  I guess that Tyvek stuff really does work!  Throughout the race you'd see clothing strewn along the course -- stuff that people bought just to have a warm layer that they could then shed.  I kept thinking that someone should really come along and grab all this clothing and bring it to a homeless shelter (and later found out that the race organizers did do this).

It was really fun to hear the bands each mile.  I got a spurt of energy each time we hit one.  There was also terrific spectator support the entire way.

For the first seven miles I was in good shape, keeping a good pace and staying hydrated at the water stops. Then, even though I'd had a CLIF Builder's Bar at 7:30 and that usually lasts me an entire race, I started getting hungry.  About 1/2 mile later it was as if God heard my stomach growling -- we arrived at the CLIF Shot station.  I'd never had one before but I disregarded my friend Dave's voice in my head saying, "Don't do anything on race day that you haven't done in training."  I was just too hungry, so I tried the chocolate flavor.  OMG - this stuff is amazing!  Like Duncan Hines frosting out of the can (c'mon, you know you've done it).  No more hunger pangs after that.

At about Mile 8 the flat course started to get some incline and a little hill would be thrown in every so often for the rest of the race.  My knees were starting to speak up and I kept reminding myself just to keep going.  I'm a big proponent of the belief that race performance is largely mental, not physical.  Your body can make it -- it's your mind you need to make sure doesn't give out.  So around Mile 9 I began reciting my personal mantra, "Get in your head."  That's my way of telling myself not to think about whatever pain I may be feeling and just focus on my feeding my mental stamina. 

Before long, I was at Mile 11.  I was hoping to beat my U.S. Half time from November of 2:15:35 but my pace was slowing (which actually isn't what you want...you want to be faster in the 2nd half than in the first). I was too cold to care.  I just wanted to finish, and I was almost there. 

I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 2:24:55.  I wanted to do better, and next time I will.*

Here are the photos and a video of me crossing the finish line:

P.F. Chang’s Arizona RNR Half Marathon 2007

Stay tuned for the February Race Report covering the Austin Half Marathon on 2/18/07...and if you'd like to sponsor me as I run to raise funds for Girls on the Run San Francisco, please click here.

*UPDATE FROM THE "THERE'S ALWAYS A BRIGHT SIDE" DEPARTMENT: 
This just in from RNR Arizona HQ - in addition to chip times, they also provided "Age Graded Scoring," and I scored a 97.2%, which is considered World Class!

From the rnraz.com site:

What is Age-Graded Scoring?

Basically, Age-Graded Scoring allows all individuals within a race to be "scored" against each other. That is done by first comparing the individual's finish time at that particular race distance to an "ideal" or best time (not necessarily the "world record") achievable for that individual's age and gender.

Age-Graded Scoring utilizes statistical tables to compare the performances of individual athletes at different distances, between different events, or against other athletes of either gender and/or of any age.

Age-Graded Scoring Achievement Levels

WAVA has also developed the following broad "Achievement Levels" for use with Age-Graded Scoring. A score within each range indicates the level of performance achieved by an athlete.

• 100% = Approximate World Record Level
• 90-99% = World Class
• 80-89% = National Class
• 70-79% = Regional Class
• 60-69% = Local Class

Got Milk?

While you eagerly await my race report from today's P.F. Chang Arizona Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, let's take a commercial break.   (...and while you read, "Why not enjoy a nice glass of cold milk?" says my friend the cow whom I met at the Fitness Expo yesterday.)

As many of you know, marketing isn't just my job, it's an adventure!  I'm always on the lookout for things companies are doing right and wrong as they look to reach into buyers' psyches and wallets.

Take Apple, for example.  Some might argue that I'd buy anything my BFF Steve Jobs put out there.  They might also say that Apple gets a lot of press, and that's how I find out about products and then buy them.  However, I say it's the right messages in a variety of forms in concert that engage me and make me plunk my credit card down (or type in the digits online).  Yes, Apple's press is a factor.  But it's also their billboard ad outside my office that has a design aesthetic that appeals to me.  Or their TV ads with people donning and doffing clothing with that little Shuffle on each layer.  (That's what put me over the edge and I had to have one.)  Or the one-two punch of the Mac vs. PC ads that also ran online (Oh there's that funny ad again here on my favorite website!). 

Others say that ads are in jeopardy with the advent of DVRs.  I could be wrong, but I'm of the school that thinks great ads get noticed, period.  Those Apple ads, or the VW "Safe Happens" ads, or the terrific HP ad featuring Jay-Z...I didn't miss any of those, and I've talked about them with friends who have DVRs and didn't miss them either.  If the ads are good enough, people will want to see them and talk about them (and vice versa, btw...you don't want to be the one who hasn't seen the ad everyone's talking about).  Two ways to remedy this situation:  hire the best creatives you can find...and make sure your media plan includes the Web (natch).

Now let's look at CLIF Bar.  I'd been a huge fan of their Crunchy Peanut Butter bars for years when I went to the Danskin Tri in Austin in '05.  At the CLIF's Expo booth at that race, they were giving out samples of their new Builder's Bars.  After one sample I was hooked, and have bought HUNDREDS of those bars since (and not at the expense of Crunchy Peanut Butter either. Incremental purchases, people!).  I also recently read the founder's terrific book, Raising the Bar, in which he talks about how he took the company from a two-person operation to the multimillion dollar success it is today.  One of the keys to that success is innovation, and he cited the Mojo Bar as one of their latest.  So imagine my surprise that they were not offering samples of the Mojo at the Arizona Expo yesterday.  In fact, they were only giving out their original bars.  Seems like they missed a golden opportunity to get me (and thousands of others in their target market) hooked on yet another one of their products.

They would have been smart to do so, because Kellogg's is hot on their heels.  Only a few aisles away, they were sampling their new energy bars, in chocolate, strawberry and peanut butter flavors.  As I approach their booth, I'm remembering that their TV and print campaigns.  I'd also just had a bowl of their cereal earlier this week and really enjoyed it.  So now that I've tried their new bar and liked it, will I actually buy?  Only time will tell, but if I do, it can be attributed to all of these touchpoints.

What about you?  Think you're immune to marketing?  Or have you been hooked too? 

Vegas, Baby

Just returned from a brief stint in Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show.  While it's true that what happens there stays there, here's what I can tell you:

Sunday...

10:06 Flight lands in LAS from SFO.  I proceed to check my phone for the kickoff announcement and score updates that Yahoo! promised me.  They never come.  I'm forced to check the Web version which isn't optimal but suffices as a backup.  And I'm not complaining too much since by the time I get to the Palms, we're tied 10-10.

11:00 Can't check into my  room until 4pm so I camp out at the Sports Book to watch the rest of the game.  By now you've heard that the Jets lost to the Patriots, 37-16.

1:00 - 7:00 Lament the fact that the Jets' season is over, and try to get some work done.

7:30 Dinner at L'Atelier Joel Robuchon with Candace and Tom.  Had such a phenomenal meal there last time, I had to go back -- and they did not disappoint the second time around.  Tried a few different dishes this time, including the Frog Leg Ravioli and Spaghetti L'Atelier (with pancetta & cream).  The best part of the night, however, was when Drunk Guy (DG for short) approached us and struck up a conversation...
DG: Whrrre yuh fruumm? (slurring)
Tom: Detroit
Candace: Chicago
Laura: San Francisco
DG: So yur a Democrat then?
Laura: Yes
DG: Whut about you?
Candace: I don't belong to a particular party.
DG: Yuh mean other than loookin' gooood?

I love it.  Candace for President -- Looking Good in '08!

11:00 Ghostbar with Greg.  Spectacular view.  Glass terrace a few hundred feet above ground that I stood on for a few seconds - that's all I could manage in spite of having jumped off a bridge and a plane before.  By the time we left around midnight the place was just getting started.  Had to save up for the next night though!

Monday...

7:00 Haul myself to the hotel gym.  Feel hung over even though I only had 1/2 a drink at Ghostbar.  Somehow manage to run 6 miles, and it feels like it's all uphill even though the treadmill has zero incline.

9:30 - 5:30 Get my real exercise of the day at CES.  All those years of frat parties really come in handy when you're booking through the Convention Center, navigating around 140,000 people.  Unfortunately nothing truly spectacular at the show to write home about.  Went to Robert Iger's keynote and it turned out to be just one big commercial for Disney, complete with in-person celebrity endorsements.  I'm sorry, but Evangeline Lilly and Matthew Fox telling me how the Internet has changed their lives as stars of Lost is interesting, but not newsworthy.  Supposedly Iger's big announcement was the unveiling of the new Disney.com.  Maybe I'm just jaded and this is big news to the CE industry, but....

Contrast this to the announcement being made back in San Francisco by my BFF Steve Jobs at MacWorld.  The widely-rumored and much-anticipated (at least by me) Apple iPhone is going to be a reality in June.  Now that's what I call great news!

For the most comprehensive coverage of the show, click here.

7:00 Dinner at Japonais.  New Vegas outpost of the popular Chicago & NY Asian/French fusion eatery. Pros: Fish was delicious and very fresh.   At the end of the day, that's all I should really care about in a sushi restaurant.  "The Rock" (700-degree stone on which you cook your own Niman Ranch beef) was also quite tasty.
Cons: The Spicy Mono (Octopus) Roll was not very spicy.  The restaurant's look and feel reminded me way too much of Nobu in Vegas.  I had to keep reminding myself where I was, rather than thinking I was having a distinctly new experience.

9:00 CNET's Off the Record Party in the Hefner Villa at the Palms.  True to form, the CNET party was the hot ticket.  Great turnout, and once the dancing got going, there was no stopping us.

Here's the photo album from the party...

by Webshots_CNET

And here's the album from the after-party...

by laurajf1

(Click on links to view full albums.)

Tuesday...

There will be no working out this morning.  Not happening.

1:09  Fly back to SFO.  It was a Las Vegas miracle - perhaps the first time ever - that my flight back from CES was not delayed.  The other Las Vegas miracle was that I didn't shop the entire time I was there!