We decided to go down to the Valley (Mesa, Arizona) to surprise my brother and his family. He just baptized his daughter and we didn’t want to miss that for the world. As I need some good outdoor running, since it has been snowing like crazy here in Utah, I decided to run the Sedona half-marathon. What a GREAT decision that was! The weather was perfect and the scenery was absolutely amazing.

The longest I had ever ran before was 11 miles but it is only 6 weeks before the half-ironman and I know I need to get a feel of what the run will feel like. We had driven the whole day before and arrived in Sedona about 1 am on Staurday so I knew I was going to be tired in the morning. When the alarm went off at 6:00am I pushed snooze about 5 times and finally got up at 6:45am I was really second guessing my decision to run the race but somehow I was ale to get myself out the door.

It was a little cold In the morning but I knew It would get warmer once I started running. For some reason Tammy convinced me to run in my tights but they ended up feeling pretty good during the race. They just didnt look so good as you can see in the picture.

I started off really slow and pretty much kept that pace through out the entire race. The course is about 7 miles out and 6 miles back up and down the crazy hills of Sedona. I kept a good pace and felt great until about mile 8 when my knees and ankles started to hurt from the pounding. At mile 10 my foot arches started cramping and the hurting just got worse in the knees and ankles. I ignored the pain and just kept trying to keep my pace. The last mile was pretty much uphill the whole way but the finish was awesome. Tammy and the kids where there to cheer me on which always helps. I love having people there to cheer me on. It makes the race a whole lot easier.

I would suggest everyone who likes running to run in this race. It was awesome. The venue was really organized, good entertainment before the race, plenty of food and drinks during the race, plenty of volunteers, great refreshments and gifts for finishers. I would rate it a 10 out of 10. Hopefully next time I will be able to run it a little bit faster.