New IMS marathon

I recently received an e-mail telling me about a new marathon that will be run in the West Valley. It is called the IMS Arizona Marathon scheduled for February 15, 2009. for some time now I have felt that the West side of town needed some new races as there is a good base of runners out here, and maybe I will be wrong but the route this race is to be run on does not inspire me to jump up and register. There will be plenty of open fields and vacant lots to look at as you go by. And by open fields I don’t mean pristine, beautiful desert either. I mean vacant lots with scrub and dying vegetation. But it does end at Westgate which could be kinda cool, especially if they are able to get the finish in the Cardinals stadium or in the Coyotes arena.

I know that the views are not reason to run a race and I am sure that this race will do well; perhaps I may even run it next year (maybe as training run for the Sedona Marathon) 2010 as I still have my ban on running first year events (too many experiences with being a first year race guinea pig).

So, if this sounds like something you would like to try or you want to check it out for yourself go to http://www.thearizonamarathon.com/, and if you are one of the first 500 to register you will get the 2 for 1 special (as long as you know someone who will run with you).

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Catching up...

I have a lot of catching up to do. For starters the Runfar AZ program will be on hiatus for a bit as I need to get myself back up and running before taking on any other projects. My health and well being takes precedence! So...I will be posting on here about me and my training instead of posting about the group.
I will be training with the group my physical therapy office is putting on. I haven't trained with a group for three years, but I think that it would be good for me as I am basically starting from square one as my fitness is nothing right now. I can run with the pain in my back, but my lungs and legs start dying. I know that once I am able o get the miles back up it will start coming back so hopefully I can put forth a good effort at the PF Chang's.

I recently took a trip to Flagstaff and got in some good running around Buffalo Park. I was wondering if any elite runners would be there even though the Olympics took many from the area. I did see several very fast females running the loop at the park as well as legendary coach Dr. Jack Daniels as he worked with a group of kids. Most of the kids were Navajo, but it was a diverse group. Here are some pictures I snapped.

Nice Nike Free's!






I recently came across some cool videos of Ryan Hall as he was preparing for the Olympic trials and the Olympics. Here is my favorite one. He runs so smoothly, uphill, downhill, in a strong headwind. And he appears to be a nice down to earth dude.





So my current goals are to continue with the stretches and exercises my physical therapist gave me, change my diet and stick to it (I ordered the Chris Carmichael nutrition book), and get back to doing what I need to do. Run often and slow.

Until next time...





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