I have been spending the past few days in Arizona at the Rock N Roll Marathon. I came as the Team in Training coach for the Kentucky and Southern Indiana Chapter. For those of you who have not done the marathon, I believe that this may be one of the better courses to PR on than any course I’ve been on. Here are a couple reasons why:

1. The course is beyond flat. The elevation change is minimal and even when it does change, it is welcomed after all the flat running that you’ve done.

2. The number of runners isn’t too many to be able to actually run. Chicago is flat too, but anyone who has done that race knows that there are way too many people to get going from the start.

3. The time of year is perfect, if you live in an area where winter training is possible (and in KY, I believe winter running is the ideal.)

My experience here was different than any marathon I have done before, other than possibly the Tecumseh Trail Marathon when Nikki and I ran the race together. There were 16 runners from the chapter out on the full marathon course, so my only goal was to get each one across the finish line. And they were all successful! As a coach it was a little challenging at times over the weekend, primarily due to the fact that I had only met the walking group from Lexington a couple times and had never met the group of runners from Louisville at all. That makes it difficult to provide guidance leading up to the race, especially when they have trained differetly in many ways.

It might be hard to give a honest assessment of the Rock N Roll Marathon because of the Team in Training involvement, because at times it is hard to remember that all the participants are not receiving all the support, guidance and celebrations that the TNT group does. The one thing I have to compare the TNT experience to would be Ironman athlete support and celebration. They have:

1. Pre-race pasta parties and celebration
2. Race Morning support
3. Lots of support during race day on the course
4. Post-race victory party

In addition to that, TNT takes care of travel arrangements, hotel arrangements and transportation while at the site. As an athlete you really don’t have to do anything other than show up and do the race.

Plus, you get to use your involvement to support an organization that is making a huge difference in blood cancers by raising money for research and patient support. It was inspiring to see all the ribbons and pictures pinned on the racers jerseys. But then again, as one runner reminded me, it also is not a good thing because it means there are lots of people out there still battling blood cancers and lymphomas.

Some day that may not be true!

So my run was a great experience. I’m not sure how much I ended up running? I estimate >30 miles but <34 miles. Too bad I didn't have my new Garmin ready to go. I was a little bummed to see that this won't count towards my 50 marathons in 50 states goal. The one thing as a coach that was a bummer was that I didn’t end up as an official participant, i.e. no number, no chip therefore no result. So after reading the 50 states rules again, I’m left still needing Arizona. I did find out thought that Ironman races do count, along with ironman-distance races. So I guess I have Wisconsin done!

If you are thinking about trying a marathon for the first time, I would suggest thinking about going the Team in Training route. It is a great experience.