I left the house at about a quarter before 8 am. As part of the usual weekend race routine, I filled up the gas tank at the Chevron gas station before hopping on the 60 freeway. I was planning to get into Phoenix early enough to pick up my race packet at Road Runner Sports. However, I didn't anticipate the traffic. The drive ended up taking about 5 and a half hours.
For this trip, I was staying at the WorldMark Scottsdale property. I registered in late February for this race and was able to get a reservation while being on the waiting list. There was some construction for the Revel Scottsdale senior living/retirement community located adjacent to this property, so the entrance off of Indian Bend Rd was a bit obscured. Prior to coming, I had checked on Google Maps, so I knew where to turn. During check-in, I must of had a major brain fart as I committed to attending an owner update on Sunday at 8 am. The "prize" that I had selected for my time was a Tango gift card. I forgot to ask about the amount. It would turn out to be only a $50 gift card. That's a big fat bummer as in Las Vegas, they normally give out $100. Oh well, still better than nothing. I was assigned unit #2202.
After I got settled into my studio hotel room, I headed back out to gas up the car as well as to pick up dinner. I got gas at the Chevron gas station at the corner of Chaparral Rd and Pima Rd. It's always nice to see cheaper gas prices whenever I leave CA.
Fill 'er up
Chick-fil-A drive-thru
Cobb salad with grilled nuggets
Flat runner
Saturday 4/3
I got up pretty early to catch the Chelsea v. West Brom match at 4:30 am. Sure, it took a second yellow on Thiago Silva to put Chelsea down to 10 men, but I always love to see Chelsea take a loss. I left my room a few minutes before 6 am for the drive over to the race.
Chelsea v. West Brom
The drive over to Rio Vista Park took about 30 minutes. I arrived at about 6:30 am and found a nice parking space in the same spot where I parked last time. I picked up my race packet and bumped into my friends on the way over to use the restrooms. We took the usual pre-race selfie before I headed back to my car to get ready for the race.
Race shirt
Pre-race photo with my friends
Start line
The race announcer was looking for runners to start early ahead of their registered start time. So I got in the starting corral and started at about 6:45 am. When I registered, I had picked the 7 am start time. Most of the time with warm weather races, I would try and bank some time in the early miles. By the third mile, I was already starting to feel it. I tried to hold things together and took a walk break after reaching miles 5, 6, and 7. However everything started to unravel during mile 8. The turnaround was at about 8.5 miles and I was toast. Normally for a half marathon, I would skip grabbing any water at the aid stations since I always carry a handheld bottle. However at 2 of the aid stations, I grabbed a bottle of water just to poor on my head! Those last 5 miles or so were just a slow jog and walk to the finish line.
Near the finish line
Finish: 2:10:03
Click here for my Garmin data.
This was pretty much the same exact race as the Run Run Rudolph Half Marathon that I ran back in December. The only difference was this race had an Easter theme instead of a Christmas theme. Some thing to keep in mind for future races, the pair of socks that I wore gave me blisters on the balls of my feet. That was not fun to deal with especially when we already had the heat working against us.
After getting my finisher meal, I headed over to the post-race table to grab some fruit and a bottle of water. I then met up with my friend who ran in a full body bunny suit and still finished in under 2 hours! We hung out a bit at the last corner to cheer on the runners. I left at about 9:15 am as I needed to head over to Chick-fil-A before their breakfast ended. I had a free chicken biscuit reward that I needed to use up as it was about to expire.
Finisher medal
Finisher medal, post-race fruit, and water
Chick-fil-A breakfast
Once I got back to my room, I ate my breakfast while watching the Leicester v. Manchester City match. City ended up winning 0-2. Eventually, I got cleaned up and caught the Arsenal v. Liverpool match at 12 pm. Liverpool beat Arsenal 0-3. It's always a good day when both Chelsea and the Gunners lose! Since I had breakfast, which isn't the norm for me, I didn't head back out for a late lunch until about 3:15 pm.
Leicester v. Manchester City
Chicago dog x2 and a large malt chocolate shake
Yesterday, the Dodgers played only their 2nd game of the new season beating the Rockies 11-6. Today it was Walker Buehler's turn on the mound. The Dodgers started slow in this one. They didn't score until I went back out to get dinner at Whataburger. I set up my account on their mobile app and right off the bat, they gave me a free second Whataburger meal! I got both Whatburgers with all of the regular toppings. I added Monterey Jack cheese to one of them. One meal, I got fries, the other I got apple slices. For both medium drinks, I got unsweetened iced tea. That ended up being quite a bit of food to put away all by myself in one sitting! It was difficult mostly because each "medium" sized drinks were 32 ounces! Since quitting buffets, that was quite the struggle for my stomach and bladder!
It's time for Dodger baseball!
Whataburger
Thankfully, the Dodgers were able to hang on for another win against the Rockies 6-5 with a save from Kenley Jansen. It's always such a nail biter to watch a tight game played at Coors Field!
Sunday 4/4
I woke up pretty early to catch the 4 am EPL match between Southampton v Burnley. Burnley got out to a pretty quick 2-0 lead, but then it was all Saints after that point on with the Saints winning 3-2. I was more interested in the following match between Newcastle v. Tottenham. This should've been an easy match for the Spurs with a win taking them into the 4th spot on the league table. However, the Spurs being Spurs, they would go down 0-1 with a goal by Joelinton. Thankfully, Kane scored two rather quick goals before the 1st half was over to put the Spurs up 2-1. Before I could watch the entire match, I had to head downstairs to the Preview Center to attend an owner update at 8 am. I had an eye on the score the entire time and true to Spurs form, they gave up a late equalizer to end up only taking 1 pt. So Spursy!
Newcastle v. Spurs
Owner update
After sitting through over an hour long owner's update which included a sales lady trying to get me to purchase more credits, it was time to get on with my day. Back at my room, I caught the remainder of the Aston Villa v. Fulham match before heading out for my usual morning walk.
I left my room a few minutes before 10 am and it was already in the mid 80's. I headed over to the Salt River Fields to check out the USS Arizona Memorial Gardens. I never knew this placed existed until I was checking out Google Maps to locate my timeshare property for this particular weekend. This memorial was constructed through the work of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Seabees, and the US Navy League. They had several informative plaques. I thought it was well worth the visit!
Back at my unit, I caught some of the Manchester United v. Brighton match before heading over to Whataburger to meet up with my friend for lunch. Most of our back-up locations were also closed for Easter Sunday, so Whataburger will have to do! Prior to my arrival, I placed my order on their app. When I got there, I checked-in at the counter. Then when my food was ready, one of the employees brought it out to our table. I got the Whataburger meal. Per the usual, I got all of the regular toppings for the Whataburger. I also added a slice of American cheese. I got their spicy ketchup for the fries. This was my first time eating inside any restaurant since the pandemic shut everything down back in March of 2020. Honestly, it felt weird.
Whataburger meal
Early evening at about 5:30 pm, I got a call on my cell phone from the front desk. They asked if everything was okay. They were notified that someone was carrying glass, dropped it, and had cut himself/herself. That would explain why someone earlier was knocking on my door claiming to be security. I was trying to take a nap, so I thought it was one of the other guests being assholes as I didn't see anyone through the peephole.
At about 6 pm, I went out to get dinner. I decided on getting something quick from McDonald's. I placed my order on the mobile app and headed over to the restaurant to pick it up. I used the "buy one, get one free" deal to get two Quarter Pounders with cheese. Since I wasn't in a hurry and the lobby was open, I went inside to wait for my food. I took it back to my unit to enjoy.
Monday 4/5
Time to go home! I packed up, got ready and left at about 6 am for my drive home. I first stopped at the Chevron gas station at the corner of Chaparral Rd and Pima Rd to top off the tank before hopping on the freeway. It was a pretty decent drive home, taking just under 5 hours. However it would seem that I had used up more gas on the drive home as I pretty much rolled in on fumes. The gas tank was empty enough that as I exited the freeway, I stopped at the usual Chevron gas station before the final stretch home.
Rolling in on fumes
