The Arizona Road Racers Summer Series is a five race series at different locations in Metro Phoenix. For the runners that take part in the entire series, the top four race times are figured in the standings. My age group happens to be a pretty competitive age group since most of the runners in it are in their prime. The first race in the series took place at Papago Park in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a fast course that began near the Phoenix Zoo and featured an out and back 5k run. For the first race in the series, there is generally a pretty good turn out and it features a wave type start. The race took place on May 28, 2011.

I began the day with plenty of water in my system and I had been including electrolyte supplements in my daily vitamin routine for about a month and a half now. From time to time, I will start a race by sucking down a Gatorade Prime. For this event, I just stopped by the local coffee shop for a small cup of coffee. I read once that Ryan Hall would have a cup of coffee as part of his pre race routine. I later stumbled upon an article at Runners World in regards to the benefits of caffeine for runners.

Upon arrival, I ran into several of my local running friends. There were about six of us that decided to get on the course and go for a quick warm up. I used to doubt the effectiveness of a warm up until I began to notice that it was becoming harder for me to ramp up my speed while on long-distance workouts. A warm up is helpful in that it increases your blood flow, your heart rate and your breathing. It also helps you to avoid injury by loosening up your muscles.

Flashback

Here is a quick additional word about warm ups. For the 2011 Surf City Half Marathon, I was running just a little bit late. I ran with my gear bag, at a steady pace, to the gear check and then to the starting line. It was probably a little under a mile’s worth or running. I PR’d that race and have tried to warm up ever since.

Race Time

As the wave start began, the narrow course was a bit of a challenge as runners were elbow to elbow on the trail. Weaving in and out of traffic, I was able to keep my pace down to where I knew I was pushing myself but tried to be conservative for about the first half of the course. On the way back, I let up a little more for about a half mile before turning it up for the final one. Winded at the finish line, I was able to complete my fastest 5k to date. This race’s time beat any time that I had run in the military, when I thought that I was in the best shape of my life.

After the race, we all chatted with friends and other runners before running a mile cool down. Overall I was pleased with how I did for this race and was super excited to see that my friends did so well too. A wonderful race for my first race of the series and another run that I will not forget.