Taking it easy

My legs have been a bit tired since the race, which is to be expected, so I’ve been trying to take it a bit easy. But I’ve still gotten out for a few runs!

Thanksgiving Day:
Give N’ Gobble 5k
My friend K and I dusted off our fancy pacing skirts to pace another 30 minute 5k. A lot of people showed up to this race, and I’m not sure too many of the surrounding people knew what we were up to, but we tried to grab a few people in the last couple of miles so they could reach their goal. We even had one kid thank us at the end for pushing him through the finish! Very fun and rewarding!

I was a little nervous going into this “race” since my legs were still a little fatigued (especially noticeable the previous day for my first post-race run). But they actually felt a lot better on this day. Maybe it was the “race” atmosphere that helped! All around it was a good time! Instead of a Turkey Dinner later that day, we had pizza! Mmm!

Post-Thanksgiving Weekend:
Hot Buttered Run Volunteering (Bag Check!)
Although I didn’t run this race, I had a great time volunteering, and it looked like all those out there actually participating had a great time too. There was a 5k and a 12k, and everyone (of legal drinking age) got delicious Hot Buttered Rum at the end (hence the name). Before or after the race you could enjoy the Festival of Trees in the Pearson Air Museum. Overall, a great festive event!

Last week:
I ran a few times this week, and even did a long run yesterday. Group run from Lululemon! My legs were pretty tired the whole way through, but I made it, and feel fine today!

After the run, J and I attended the Holiday Ale Festival during the Civil War game (in order to avoid the crowd.) Good planning! My favorite of the day (got 3 tasters of it, it was so delicious!):
Hopworks Brewery Kentucky Christmas!!

Next week:
Next weekend my friend K and I will be running (for fun) the Holiday Half. It looks like a really festive fun time! (Carolers!) Until then!

EWEB’s Run to Stay Warm Half Marathon Race Report

Freezing temps, wind, and rain. The weather forecasters could not have been more wrong! It turned out to be a beautiful, clear, sunny day! I was getting pretty nervous in the days leading up to my first goal race in a long time; I was really just hoping there wouldn’t be any ice or snow to slip me up! But I couldn’t have hoped for the weather to be any better than it was!

The race didn’t start until 9am. And, since we drove down the night before, that meant we got to “sleep in”! (Anything past 6am is sleeping in to me!) I ate some of a cinnamon roll (since the oatmeal included in the continental breakfast was inedible) and started feeling a bit nervous.

We got to the packet pickup area at a little after 8am, and waited in a brief line. The pickup was inside a heated building, which was nice, but the room was a bit small for all that was going on, and I think with the large turnout, it got a bit jumbled up in there. No worries, though. I got my bib number, picked up my chip, and stayed inside to be warm. Half an hour before the start time, I used the (real) facilities, and just counted down until it was start time. Soon enough, it was time to line up, so all the half-marathoners headed out to the start line.

The race started right on time, and there was plenty of room at the start for everyone to spread out. After we finished weaving through EWEB’s River Edge Plaza, we found ourselves on the bike paths that would make up most of the race course.

Just after the start (I’m in the green shirt!):

About a mile into the race, we crossed over the Willamette River for the first time, and went around a bit of an extra loop on the North side of the river. We came back around toward our initial river crossing near Mile 4, where we met up with the 10k and 5k’ers. At first, I thought this would throw me off my race, but it was actually a bit of a mental boost. Up until this point, I felt like there were a lot of people passing me (although I would eventually see many of them later), but it was pretty empowering to be able to pass people running a shorter race than me. It definitely made me feel fast.

I went into the race wanting to hold an 8:30 min/mi pace, but I definitely started out faster than that. I was just hoping I wouldn’t pay for it later.

Mile 1: 8:02
Mile 2: 8:20
Mile 3: 8:15
Mile 4: 8:31

My friend K was nice enough to jump in with me from Mile 4 to Mile 7, to keep me company, and make sure I was feeling good. I was definitely feeling good, and able to keep a little bit of a conversation up at this point. Everything felt nice and smooth, and really pretty easy! J cheered me on from Mile 4 and Mile 7 (he was helping drive K around, and also there to cheer me on!) so I had him grab my gloves and hat since it had warmed up so much!

Meeting K and J:

Running with K, still feeling good:

Mile 5: 8:33
Mile 6: 8:21
Mile 7: 8:16
Mile 8: 8:04

About a mile after K took off to meet me on the other side of the river, things started to feel not quite as easy. Mile 8 is also where we had about a 0.4 mile out-and-back, which felt a bit discouraging, but after we made it through that, we crossed the Mile 9 marker, and crossed over the river for the final stretch.

Mile 9 wove through some neighborhoods, but soon enough we found ourselves back onto the bike path system. Mile 10 is when it really started to get hard. I told myself “Only 5k to go!”, but really, 5k seemed like an awfully far way to go! I told myself just to keep going. Although I was feeling tired, I still sped up a bit during this section, which may be because I was passing a few familiar faces.

Mile 9: 8:09
Mile 10: 8:01
MIle 11: 7:54

I think my friend K and J saw me during Mile 11, so maybe that’s why it was so quick? But I know I saw K again about halfway into Mile 12. She ran with me to the finish, and I’m so glad she did. I was struggling, and mentally I just wanted to slow down a bit, but K kept me focused on my breathing and on keeping a smooth, even pace. I stayed strong, and the time just kept clicking away. Soon enough, K told me to charge ahead, so I did! One final turn and I could see the finish line. I totally didn’t catch up with the 2 girls in front of me, but that’s ok. My legs definitely gave all they had. Finally I crossed, with a smoking new PR!

Getting really tired! Can you tell?:

Me and J at the finish area:

Mile 12: 8:12
MIle 13: 8:13
Mile 13.1: 1:54 (6:48 avg pace)

Garmin Results:
13.28 miles: 1:48:44 (8:11 avg pace)

Official Results:
13.1 miles: 1:48:49 (8:19 avg pace)
Age Group: 6/44
Overall: 139/462

(Apparently, my chip didn’t work. But I’m not too worried about it. I was only a few seconds behind the start line, and those few seconds didn’t put me over into the next minute! ;)

I’m really proud of myself for this race. I ran it smartly, and really think I gave it everything I had in the moment. It was a great day to race a half marathon, and I definitely killed my time from Helvetia! Part of that is because the course was pretty flat, part of that is because I’ve learned to run smarter, and part of that is because I’m faster.

It was a great race, with a good course and good organization. And It was for a great cause! (From the website: “All proceeds benefit EWEB's Customer Care Program to help income-eligible customers who are having difficulty paying their utility bills.”) It was also a pretty great preview of a good portion of the Eugene Marathon! (Which J and I may or may not have signed up for…)

Since this was my 2nd half in 15 days (and also my 3rd or 4th within 90 days), I qualified to become a member of the Half Fanatics. Say hello to Fanatic #652! :)

I want to continue running half’s (hopefully 1/month for a year, if I can handle it in my schedule!) I really like them, and not all of them need to be races! :) We’ll see how I do!

In the meantime, it’s again time to run for fun! My next half is the Holiday Half on 12/12! And I have a turkey trot on Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Trails, trails, trails.

One more week to go until the Run to Stay Warm (aka My Goal Race)! I’m feeling fairly strong, now, even after my two week cut back for Achilles issues. I haven’t had any further Achilles issues (*fingers crossed!*)

The past week has been chock full of trail runs. Trails are NOT easy.

I had Thursday off (Veteran’s Day) and made good use of the free time with some friends up in Forest Park. We ran an 8 mile out-and-back starting at the zoo along the Wildwood Trail. Can you say switchbacky hills!? We made it up to Pittock Mansion before heading back downhill again. I was definitely breathing heavy as we made our way up to the top. The trails, on this day, weren’t too muddy, but there were definite patches of mud. The rain didn’t end up starting until later that day!

Saturday morning, I made my way back up to Forest Park for a 12-miler. This time I started at Lower Macleay Park, before making my way onto the Wildwood Trail (it’s a long one!) and running along the trail from about the Mile 5.5 sign to the 10.5 sign. There was a pretty gnarly uphill section to start with, and then a gentle climb for most of the first half. (I planned it that way! ;) I wove through a new stretch of the Wildwood I haven’t been through before, and it was beautiful. There were a lot of other runners out there with me, and I’m pretty sure I spotted Zach (Jen’s husband). As I was running along, I passed by a parking area that I knew I’d like to remember so I could use it on a later trip (and I did!)

After the turn around, there were a lot of gentle (and not so gentle) down hill sections. The trail was pretty muddy from the rain over the previous few days, but it wasn’t too bad with my trail shoes. I was feeling pretty good, and proud that I hadn’t yet tripped or slipped in the mud. And then it happened. I had slowed a bit for a small uphill section, and noticed some girls running up ahead of me, going in the opposite direction. I knew I needed to get a snot rocket out of the way before they passed, and in the brief time it took me to turn my head in preparation for said rocket, my foot hit a root (probably) and I hit my entire front side (well mostly the right - front) into a big pile of mud.

Things I am thankful for: 1) I had slowed down in preparation for the snot rocket, 2) I was going uphill and the fall was pretty short, 3) I fell on a muddy section versus a rocky/hard section. Of course, the girls in front of me saw everything, but they didn’t make too big of a deal out of it. They joked that they were waiting for the same thing to happen to them. I popped up just about as quickly as I had fallen down, and I was soon back up on my feet and running again. My hip was a bit sore afterward, but I only had about 2 miles to go, so no biggie. I have a bit of a lingering bruise, but overall, not too bad. I have to say, falling on top of mud is actually kinda fun. And makes you look pretty badass! :) I had J take a picture of my muddy legs after the run. I’m sure they were pretty muddy before the fall, but afterward, I was getting funny looks from hikers.

I had tentatively planned a run for Sunday, but scrapped it since I was pretty tired after Saturday’s run, and I had already gotten a good amount of mileage in for the week (over 30!)

So I moved my third (and final until after RTSW) trail run in Forest Park to Monday. I found the parking area I scoped out on Saturday’s run, and decided to keep going along Wildwood for some new scenery. This run was a bit tougher than the previous two. Trail running is definitely more difficult than road running. But my legs warmed up eventually. I made my way along the trail until I hit a crossing, and mistakenly took the wrong trail. Overall, I think the trails in Forest Park are very well marked, but I didn’t see the correct continuation for this crossing. I ran almost a mile on the wrong trail, before deciding I was going the wrong way. I eventually found the right way, but it took me down a rather wicked downhill section, which I knew didn’t bode well for the return trip. I was definitely breathing heavy on the way back, but eventually the trail evened out, and I finished with a pretty good pace (especially for on the trail). I ended up with 6 miles; that’s 26 miles total for the weekend trail runs! :)

After today’s run, I went to a Thai Massage that I had won many months ago. It was a free 90-minute massage that I had finally found the time to book and go to. Wowzers, it felt good but painful, especially my calves. I should probably get those babies massaged more often. I know how knotty they get, and if I have any pain with running, it’s usually due to them being too tight.

I’m going to take it easy the rest of the week, and rest up for my race on Saturday. I’m not nervous yet, but I know I will be in the coming week. It has been awhile since I've actually “raced” a race, but I’m definitely looking forward to it!

Silver Falls Trail Half Marathon “Race” Recap

Well, I haven’t blogged in awhile. I stopped for a bit when I was taking it easy due to some Achilles soreness, but I seem to be on the mend, and bouncing back ok. I got my mileage up to almost where it should be, and completed a really tough half marathon course on Saturday! (Recap coming soon!)

There’s only 2 weeks left until my “goal” race, the EWEB Run to Stay Warm, and I’m feeling pretty good about it at this point. I’m not sure it’s going to be as fast as I had initially hoped, what with my 2 weeks of recovery (stupid Achilles!) but I do think I have a pretty good shot at a PR!!

On to the race report:

This was an inaugural race, and as soon as I heard about it, I knew I wanted to sign up. With only 400 spots, I had a good feeling it would fill up fast, so I signed up within 24 hours of “thinking” about it. (That may be why I ended up with number 15! :)

What made me so excited about this course? I love Fall, I love waterfalls, and I love trees! And this had everything. The pictures I’d seen of Silver Falls were amazing, and I really wanted to be a part of it. Well, this race did not disappoint!

When I signed up for the race, I knew I wanted to use it as a “training run” rather than a “race”. When I saw the elevation chart, I knew I wouldn’t be going too fast… I still knew it would be perfect for a scenic jaunt through the forest with my camera. We carpooled down to the race with some friends, which was a great idea because it was a long drive. We got there with plenty of time to spare, hit up the restrooms, and picked up our packets. While waiting for our packets, we ran into Jen! and Zach Hi! After getting our packets, we went back to the car to keep warm before the start. Soon enough, though, it was time to line up, and off we went.

The first mile or so was on a wide paved section, which I’m sure allowed those out there racing to find their groove before hitting the trail section that followed. Soon enough, we were making our way through the trees and enjoying the fall scenery!

I’m so glad I recently got my hands on some trail shoes. They really do make trail running a little more enjoyable. I was definitely more comfortable climbing through mud and rocks! I don’t like slipping! There was one section that the line of runners in front of us stopped at. It was a short steep muddy decline, and without my trail shoes, I would have had to have J help me get down it, but with them, I felt a little more confident. (I’m a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to steep down hills, especially on trails, and especially when I’m running!)

Overall, the first few miles were relatively flat, and we were just soaking in the environment. We were in a relatively large group of people at this point, but it would clear up soon enough. Eventually, we made our way to the hills. But with the hills, came the beautiful waterfalls! Miles 6-8 were mostly downhill, and were followed by some nasty uphill, including a large amount of stairs! “House of Pain” was written at the bottom. I think that sums it up! I was feeling pretty good until about mile 9. A little sore, but I expected it since trail running is definitely a challenge, but this course was really challenging! It seemed the hills might just be over at Mile 12, when we could hear the cheers at the finish. But alas, the worst hill of them all was still to come. We walked that guy, and the subsequent downhill (holy steepness!) Although I had trail shoes, I have a huge fear of tripping and falling to my death. I probably just need to get out there and practice a bit, but with how heavy my legs were feeling, it was probably a safe choice to take it easy.

Soon enough, the downhill was over, and a few turns later, we were crossing the finish line! It wasn’t a PW (that still belongs to Nike Women’s Half :), but I like to think of it as a trail half marathon PR! Road races and trail races are definitely different beasts, after all!

Although this was a super challenging course, it was a lot of fun. We ran by 10 waterfalls, and behind 3 of the larger ones. Nothing beats running behind waterfalls! It was a beautiful course, and definitely worth all the soreness I had the rest of the day! (And maybe a little bit the next day…) The race was well organized, and the course was marked amazingly well; I never once wondered about a turn. There was no getting lost out there!

I would definitely recommend this race to anyone, and to get you excited, here’s some pictures I took while I was out there:

One of the many waterfalls:

The stairs we got to go DOWN:

Runner’s about to run behind a waterfall: 

Leaves on the trail:

J and I in front of a waterfall:

“The House of Pain”:

Me behind one of the waterfalls:

2 more weeks until it’s actually “racing” time! :)

Nike Women’s Half Marathon Race Report

After the awesomeness that was pacing the Portland Marathon last weekend, I was pretty excited about running. I had last Monday (aka the day after the marathon) off and needed to pick up my allergy meds at the pharmacy. I didn’t want to drive or take the streetcar, and I figured, “I’m just gonna run. It’s pretty close!” I got there, no problem, picked up my meds, and started making my way home. That’s when both my Achilles started to hurt. ARGH!! And they proceeded to hurt the rest of the week. I decided to hold off all running until Sunday (aka the day of the next race) and hope for the best. So, I was pretty nervous going into the race.

J and I drove down to the Bay Area on Friday. There, we met up with Alisa, and spent the night at her Father’s house. Saturday morning, we made our way to a BART station, and rode on into the city. Our hotel was just outside the station, and right near Union Square (aka the site of the Expo and Race Start). We checked into the hotel, and made our way down to the Expo.

The “Expotique”:
We managed to make it to the Expo before the crowds got too out of control. (An hour later, the line went around the block. We made our way through each station, got our bibs, corral bands, and then split up. While the girls went shopping, I took J out to see the sights, since he’d never really been to SF before. But first, we meandered over to Nike Town, and I found my name on the “wall”.

Sightseeing:
First, I took J down to the Embarcadaro. This is where my dad used to take my brother and I to get sticky buns on the weekends when I was younger. The sticky bun place was no longer there, but the fountain we used to hop around in was. There was also a Boudin Bakery there, so we enjoyed ourselves with some lunch!! Mmm.

My brother and I used to hop around in this fountain. P.S. I’m pretty sure they were doing construction on it the last time we were there….

Next up, we walked along the Embarcadero, and past Pier 39. We spotted the sea lions, and also Alcatraz, then made our way to Fisherman’s Wharf, and finally, to the Ghirardelli Factory! Double Mmmm!!

Alcatraz in the background

 

After we scarfed down our dessert, it was time to make our way back to the hotel. On they way, we passed by Lombard St (the crookedest street) and up some steep hills! (Probably not too great for the Achilles.)

                      Hills

Next, we ordered some takeout from the California Pizza Kitchen. That place was very convenient to our hotel, and therefore the race/expo area, and it was nearly empty when we went to pick up our food! Score! We finished the evening by lounging around in our pj’s, eating some pizza, and watching TV. With our race stuff laid out and ready to go, we hit they hay.

Race Time:
At 5:30am it was time to get ready. We got our gear on, scarfed down some bagels and cookies (mmm!) then made our way to the starting area. Holy moly that place was packed! I’d never been to a race this large before. (Alisa later told us it’s the 3rd largest half marathon in the WORLD! and I’m not surprised!) The race was a point-to-point race, and we wanted to have some warm gear at the finish line, so we maneuvered our way to the bag check area.

Alisa and I pre-race.

With our bags checked, we made our way to our starting corral. We lined up in the 10-11:30 min/mi corral for our leisurely journey! Eventually, we heard the gun go off, and we patiently awaited our turn to cross the mat. Soon enough, it was our turn, and we were off!

 

The first mile or so wove through the Financial District. Although the entire race, from our perspective (aka the slow, take your time and enjoy sightseeing area of the pack) was a cluster for pretty much the entirety of the race, it didn’t seem like we had to weave too much around runners just out of the chute. Although, I’m sure that could also be due to our leisurely pace…

Miles 2 and 3 ran along the Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf and by the many piers lining the water, including the touristy Pier 39. From here, we could see the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz, and I made sure to snap a few pics. It was an average cloudy morning for San Francisco, at least from my memory as a youngster growing up in the area, but you could still see the sights pretty well. Mile 5 brought us by Fort Mason, and our first potty stop.

Now, I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this before, but San Francisco has a few hills, and after passing Fort Mason, we got a nice view of our first big one. I have to say, the hills on this course (at least the first half) are definite walking hills. I probably wouldn’t suggest this half as a “PR” course… Pretty much everyone around us, at this point, was walking. But we got some great views along this “280ft over a mile” climb, and we savored every moment of it (and took some nice pics of the Golden Gate Bridge.) There were even race signs pointing out the best scenic views for pictures!

The next few miles included some “rolling” hills, at least by San Francisco’s standard. But remember, hills = good views! Mile 9 took us through a neighborhood with a lot of really nice looking houses, and oranges from Kaiser. Yeah, I grabbed some. Another great part of this stretch was the encouraging signs along the route, saying things like, “Reason [to run] #8: Because I Can”.

 
With every hill, comes a downhill, and Mile 11 was a quad scorcher! We rounded a corner, and got a great view of some beaches, and what appeared to be a finish shoot…but that couldn’t be right… It wasn’t. There were two portions near the end of the course with blown up arches with encouraging words. Not sure I would appreciate those if I were racing. I usually associate those arches with the finish line, but it was a nice gesture!

All we had left was a short jaunt through Golden Gate Park. This is where we split from the full marathoners (Good luck, ladies!) and made our turn down the “Chocolate Mile”, because, really, what would a women’s race be without Chocolate?! I grabbed some Ghirardelli from the volunteers and stashed it for later (I’d already eaten some Clif Shot Bloks and Luna Bars from a previous aid station, so I was no longer hungry at this point.) Finally, we wove our way through the final stretch, and through the finish line!

    Post Race:
What a hoard of people at the end! I managed to spot the tuxedo-clad fireman and got my necklace. Race officially complete. The finish line was a great use of the assembly line system. After making my way through the necklaces, and acquiring my space blanket, I was led into the “food area”. I was given a great re-usable shopping bag in which to stuff my goodies (including bananas, bagels, Kashi cereal, Luna bars, raisins, and Gatorade). I grabbed everything that was offered to me and stuffed it in my bag. Soon enough I was at the shirt station, grabbed my Pink Nike Tech Tee, and finally filtered out of the system. I collected my bag, and bundled up a bit to protect myself from the rain that had started just as we were finishing up.

Now, my absolute least favorite part of the race: Getting back to the hotel. Everyone in our group had purchased shuttle tickets for a ride back the start. Well, everyone but me…Oops! They ended up waiting in line for 45 minutes, but that was still better than what J and I ended up doing… We had the brilliant idea to take public transit. We ended up walking about 3.5 miles and getting passed up by 3 buses before finally getting picked up. We made it back to our hotel in just enough time for late check out. No shower for me. Bummer!

Luckily, I was able to get myself the largest Pumpkin Spice Latte I could, so that I could warm up a bit (rain+SF=cold). We made our way to the BART station, and rode back to our car. After a pit stop at Alisa’s in-laws (with very yummy dinner and breakfast! and a good night’s sleep) J and I made the long trek back up north on Monday.

It was a busy, but super fun weekend. And I got new bling! Both Achilles made it through the race ok; no pain really while we were running, a little achiness as we walked up those hills, but I made it through ok. My right heel gets sore when driving (from the pressure on the heel), and I’m definitely cutting back this week! I ran a bit today (Tuesday), but only about 2.5 miles. When it started hurting, I stopped. I’m gonna run just a bit again tomorrow, then take a few days off. Friday is my birthday, and, although I wish I could run on my Birthday, I think a massage is in order!

Here’s to a happy, restful, injury repairing birthday week!

Portland Marathon Pacer Recap

This past Sunday, I took part in the Portland Marathon, as an official 4:45 pacer. Let me just say, I had an absolutely amazing time! Here’s the recap of the weekend:

Expo: I worked the Red Lizard Pacer Booth on Saturday afternoon, and actually had a really fun time answering questions from nervous/excited expectant Marathoners. We handed out pace bands, and answered many questions about corrals. Unfortunately, the Portland Marathon had decided to use the entrants “projected finish time” from their registration to assign them to a corral, without actually letting the runners know… So a lot of runners were upset that they were placed in separate corrals from their pacers, based upon a time they input 6-12 months ago…This probably wouldn’t be much of a problem if they would allow people to change corrals, or update their information a few months ago, but we hoped it would all work out the next day anyhow.

Race: We set our alarms for 5:45am, so that would could be dressed (in our “pacer uniforms”: see below picture) and make our way to the Pacer’s Meeting point at our assigned time of 6:15am. When I had looked outside while getting dressed, I didn’t see any rain, but dressed for the elements, anyway. When we finally made our way out the door, it was pouring, so we quickly headed back inside to grab some trash bags, as we knew we would be standing in the rain for awhile before the race actually started. When we stepped out the door for the second time, we noticed that it was 6:15, and we were late, so we ran the few blocks to our meeting site. We collected our “Lizard Pace Sign” and made sure we were ready to go. Soon enough, it was time to head to our assigned corral.

We both decided that we needed to use the portas, but the line was already a block long. We started by lining up in the line, but after the 5th person approached us and asked about being paced, we decided it would be best to try and cut the line, then line up appropriately for our pace group to meet us. Some nice girls understood, and let us sneak ahead, and soon enough we found our waiting place. Several runners approached us and said they wanted to run with us, but that they wanted to wait under cover, to avoid the large amount of moisture that was falling upon us. “No problem!”, we said. Eventually, we distantly heard the national anthem, and knew it would be time to take off soon.

Did I mention that it was absolutely pouring?! Because it was, and we were already soaked before we even started…

Eventually, we were directed toward the starting line. Garbage bags were strewn all across the road, and you had to be careful not to trip over them. (It doesn’t hurt to walk them over to the side, people!) One thing I didn’t like about the march to the starting line, was when we passed by the “fat lady” sign that said, “It’s almost over!” It later leads you to the finish line, but, really, we hadn’t even started yet!
That’s just mean… :(

Finally, we reached the starting line, I clicked “start” on my watch, and off we went! There is always great energy at the start of the race, and even though I wasn’t racing myself, I was still very excited. One of my favorite early moments was as we passed a Large Drum band (Portland Taiko). The sound they created was very dramatic, and definitely added to excitement of the first mile!

Even though we started in “waves” the first few miles were a definite challenge from a “pacer” standpoint. There were a lot of people in front of us, and we just hoped they were on pace. The first few miles we were actually a bit fast, and we continued to add a little bit to our “bank”  until about Mile 5. This is when we started on the most scenic, the most awesomest, and just plain spectacular (sense any sarcasm, because these sentiments are layered with it…) out and back of all time. OMG. It definitely does not shine a great light upon Portland…

Anyway. These miles dragged on a bit. There were some nice bands, but it was pretty darn boring. One cool thing was that we were able to see a bunch of people going the opposite direction, including a lot of the other pace groups. Something I noticed was that this section became very overcrowded, especially during the aid stations. Not sure if this was because of the half-marathoners mixed in with the marathoners, or what? But it could become a bit of a mad house, what with people cutting across you trying to get to the water or other aid. Oh, and another awesome thing about this section: PUDDLES!!!! As if the pouring rain wasn’t enough, this road has pretty poor upkeep, and collected a lot of water in spots. We had no hope of keeping our tootsies even remotely dry…

 

Soon enough, we were done with this section, and we definitely cheered verbosely! And then before we knew it, we were at Mile 11. Only 3 to go before pacing buddy and I could put on some warm clothes and head over to the Mile 24 aid station! At Mile 12, the two pacers taking over for the second half joined in. We introduced them to our group, went over timing logistics, and settled in to the pace. They were happy that we had banked a little extra time, as the dreaded “Hill” (St. John’s Bridge) was still up ahead.

Mile 14 came and we hopped out and yelled some final support to our pacees, and told them we would see them again at Mile 24!

Wearing dry clothes never felt so good!! And warmI  Ahhhhh…..Soon enough, we made our way to the Aid Station, and passed out Gummy Bears and Pretzels. And shivered. Brrr…it was cold. We kept our eyes out for all the pace groups coming through: 3:50, 4:00, 4:15, 4:30. Time to make sure we were run ready. A few more minutes, and we spotted our Lizard. (He was the one with flair!) We jumped in and looked around at a few familiar faces, although I guess a few had been lost after the bridge. Before we knew it, it was one last climb up onto the Broadway Bridge. This was a tough climb for all these marathoners. At this point, their legs were toast, so we gave as much encouragement as we could, and grabbed any stragglers we passed.

The Mile 25 marker passed, finally, and you could see everyone struggling, but you knew they were going to make it! They were going to be able to call themselves “Marathoners”! The final chute involved a right turn, followed by a left turn (which I think threw a few people off mentally). When we made the first turn, we told our group to take off and finish strong, and boy did they. We were all alone at this point, but there were some people a few yards behind us, so we yelled for them to pass us! When we finally crossed over the finish line (at 4:45:00 on the dot!) pacer buddy and I turned around to cheer in a few people behind us.

Eventually, we went back to the finish and got our space blankets, although the rain had finally stopped! This was apparently the wettest Portland Marathon in history (probably). It was a little emotional at the start line, and why not, a lot of these people finished their first marathon, and finally finished what they had been training so long for!

So, to sum it up, I can’t wait to do this again! It was a very rewarding experience, and it was so much fun to be a part of something so big for all these runners!

Now I didn’t bring my camera, because, in case you didn’t catch it, it was pouring!! So I borrowed some pictures from my friend! :)

Preparation

This week really felt like preparation for next week’s Portland Marathon Extravaganza! I increased my mileage (to the most weekly mileage I’ve ever run!) and practiced pacing with my pacing buddy!.

Monday:
4.1 miles (9:51 avg pace)
My friend, who had gotten married over the weekend, had a lot of leftover cupcakes, so we made our way over to the weekly WAMR group run. We don’t usually head over to these runs, because they’re a bit of a drive from our house, but it was worth it for the cupcakes. I have every other Monday off from work, so I’m sure I could make my way out there again in the future.

The run takes place mostly on the Fanno Creek Trail. It was a nice little run through a “park”-like area. I’m really glad this run was with a group, though, because I’m sure I would have gotten lost without them! And, yes, the cupcakes were delicious!

Tuesday:
Rest Day

Wednesday:
5.6 miles (10:04 avg pace)
This was the week for group runs! I was supposed to meet up with Alisa for a hill workout, but work issues prevented her from coming out. :( (Don’t worry, we’ll make it work sometime!) Instead, we made our way over to the Fulton Pub Run, for one of their last weeks of the “summer route”, which includes 1-2 miles of (what seems to me) moderate-difficult trail. My pacing buddy and I used the last few miles to practice our 10:52 pace for our Portland Marathon pacing duties. Nice and easy.

Thursday:
Last Thursday
3.6 miles (9:36 avg pace, with stop and go)
The last “First” Thursday of the year. This one seemed to be shorter than the other “routes”, and we were able to hit up each and every stop. There also seemed to be less people, which upped our chances of winning. Neither J or I were successful, but our friend won twice! Plus, we got delicious Jubelale for our recovery drink!

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
Fall Finale 5k Pacer Report
My pacing buddy for the Portland Marathon had decided awhile ago to pace this race for any participants who would like to break 30 minutes for the 5k. So we pulled out the best part of our pacing outfits (the tutus) and got to work. We tried to hold about a 9:35 min/mi pace, and I think we did this quite well, until the last mile, but at this point, I think we had already lost a few folks. As we neared the end, I continued on with the pace, to lead those still with us to the finish line. Then I told them to finish strong, then hung back to cheer on those just behind me. There were quite a few people that appeared to finish PRs, even if they didn’t quite surpass the 30-minute mark! It was a lot of fun to help people reach their goals, and we’re totally going to do it again. We’ve already picked our next race to pace: The Give N' Gobble 5k, in Sherwood. If you know anyone looking to break 30 minutes, send them out our way, and we’d be happy to cheer them on!

5k: 29:17
0.4 miles of warm-up/practice = 3.5 miles total for the day

There was also a raffle after the race, and I am happy to report: I won new shoes!!!

Sunday:
Long Run
13.1 miles (9:36 avg pace)
I started this run with J, but he left after about 2.5 miles, so I was mostly on my own. I headed up Terwilliger, because for some reason, I love doing that?! Then I made my way down those hundreds of stairs down to the Willamette, up and over the Sellwood bridge, then back up the Springwater to the Steel Bridge, and then home. It was a pretty nice run. It was a little misty to start out with, and the leaves had begun to fall. Yeah, I love fall!! The first few miles were about 10:00 pace, and I ended up (on the flatter sections) running a few 9:00 miles. Whoops! Oh well. I was a little sore afterward, but not too bad. And I definitely enjoyed my pizza lunch afterward! Yum!

Total miles for the week: 30!! Yay!!

Next weekend (10/10/10) is the Portland Marathon. I will be co-pacer for the first half of the 4:45 group! I’m really looking forward to helping people try to reach their goals. At this point, we’re planning on running a little past halfway, then going to help at the Mile 24 aid station. Then, we hope to join the 4:45 group when they come through the aid station, and run with them through the finish!

Good luck to all those who are running the Marathon! Hope to see you out there!!

And just as an aside: After a year and a half of unemployment, J has finally received a job offer. He starts work tomorrow, and will finally contribute to society once again! Good luck J! I love you!