Friday, October 12, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
Portland Marathon 2007
The morning began great. No rain after 5 straight days of it. It was warmer than the last few days so it was as nice of running weather as I could ask for. I started my day off with my race day ritual of 2 packages of instant apple cinnamon oatmeal followed by 32 ounces of water. Works for me so I stick with it! 1 hour before the race I take my supplements and start to focus at what lies ahead of me.
Angela and our dear friend Wendy walked me to my starting area where Angela took my warm-up clothes from me and then walked Wendy to her starting area. I had some extra anxiety waiting for my Garmin to get a satellite signal because of the buildings downtown but the signal finally came through. With about 15 minutes to start time I kissed Ang good bye and wished Wendy good luck with her first marathon.
The best word to describe this pre race wait for me was peace. All I knew was that I was going to have fun, enjoy all that this marathon was going to offer me and whatever time I get will be just fine. Sure I wanted to go sub 4, but at the start of the race it just didn't matter.
After the gun went off and the initial wave of bodies started to spread out I found my race pace and stuck with it. I held back from going too fast (like I tend to do) and just concentrated on the sights and sounds. This marathon has bands and cheerleaders about every mile and a half and it is always wonderful to see and to listen to while running.I ran with the 4 hour pace group for awhile and then pulled ahead of them because of crowding. I was in my proper heart rate zone so I knew I wasn't going too fast. After a few miles the pace group caught up to me and I thought I might be slowing down. Nope, I sure wasn't. The pace group for some reason decided to run 20-30 seconds faster than the pace they were to run. I couldn't understand why and I still can't. After 2 miles of running at this pace they started to slow back to the 9 minute mile pace they were to be at. I continued at my pace and didn't see them again until much later in the race.
During part of the Portland marathon there is an out and back that gives you the opportunity to see the lead runners and the slower runners when you are coming back. This gave me the chance to see my 2 very fast friends Doug and Ron. Ron was attempting to run a sub 3 hour race and Doug was attempting to qualify for the Boston Marathon with a goal time of 3:30 minutes. When I saw Ron I was amazed at the speed he was running. I saw Doug soon after that and we gave a shout to each other. It is always good to see familiar faces.
Coming to the half way point my time was called out at 1:56. Great split for me and I felt good. I started to think a bit harder at maybe reaching that sub 4 hour goal. Now comes in my opinion the ugliest part of the course. Highway running and typically where I see people slowing up and not doing so good. The one thing that helps me through here is seeing the St Johns Bridge in the distance. It always reminds me of the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz.
As I began my climb up and over the bridge I started to slow down a bit on my pace. I was coming up to mile 18 which is mentally a bitch for me. I think it has to do with the uphill run to the bridge and the quick downhill and then the quick steep uphill just after the bridge. Jessi was waiting there for me with some goodies that I asked her to have for me just in case. I ended up not needing anything and just gave her a rude "I don't need it." Sorry again pumpkin.
Well at this point of the race my legs were starting to tire and I knew I was slowing down a bit but I just kept running. I knew that at mile 21 our marathon training group and Angela would be there cheering everyone on so it was something to look forward to! When I reached the cheering station it was so good to see Angela! I got a second wind and didn't feel the pain that was setting into my legs for awhile. The energy from that group was incredible!
At mile 22 my legs were begging to walk. I had been fighting the urge to walk for a bit and kept telling myself not to stop running for anything. Well shortly after the 22 mile marker I had to listen to my legs. Sometimes your mind loses battles with your body. I walked for 1 minute and than began running again. At mile 23 the 4 hour pace group caught up with me, passed me and then started pulling away from me. The only thing I could think of was I had 3.2 miles to go to a new PR and NOT to try to catch up to the pace group.
In between miles 24 and 25 I ran until I couldn't and then walked until I yelled at myself to run. I planned on running as fast as I could the last mile but my legs held my pace down. When I came into the final 4 blocks of the race my pace picked up and I began passing people right down to the finish. When I came around the final corner I reminded myself that the time being shown at the finish was the "gun" time and not my start time and that yes this was going to be a incredible PR for me again.
A few yards to go and the clock showed 4:10:15. I heard my name announced and crossed the timing mat at 4:10:24.
Final numbers:
10k-54:56 pace-8:51
9.1 mile turn around-1:19:41 pace 8:46
Half-1:56:15 pace-8:52
17.2 mile-2:41:41 pace 9:24
20 mile-3:02:27 pace 9:08
35k-3:19:52 pace 9:13
Final chip time: 4:08:27
Angela and our dear friend Wendy walked me to my starting area where Angela took my warm-up clothes from me and then walked Wendy to her starting area. I had some extra anxiety waiting for my Garmin to get a satellite signal because of the buildings downtown but the signal finally came through. With about 15 minutes to start time I kissed Ang good bye and wished Wendy good luck with her first marathon.
The best word to describe this pre race wait for me was peace. All I knew was that I was going to have fun, enjoy all that this marathon was going to offer me and whatever time I get will be just fine. Sure I wanted to go sub 4, but at the start of the race it just didn't matter.
After the gun went off and the initial wave of bodies started to spread out I found my race pace and stuck with it. I held back from going too fast (like I tend to do) and just concentrated on the sights and sounds. This marathon has bands and cheerleaders about every mile and a half and it is always wonderful to see and to listen to while running.I ran with the 4 hour pace group for awhile and then pulled ahead of them because of crowding. I was in my proper heart rate zone so I knew I wasn't going too fast. After a few miles the pace group caught up to me and I thought I might be slowing down. Nope, I sure wasn't. The pace group for some reason decided to run 20-30 seconds faster than the pace they were to run. I couldn't understand why and I still can't. After 2 miles of running at this pace they started to slow back to the 9 minute mile pace they were to be at. I continued at my pace and didn't see them again until much later in the race.
During part of the Portland marathon there is an out and back that gives you the opportunity to see the lead runners and the slower runners when you are coming back. This gave me the chance to see my 2 very fast friends Doug and Ron. Ron was attempting to run a sub 3 hour race and Doug was attempting to qualify for the Boston Marathon with a goal time of 3:30 minutes. When I saw Ron I was amazed at the speed he was running. I saw Doug soon after that and we gave a shout to each other. It is always good to see familiar faces.
Coming to the half way point my time was called out at 1:56. Great split for me and I felt good. I started to think a bit harder at maybe reaching that sub 4 hour goal. Now comes in my opinion the ugliest part of the course. Highway running and typically where I see people slowing up and not doing so good. The one thing that helps me through here is seeing the St Johns Bridge in the distance. It always reminds me of the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz.
As I began my climb up and over the bridge I started to slow down a bit on my pace. I was coming up to mile 18 which is mentally a bitch for me. I think it has to do with the uphill run to the bridge and the quick downhill and then the quick steep uphill just after the bridge. Jessi was waiting there for me with some goodies that I asked her to have for me just in case. I ended up not needing anything and just gave her a rude "I don't need it." Sorry again pumpkin.
Well at this point of the race my legs were starting to tire and I knew I was slowing down a bit but I just kept running. I knew that at mile 21 our marathon training group and Angela would be there cheering everyone on so it was something to look forward to! When I reached the cheering station it was so good to see Angela! I got a second wind and didn't feel the pain that was setting into my legs for awhile. The energy from that group was incredible!
At mile 22 my legs were begging to walk. I had been fighting the urge to walk for a bit and kept telling myself not to stop running for anything. Well shortly after the 22 mile marker I had to listen to my legs. Sometimes your mind loses battles with your body. I walked for 1 minute and than began running again. At mile 23 the 4 hour pace group caught up with me, passed me and then started pulling away from me. The only thing I could think of was I had 3.2 miles to go to a new PR and NOT to try to catch up to the pace group.
In between miles 24 and 25 I ran until I couldn't and then walked until I yelled at myself to run. I planned on running as fast as I could the last mile but my legs held my pace down. When I came into the final 4 blocks of the race my pace picked up and I began passing people right down to the finish. When I came around the final corner I reminded myself that the time being shown at the finish was the "gun" time and not my start time and that yes this was going to be a incredible PR for me again.
A few yards to go and the clock showed 4:10:15. I heard my name announced and crossed the timing mat at 4:10:24.
Final numbers:
10k-54:56 pace-8:51
9.1 mile turn around-1:19:41 pace 8:46
Half-1:56:15 pace-8:52
17.2 mile-2:41:41 pace 9:24
20 mile-3:02:27 pace 9:08
35k-3:19:52 pace 9:13
Final chip time: 4:08:27
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