Portland Update - Round Two - Race Report

I don't think doing anything differently leading up to the race would have changed the outcome of Sunday's race. I was rested, hydrated, trained, all of that regular business. I did everything right. The weather was good. I had a clear strategy to follow. I didn't get it done on Sunday, and I knew my A, B, and C goals were all out the window fairly early on in the race.

Start - mile 8 - The start was great. I lined up just in front of the 3:20 pace group with a bunch of teammates. The wave start didn't bother me at all...I was running the pace I wanted to run from mile 1. Here are the things I remember - awesome drum groups and music on miles 1 and 2. Lots of crowds downtown cheering. The hills between 2 and 4 were much more significant than I expected, but it was great to have Jonathan and Keith nearby to help focus on my own pace rather than the crowds. I caught Keith on the downhill mile 4 and we ran several miles together at 3:20 pace. After about mile 5-6 we heard a train horn, and the whole pack of people near our pace group rumbled with assorted 'Oh Shit!', 'Thank God!', 'No Way!', as we realized that the train tracks that we had just crossed over were about to be closed due to a train in the middle of the course. Unbelievable! Thank goodness we were ahead of it already (as some of our teammates we found out were stuck behind it). The out and back from 7-11 was really flat. Maybe a little too flat in retrospect.

Mile 9-17 - This hurt way more than it should. I felt like I couldn't keep pace starting at mile 9. At mile 10, my hips started to hurt and I let Keith go with the 3:20 group. Mile 11 hurt in my feet and hips. Mile 12 was uphill and I felt like my neck was tired and that I was struggling to expand my lungs. Jon and Michael caught me (after having to make up time because they were caught by the train. Let me tell you that I wasn't hurting because I was tired. I was just hurting. It was like I had just done a 70 mile week and somebody was making me do my Sunday recovery run. Not fun.

By mile 13, I figured out that my sports bra (under my Nike long sport top) felt way too tight and I debated what to do about it for a mile. It was beyond uncomfortable and was the major cause of my upper body pains. So, I pulled over behind a chain link fence and did the old 'shirt trick' that girls do to take off their bras, but with a really tight, wet sports bra and not under a t-shirt...it took about a minute to get it off. When it was just me and my Nike top (which has a little support in it, though also completely white) I felt like a huge weight had been lifted, or rather that the super tight constricting band had been removed from my ribs, and I could now breathe and move freely. Running was better, though I felt like every spectator was now staring at my white tank top with cold nipples showing through. I have no shame.

From 15-17, my legs still hurt and I eased up the big hill nice and steady. A fully decked out Aggie passed me (male) and I was pissed off. I knew as we descended off of the bridge and my body did not like the downhill grade that there was not going to be any hope of any of my goals. Downhill was not going to be my friend.

Mile 18 - Finish - I remember being ticked off at some of my Facebook friends for quoting Finding Nemo in their status updates recently - 'just keep swimming...just keep swimming...' In the past, my usual marathon mantras are 'This, too, shall pass', 'Invisible rubberband', and 'You can do this'. Nope, not in Portland. Thanks to my Facebook friends, I repeated to myself over and over 'just keep running...just keep running...' a la Dorie in her sing-song voice. Argh, the stupid new mantra helped me move forward, but I was so annoyed that that is where my mind went for those lonely hours on the road.

I kept thinking about people who should be passing me. Ruth had passed me going up the big hill at 17, so I imagined Nedra would be right behind her. I saw Trey with his camera at about 19 and was confused as to why he was there...I thought Nedra was ahead of me and I had just missed her. I also thought I must have missed Kevin earlier in the day because I hadn't seen him at all. At about mile 20, I was resigned to just finish out the day with the best time possible and just keep moving forward. I tried to stay positive. I caught back up to Keith at that point, who got a friendly pinch on the butt from me as I passed :). Just keep running, just keep running...and there was some walking all through this part. I gave myself one minute at a time, but usually I only needed about 40 seconds.

Amy passed me going down Adidas hill and looked sad to see me. Julia and John cheered for me towards the end and lied to me that I looked good (at least it made me feel good). The last two miles were excruciating. I felt like stakes were being driven into my legs. I thought for sure my left big toe was broken. Nedra finally passed me at mile 25 and I was so relieved to see another familiar face. She had a good tempo going...just fast enough for me to hang on and stay 10-20 yards behind her. Thank goodness for Nedra, because she made the whole last 1.2 miles so much more bearable. I watched her hook 'em horns to some spectators wearing Texas gear (I was wearing a Texas hat). Nedra even saw a young woman wearing a burnt orange knit hat and scarf (not UT related) and gave her a hook 'em, too. I laughed at how entertaining it was to now have someone I knew to run behind. We passed back and forth the last .2 up the big hill and both had really strong finishes considering the kind of race we were both having.

Thoughts - I don't think I would have done anything differently (except for maybe the sports bra choice). I don't know where the pain came from other than my body had an especially rough summer battling hamstring and toe pain. I shouldn't have felt anything bad until at least 16-20, but I did. It sucks. I didn't get it done.

I'm really bummed that I did not PR, but I know that I'm much faster than the time that I posted on Sunday. A positive way to look at it is that I still get to say that my PR is from Boston for at least another 6 months and my Portland finish time of 3:38:57 will qualify me through Boston 2011. (I was already qualified for 2010 with my Austin marathon time this year.) An extra year of BQ is great for our little family as Chad and I have now two years to choose whether or not we want to run and it lets me have a little padding in the training schedule in case our family grows in the next two years. And yes, Chad beat me, and his outstanding time of 3:11:xx will also qualify him for Boston through 2011.

In the end, running marathons is a hobby for me and I'm very satisfied with the overall outcome of the season. Friendships have grown. I have gotten faster and stronger. I have a greater understanding of my body's abilities. The time on the clock wasn't as fast as I wanted - big whoop. Another day will come for me.

I am thrilled for the teammates of mine who had an awesome day. It was so exciting to see how well some folks ran.