My Weekend

What a weekend. It started on Saturday, as most weekends do, with getting ready to catch a plane and making sure everything with Casey was done. So we got to the airport, checked in and to the gate with no problems. We flew on Alaskan/Horizon so it was a small plane, not bad because it was such a short flight. Landed in Portland with no problems and headed to our hotel. The Heathman Hotel in downtown Portland. Very nice hotel and very close to the starting line...a big plus. After checking in and getting settled we headed to the expo. It was a zoo but we were able to get what we needed and see a lot of stuff. After the expo it was about 4:00 and out dinner reservations were not until 5:00 so with it being Saturday and college football being on we all headed back to the rooms for a little rest. We ate at Mama Mia, which I would love to try again, it was yummy. My meal with of course pasta but it has some of the best meat sauce and the bread was to die for. After dinner and a stop at Rite-Aid for some last minute Gatorade we headed to the rooms.


Sunday morning...Race Morning. My day started at 4:00 a.m. I didn't get out of bed and moving until about 5:00 but I was awake and wondering what I had signed myself up to do. So got up and made coffee and oatmeal, great prerace breakfast. The night before I had my race stuff laid out and ready so I was able to just get dressed and get moving. 6:30 we started towards the race start. For this race they set up pace groups so after a few hugs, good lucks and good byes we found our projected finish times and waited for the gun.


There were 4 from our running group that got in the 4 hour pace group, Trina, Paul, Trevor and myself. For the first mile we ran together...didn't really have a choice. You were trying not to step on people around you. After about mile 3 it started to thin out and you were able to move a little better. Now with this being my first full marathon I had no idea what to expect. I knew I would need to slow down my pace a little and try to conserve energy. I was told the marathon does not start until about mile 18. Which for this race meant the race would not start until after the mile long hill climb at mile 17.

So I am feeling pretty good. Got my music on my IPod and I am trying to watch my pace and keep it reasonable. The weather had been an issue in my mind all morning. There was a chance of rain and it was very overcast. I went with the long sleeves, capris and gloves. About mile 3 I started to feel a few rain drops, nothing bad just a little spit here and there. Then around mile 7 the wind started to pick up. It was like what else can happen. Well I found out, where the rain had been just a few drops it turned into more then it would slow to a few drops, then back to the down pour. This continued on until about mile 22. By this time I did not care, I was tired and ready to be done. I was behind the 4 hour mark by about 5 minutes and was trying to tell myself that a 5 hour marathon would be just fine. The next couple miles were not fun, I think I walked about as much as I ran but I knew that if I stopped to stretch or anything I would not be able to start up again.

Mile marker 24 was located on the Broadway Bridge and after that it was down hill, so I started to let gravity do its thing and pull me down. The spectators for this race were amazing. They had bands everywhere with great upbeat music, lots of water stations and loads of kids with gummy bears. So with mile 25 in sight I knew I would be able to finish this race under my own power. I kicked up my IPod and just started to find something to get me moving. One thing I loved the finish was around a corner. I have run races that you can see the finish for almost half a mile and that is hard. There was a fat lady singing, you ran past her about a third of a block and there it was...the best sight you have ever seen. I finished in 4:09:45 (chip time) 4:13:24 (gun time) it took about 4 minutes to cross the start line.

Just a few of the racing stats:
Overall: 2553 out of 7498
F 25-29: 176 out of 656
Overall Pace: 9:32
Half Marathon Check Point: 1:58:50 pace of 9:04
When the overall winner finished I was at about mile 16.5

Brent also ran in this race and was able to set a new PR for himself. His time was 3:41:28 at pace of 8:27.

I must say I am very glad I was talked into this race. What has surprised me the most is how good I feel. My legs are sore yes don't get me wrong but Monday I was able to not only move but walk. It was a little wobbly but I was still walking. Then today (Tuesday) the soreness in knee and hip are gone, still tired legs but no longer sore. So I was asked if I would do another marathon, my answer would have to be probably. :) Who knew I would actually enjoy beating myself up on a regular basis for a tee shirt and medal.

I will try and get some pictures posted from the weekend one of these days. If you have time check out Portlandmarathon.org and see the race map and much more.