Masters Running

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Portland Marathon (Read 455 times)

    Our travel began with a visit to Silicon Valley to see our new, adorable grand niece, Sarah ( http://www.pbase.com/lking/sarah ). We spent two days visiting there which were great fun, once I got over my fear of making her cry -- that was the first result when I was making funny faces at her. But we had to say good-bye Friday night and then we flew to Portland, OR Saturday morning. Saturday was a bit of a rush, as the plane landed at 1pm, and we had to get the car at the slowest car rental counter on the West Coast, find the hotel, get some lunch, then go to the expo. We finally got to our room at around 4pm, only one hour before we were to meet a bunch of folks from RA and KR at Mama Mia's, a local Italian restaurant. The dinner was great fun, and was attended by (sorry if I miss anyone or get any wrong) Mariposai, her DH, WineJunky, the canadian, LabDuck, BHume(?), rasmussenmp, runnrwife, srlopez, chris(?), econo, and maybe a few more I can't remember. Unfortunately, we all had to leave to get some rest and be alone with our preparatory thoughts. The Portland Marathon course is a fair course -- there are a couple of hills but between hills was pretty flat, as compared to some of the rolling marathons we've run. After the gun, at about mile 9 for me, it started raining pretty steadily. The temps were about 52-55°F, and I did get cold at some points -- at least I didn't have trouble handling my e-caps or gu -- it wasn't that cold. A couple of anecdotes: 1. After mile 8, I was switching garmin modes, from my normal training mode which is 4 panes, so doesn't show the seconds of the overall time when the run goes over an hour, to the normal racing mode. I looked down after a bit and saw my pace at 8:06, which surprised me because I hadn't felt like I'd slowed down (up until then I was cruising along at around 7:50's). I sped up a bit. After a little while I looked again, and, what? it was 8:07. Geez. I had to speed up even more. Another little bit of time passed, and I saw I'd slowed to 8:08. Or maybe... DOH! I was looking at the time of day, not the average pace. Rookie mistake! 2. I was eating e-caps trying to stave off any cramps. Maybe around mile 17 I got some ready, and saw that the water was coming up. I'd already eaten my crank (like gu) a while back and really needed some water. So I popped an ecap into my mouth -- I was taking one at a time and wanted to be ready -- but the water wasn't there. I took it out of my mouth and held it, as it turns out for quite a while. But the water was there on the right and I put it back into my mouth -- only it immediately disintigrated and my mouth was full of a salty mess, and when I was breathing it was like a cold fog -- and it turns out there was no water there either -- it was another block. I tried to dry swallow what I could. Yuck. The water did help. Smile I had set out on a 3:28 pace, hoping to hold for 3:30. The wheels started falling off the wagon on the hill to the St. John's bridge (I think that was the name). There was a good downhill after the bridge but after that downhill I never really recovered. I was then bouncing between 8:20's and 8:40's with a couple of higher outliers. The last half mile was really tough. My legs were getting heavier and heavier but I kept pushing on. With the finish in sight, I guess less than 1/4 mile away, they got all rubbery. I kept pushing, but after a little bit I realized I'd fall if I kept that up. I decided to walk, maybe for 10 paces, then I was able to run again, and through the finish. So maybe I should have gone out at 8's and tried to hold on to get my 3:30 -- that was kind of my original plan but I didn't execute it as well as I'd hoped. Or maybe I don't have a 3:30 in me -- that's also a possibility. 3:34:56 -- 846 / 7488 (11.3%) overall, 49 / 356 (13.8%) division, 694 / 3587 (19.3%) males. Not at goal pace, but still a BQ, so I'm fairly pleased. Thanks for reading.

    Lou, (aka Mr. predawnrunner), MD, USA | Lou's Brews | lking@pobox.com

      Lou, a good effort, and a BQ is a fine result even if not the goal you were shooting for. I'm thinking your closing thought may be right: maybe 8:00 pace is the way to go, say for the first 20 miles, and then if you feel good, throttle up just a little, but short of seizing up. Something to try next time, perhaps. Dark Horse
      I'm a dark horse, running on a dark race course.
        Believe me, Lou, you did GREAT in your AG -- you should have seen the mass of humanity hours after you passed by! Miles 17-22 are deceptively hard; take it from someone who choked badly on them last year. Everyone....WRFB and PDR looked so great in their BAA 2008 jackets!!! It was great to see you again; hope you found some good Portland microbrews afterwards, too....
          Yikes, forgot the post-race report -- I guess it's early enough to post to my own thread, huh? We met rasmussenmp and runnrwife at Rogue Brewery. I made another rookie mistake and tried to order an Arrogant Bastard Ale -- a product from Stone Brewery in Southern CA. Oops! I am thinking Rogue and Stone sound the same in this pea-brain of mine, and that's how I made the mistake. Anyway the beer and food and company were fantastic. But right about now I'm ready to eat again. Smile

          Lou, (aka Mr. predawnrunner), MD, USA | Lou's Brews | lking@pobox.com

            Arrogant Bastard Ale
            Wait, there's a beer named after me? Dark Horse
            I'm a dark horse, running on a dark race course.
            wildchild


            Carolyn

              Lou, great run and report! The ecaps without water sound yucky! Nice that you finished with a BQ, even though you didn't need it. And I like the Arrogant Bastard ale! Dark Horse, we'll just call you A.B for short.

              I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.

              TammyinGP


                Great report Lou! And congrats on a very good race and BQ. With your time, I bet you are right up there in the top ranks. I'm glad you and PDR enjoyed your vacation on the west coast and I hope someday it works out to see you both.

                Tammy


                sucker for bubbles

                  Lou great job and I hope you find the best in hops and water the next couple of days!


                  MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803

                    after so many good marathons, we`re glad one of the best out here was so good to you. I`ve done the same thing wearing a watch, . . . but it took me until noon to figure it out. ps - for pink beer, come back in November some time. <>seattlemarathonpinkdoor<\i>)>>></\i>

                    "Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)

                    evanflein


                      Ewww, e-caps without water. There's a "from the trenches" story. You did great, Lou. Any race with a BQ at the end is a good one. The time you want is still out there... The maniac in me says now that you're in shape and ready to go... find another one nearby and soon to try again! Of course, there's a limit to how often that'll work if you're looking for a PR... Wink Thanks for the full report... pre-race, race stuff and post-race. Cool stuff!
                      SteveP


                        Ewww, e-caps without water.!
                        Your grandniece is sweet!!!! Thanks for sharing your feloowship and the race

                        SteveP

                          WRFB, it sounds like a great getaway and marathon. You almost got your goal and a BQ is a big deal. Meeting all the people from RA and KR is neat. Congratulations. TomS


                          Renee the dog

                            Congratulations! Loved reading your anecdotes!

                            GOALS 2012: UNDECIDED

                            GOALS 2011: LIVE!!!


                            Prince of Fatness

                              Congrats on the BQ, WRFB.

                              Not at it at all. 

                              coastwalker


                                Hi WRFB, Congrats on your BQ! And thanks for the entertaining RR, with all the ups and downs of your race (although with a BQ, there appear to have been a lot more ups than downs!), and the pre and post events. That salty mess from the e-caps doesn't sound like a good time, and "yuck" is probably the perfect way to describe it. But even that didn't get in the way of your BQ, so well done! Jay

                                Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.

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