Notes
Awesome race & awesome day!!! Everything seemed to go right from the minute I woke up. Weighed in at 160.0, Felt refreshed, ate my bowl of oatmeal + toast + HEED and paid a visit to the john. Felt very good and knew I was going to perform at my best. Got out to the event and warmed up with Helen around the halls of the convention center. Got to the starting line and wished my buddies around me good luck. The gun went off and I immediately took the lead (briefly) and settled into a comfortable pace. Ian Nurse + Matt Downin (eventual winner & former New Balance athlete) took off and put in a gap fairly early. Alan Rozendaal and another guy and I packed up for 4 miles. I got aggressive going up the hill on Naito Prkwy and put a small gap on Alan between miles 3-4. Once we rounded the turn and went down Barbur, Alan and the other guy quickly made up the gap and passed me also putting out a small gap of their own on me on the way down. I decided to play it patient and didn't chase them as we were already going 5:15-25 pace down the hill. I knew that if I restrained myself through the middle stages of the race, I could come on strong at the end and catch them. Well, thats EXACTLY what I ended up doing!
I took my e-Gel after mile 8 in the race and instantly felt better once I got onto the flat section of front ave. I gradually reeled in the guy behind Alan and passed him right at the 10 mile mark. As I was doing this, I noticed that I was beginning to close the gap on Alan. I was confident I was in better shape than him after beating him at Shamrock 3 weeks earlier. I knew that if I just focused on his back and maintained my patience and pace, I would catch him. As the last remaining miles flew by, I managed to close the gap on him. We had to deal with a throng of 5K walkers which was extremely annoying so I followed Alan on the other side of the Rd. away from the crowd. We made it through and continued to the turn around point on Naito with 1 mile to go. Right after the turn around point, I decided to surge and pull away from Alan. I was oddly enough feeling strong and knew I had the endurance to hold him off for the final mile. My pace quickened as I approached the final hill of the steel bridge knowing it was going to extract my remaining strength and slow me a bit. I bravely attacked the hill and gave it my best all the way to the finish line, having to dodge some slow 5K'ers all the while. My legs were beginning to cramp as I crossed the bridge but it didn't matter as I was close to the finish. I could tell by looking at my watch from a mile out that I was going to run a HUGE PR, all I needed to do was maintain my pace and finish strong. I was so excited when I crossed the finish line and looked at the clock and read 1:12:32!!! What an unexpected suprise!! I was shooting for a 1:13:xx going into the race. I had the greatest feeling for the rest of the day knowing that I had accomplished something special. Helen and I spent the rest of the day relaxing and hiking up at Mt. Tabor park which was beautiful and fun.
I ended up taking 2:44 off of my time from the Cascade Half in January (which is a much flatter course). I am extremely pleased with the progression of my fitness. I believe that my strategy of performing a wide range of workouts as well as harder long runs on the weekends is definately paying off. I can also credit good recovery as a part of my success with the Recoverite and 8-10 hours of sleep everyday playing a big role. Also, eating foods high in complex carbs for 3 days leading up to the event was also a big help, as was going on a temporary low calorie diet to shed off an extra pound or two. Stimulating my metabolism before bed after a large meal also allowed me to keep the weight off. Will definately make sure to follow this formula next time. This result indicates great things to come in Eugene. Off of this race, on paper I would be predicted to be capable of a 2:35 Marathon. I guess we'll have to see what happens!!!
Mile splits are as follows:
Mile 1: 5:28
Mile 2: 5:27 (10:55)
Mile 3: 5:40
Mile 4: 5:56 (hill)
Mile 5: 5:31 (28:02)
Mile 6: 5:25
(10K split: 34:08!!!)
Mile 7: 5:25
Mile 8: 5:32
Mile 9: 49:59
(15K Split: 51:36!!!)
Mile 10: 5:32
(10 Mile Split: 55:30!!!)
Mile 11: 5:26
Mile 12: 5:24
Mile 13: 5:31
Finish: 1:12:32!!!