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Topic: Portland Marathon, 10/7/07 RR |
zoomharp
Cool Runner |
 posted Oct-09-2007 01:46 PM
  
Race Report - Portland Marathon, Oct. 7, 2007
Finish time 4:17
First, the emotional baggage (skip these 2 paragraphs if you're not interested in my angst): I was hopeful back in July, when I bumped my mileage up to 50+ miles per week, that I could get within spitting distance of a sub-4 hour race, but evidently it takes more than 3 months of higher mileage to get the full benefit, especially at my age. I knew during my last few weeks of training that it was not looking good, and on race day morning I woke up feeling like it was just not the day for it. I just knew. Although I'm a little disappointed, I am in no way discouraged, and I plan to continue keeping my mileage high through the winter months and see what happens in spring.
Whining aside, in spite of the low energy and 2 bathroom stops, plus some stomach trouble on the course, this race was a PR by 10 minutes! In a way it's ridiculous that I feel the least bit disappointed -- a year ago I was averaging 4:45 for my marathons and wishing I could get sub 4:30. The disappointment stems mostly from the certainty I had, and even still have, that I can do so much better. It's just a slow road, but I intend to stay on it.
OK, so about the race itself... The streets of Portland were a mess with rail construction and the start area was much tighter than usual. We had to start in waves, and use a slightly different route that featured a nasty but short uphill right away. My Garmin couldn't read the satellites because of the bodies and buildings that were crowding around me, so I'm not sure I paced well at the start, but we made it back onto the familiar route by the second mile. Bands along the way were 90% wonderful (a few were dreadful), including a harpist (yay! ... note my handle), a bell choir, a fantastic bluegrass band, a classical cellist, a female 50's rock trio that did a feminine "Jenny Be Good," and many others.
For most of the race, but especially the first 13 miles, we had to watch our step very carefully as the course crossed many rail tracks and odd surfaces. I felt pretty good going up the few hills -- thanks to my hilly home course. Pacing was harder than I expected. I had intended to run 8:50's, one minute slower on the hills, and walk through each water stop. As unimaginable as this pace seemed during many of my training runs, thanks to the taper and the excitement of race day I found myself having to reign in my speed during the first 16 miles. My body seemed to want 8:35's. So I used the mantra I heard from my friends at the Fall Marathoners Training thread (thanks guys) : "Don't get greedy!" Occasionally a head wind would come up and I'd think of drafting on someone, but that person was never quite at my pace. Staying evenly at 8:50 was hard to do!
Slow down #1: At mile 6 and again at 14, I had to stop at the porta-potties. Oh, the misery of knowing what that would do to my time! At the mile 6 potty-stop I was one minute ahead of my planned time, but when it happened a second time at mile 14 I knew that I'd have to readjust the goal.
Slow down #2: I had planned to try maintaining some kind of run up the ramp to the St. John's bridge and figured in an extra minute or two for it. Well, along comes the ramp, and I suddenly feel like my legs are jello, and almost everyone around me (still fairly close to a 4 hour finishing crowd!) is walking. So, I walked. Switching the Garmin to show hill grade I laughed out loud that I thought I'd be running it: 12% grade! A few brave souls jogged passed me, and I soon passed them again in turn when the bridge climb was over. On that day, in that moment, it was just not worth burning up that much glycogen when I could walk it almost as fast as jogging it.
Slow down #3: Even though I walked the bridge ramp, I suddenly felt so very tired. Going over the bridge was thrilling, beautiful, and the kind of running that makes all the pain worth it. I really enjoyed that bit of the race. But right after the bridge, we turned back towards the city -- and into the wind. Ouch. There is a sharp, short down-and-up hill right after the bridge, and suddenly the 8:50's were gone. Even in a difficult race, though, there are high's and low's, and I had a few blocks of 8:50's here and there, especially on the mile 22-23 downhill section.
From the bridge (~mile 18) to about mile 24 is mostly along a bluff in a lovely neighborhood. By this time, my legs and feet were hurting badly. Pushing my pace left me panting and hurting too much, so I embraced my 10:00-10:30 pace and enjoyed the scenery and fall colors as much as I could. I had chosen the option of having my name printed on my bib number, and this was the part of the race when spectators really started using it. Complete strangers, but it was touching to hear my name in their shouts of encouragement. Occasionally I wanted to walk some more but I knew intellectually that my training would support me if I kept running, so I'd pick a runner to draft on and tuck in behind him. Running slower would revive me and I would suddenly think, "This is too slow! I have to pass him!"
The last miles were, as always, very hard. I thought of having ice cream, large quantities of wine, or whatever I wanted. I thought of "sleeping in" to 6:30 for the next week. All these thoughts were helpful in bringing a sense of reality to the temporary nature of the pain. 3 more miles. 2 more miles... At mile 24, the 4:15 Pacer slowly passed me and I wanted to cry. If we had been less than a mile from the finish, I would have tried to tough it out and stay with him, but I knew I couldn't maintain it for 2.2 miles. I cursed those two bathroom stops.
The last time I did Portland I remember thinking how long it seemed to get from the end of the Steel Bridge to the finish line. This year I prepared mentally for the long blocks and just kept steady. Amazingly, my 8:50's came back to me here. I passed up the last two aid stations and called out my thanks to the volunteers. The psychology of knowing how close I was made the pain so much easier to bear. I felt happy and light, a feeling I hadn't had since my first bathroom stop.
Coming around the last corner to the finish is like entering a deafening stadium of shouting people. As in my previous Portland Marathon, I could neither spot my family nor hear them call to me. My husband says I looked really strong and fast. Amazingly, that's exactly how I felt. At the same time, I know it would have been impossible for me to maintain the glorious sprint any longer than that one block. At the finish I was shaking, aching, panting and ready to fall right over. The volunteers who took my chip, hung my medal and wrapped me up were wonderful, and the post race food selections were great. Lots of fruit, which is what I wanted more than anything (really). Portland Marathon gives you a lot of stuff at the finish: I got my rose, pin (which I immediately and unconsciously dropped and lost), food, and treeling, and went off to find my family. It took a while, but when I found them I (as usual) burst into tears. Fourteen marathons, and finishing still gets to me! It was the usual tears of joy, exhaustion, and emotional release, but I also suddenly felt I had disappointed them by not making 4 hours. It wasn't until much later that day I started to see the race in perspective and wonder at how well I did, how much I've improved, after all that had happened.
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly:
The Good
- The weather was near perfect, in the low 50's with a good cloud cover for most of the race. There was a headwind during some portions of the course, but in a race that size you can always find someone to draft on.
- My Atalanta running skirt was SO wonderful. (http://www.runlikeatalanta.com/products/commitment) What a huge improvement over shorts, and I got 4 gels plus some other misc. sundries into those groovy back-hip pockets.
- I spent the last 4-5 miles passing runner after runner, instead of getting passed! (Well, mostly.) What a great feeling that is. I don't think I'll ever run a fast *and* painless marathon, but when you can at least go forward and be doing better than those around you there is a great feeling of "I trained well."
-Embassy Suites was a great place to stay: lots of space for our family, free breakfast, fairly close to start/finish area, free late check out (Hilton wanted a kidney for it last time), and internet stations in the lobby where I could check the weather forecast every hour if I wanted to. 
-My PR also put me in the top 20% of my division (F4549) -- a first -- and ahead of more than 50% of the male finishers. (This is the sort of statistic that we little old ladies ungraciously cling to. It eases the humiliation of being the slowest runner in the Fall mar. trainers' thread.)
-Course volunteers - good people!
The Bad
- Not feeling my best on race day.
-Tight reunion area due to street construction.
-The crowded wave start was unnerving.
-Knowing my coolrunning friends were suffering in Chicago.
The Ugly
- TWO bathroom stops! ARG! It is rare for me to have any during a marathon -- very frustrating.
- Woman puking at mile 16.
- Noxious industrial smells during the mile 7-11 out and back.
IP: Logged |
tpr55
Cool Runner |
posted Oct-09-2007 03:14 PM
nice report; sounds like you did well. This was my third year in a row running Portland. At 4:04 I was about 6-8 min. off my last two, so not my best day but I'll live with it. Really blew up on the last 10K; not sure why. It was to the point that I was reduced to walks every mile, and didn't even care about time goals any more. I knew something was up early on; at about 16m it felt like 22! I was actually still in a position for sub-4:00 at mile 22, but had absolutely nothing in the tank. Weird. I'll be analyzing it for awhile, but gut instinct tells me not enough 20-milers in training. For me, it's best to try to clear my head for a couple days before even thinking about another one..............
IP: Logged |
runninlaw
Cool Runner |
posted Oct-09-2007 03:55 PM
Congratulations zoomharp! I loved reading your report - it was detailed in all the right ways. I am sorry you did not hit 4:00, but 4:17 is an impressive PR!!I hear you on the potty stops. I had to stop 2x during my race this weekend (1st time I've had to stop during a marathon) and it was terrible knowing you were just throwing time out the window. Oh well. Congratulations on a great race, a strong finish and capping off the 14th with a big fat PR. Keep up with your great training and I bet the numbers will continue to go down. Recover well and enjoy your ice cream, wine, and sleeping in!!!
IP: Logged |
brianinptown
Cool Runner |
posted Oct-09-2007 05:02 PM
Great race report - I'm so jealous...last year AND this year I trained for the Portland Marathon only to have schedule conflicts and resorted to running the Tri-Cities marathon at the end of the month in Eastern Washington with about 150 other people...ugh!I ran a 20 miler on the Portland Marathon course the day before the race, and you're right - that out and back in the industrial area is so lame! No sights, bad smells, and and out and back make it three reasons to alter the course! Keep it up - a sub four is within your grasp! ------------------
"Every worthwhile accomplishment has a price tag to it. The question is always whether you are willing to pay the price to attain it - in hard work, sacrifice, patience, faith, and endurance.." My User Profile
IP: Logged |
Johnny J
Cool Runner |
posted Oct-09-2007 10:34 PM
zoomharp-- nice report. 10 min. PR is nothing to scoff at. Slow, steady improvement, you're doing great. Regarding your comment ... "I don't think I'll ever run a fast *and* painless marathon,..." keep at it, as long as you're improving you never know how fast you'll end up running it. Find what worked, what didn't. As far as running a "painless" marathon-- I don't think that exists, for anyone, but hey, we can all dream.Congratulations on a PR! Way to go.
IP: Logged |
zoomharp
Cool Runner |
posted Oct-09-2007 11:36 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Johnny J:
As far as running a "painless" marathon-- I don't think that exists, for anyone, but hey, we can all dream.Congratulations on a PR! Way to go.
Hey Johnny! Thanks for the encouraging comments! I cannot remember if I left a comment on your race report today -- I certainly meant to but so many reports are coming in and I may not have gotten to it yet. But I loved the story of your dramatic finish! I did have one *relatively* painless marathon story, but I certainly didn't "race" it. I had a close friend who was bonking so badly in her races that she was going to give up running all together. On a whim I signed up for her "last marathon" and literally grabbed the back of her clothing at times to keep her at a 10:00 pace. She had a good time, didn't bonk, and went on to join Marathon Maniacs. Ah, but for those who have the crazy desire to be faster...first one with working quads buys the beer? Hopefully I'll be descending stairs normally soon. zh
IP: Logged |
bhearn
Cool Runner |
posted Oct-13-2007 02:05 PM
Excellent report, zoomharp! Maybe you didn't break 4 hours, but a 10-minute PR is a great day, by any definition. And I'm sure there are more PRs in your future.Great description of the course. When I write a report it tends to be mostly from the perspective of fretting about my splits; I think I don't even notice a lot of the beauty I'm running through. Way to go on the speedy finish. It's a blast to be flying by people the last mile! I saw the harpist too. I clapped for her.
IP: Logged |
zoomharp
Cool Runner |
posted Oct-13-2007 02:20 PM
quote:
Originally posted by bhearn:
Excellent report, zoomharp! Maybe you didn't break 4 hours, but a 10-minute PR is a great day, by any definition. ... ...
Thanks, bhearn! It sounds like *you* had a great race and made your goal. Way to go! Someone told me they thought that was the last year we'd be crossing the Steel Bridge. Did you hear of such a change? If true, it will be interesting to see where the new route goes. Maybe we'll get lucky and see the elimination of the industrial out-and-back. I'm sure I'll run Portland again someday; it is not the most scenic course out there but I've enjoyed it both times, and set PR's both times.
IP: Logged |
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