Oregon Trail Game 5k

I think I remember hearing something about this race in it's inaugural year last year, but it was back on my radar earlier this year and I decided I definitely needed to sign up for it this year, even realizing that I'd be 7 months pregnant. I wasn't clear on the exact details of the game aspect, but it sounded super fun! (So I was excited to host a guest post about it when they approached me more recently.)

There was packet pick-up for the race earlier in the week, but it's the other side of the metro area so we just decided to do pick-up the morning of. After both Abe and I apparently turning off our alarms, we woke up about 15 minutes before we intended to leave, but ended up getting out the door pretty quickly and arriving at the race 10 minutes before pick-up officially opened. There was tons of street parking available within a few blocks of the race start when we arrived, but we saw it fill up pretty quickly. 

There were lots of bonnets being worn!

We got our bibs and the t-shirt I'd ordered (you had to pay extra, but I think it was only $10 ahead of time and $15 day of). You also got a string backpack, with some coupons, a pen, and chapstick from the sponsors.

Occupations were assigned that would ultimately impact your game play - based on the race's major sponsors, you were either a carpenter, doctor, or actor. The bib also had a spot to check off your pace and food ration. 

The race got started just a few minutes late, but they were pretty organized - they had pace signs and had at least reminder over the loud speaker to pay attention to how you were lined up. Though a smaller race (under a thousand people), they started us off in smaller waves, so as to minimize congestion at the beginning of the race which included a staircase almost right off the bat. It was still a bit congested - if I'd been trying to PR I might have been annoyed, but they were clearly doing what they could to mitigate that issue.

The course goes up a staircase (those with strollers could take the municipal elevator up to the top of this area), then continues on a paved trail alongside the hill, into neighborhoods and eventually back towards downtown. You get some nice views of Oregon City and the river! The elevation profile didn't looked nearly as bad when I looked at the data afterward as it felt during the race, but realistic the first 2.5 miles is going up, and then there's a steep downhill in the last half mile. Mostly on paved trail or streets, although there was one block of a sort of alley that was gravel. Not a race you'd want to plan on PR-ing, for sure, but could be a pretty fun challenge to push yourself on!

Mile 1: 14:15
Mile 2: 14:13
Mile 3: 13:05
Mile 3.1: 0:22 time (10:03 pace for 0.04 by my Garmin)

During the race, there were also 5 decision points where you had to decide between things like floating or fording the river, or stopping to hunt or continuing on. They first three I think had volunteers on each side ready to hand you one of the two cards; at the second two you had to grab it off a clothes line. Not sure why the difference, but either way it didn't take more than a few seconds at each point to get your card. You got an immediate consequence on the back of the card, such as that you made it safely to the other side of the river or that your wagon broke down. However, none of them gave an ultimate outcome of making it to the end of the Oregon trail. 

After the race, you had to submit your occupation, pace, food ration, and decision point cards to come up with your ultimate outcome. There was a place to do so at the race, but the line was ridiculously long. There was a website to submit the data yourself; they were having some technical difficulties for a couple hours, first it wouldn't get you to the place to submit your data, then it wasn't processing it as quickly as it was supposed to. But by midday it had all been resolved and you could submit and view your result. 

There were game standard outcomes - you died of dysentery, you drowned, etc. Also some fun twists - the dramatic election year made you reconsider your westward plans, you mistook Pokemon Go for the trail map and barely made it out of Independence. Abe and I got mostly the same cards but made some decisions differently, and he ended up making it t to the Willamette Valley, whereas I ran out of food and starved to death.

Finishers got the most amazing medal, made out of an old floppy disc! There were other goodies at the end of the the race, too, including beer and ice cream. It was definitely a bit crowded with long lines for the various things at the end (even though I think we were relatively midpack). But it was still a really fun event! It's the type of novelty race that while I enjoy, I'm not sure I'd go back for every year, but I would like to do it at least once more while not pregnant to see how well I can tackle the running aspect. It's also walking friendly (a friend of mine walked it in just over an hour), and even stroller friendly. 

Twilight 5k

Side note: I kind of hate when races make their primary distance part of the official name of the race, because then how are you supposed to reference when you did a different distance, without being misleading? "Twilight Half" is how this race is branded - not Twilight Run, or Twilight Race, but Twilight Half, despite also offering a 10k and 5k. But it feels inappropriate to mention my participation in the "Twilight Half", even if I go out of my way to clarify that I did the 5k, because half is still in what I'm saying and I definitely didn't do a half!

I originally registered (knowing I was pregnant, but a while ago) for the 10k. Fortunately, given that the longest I've run in the last six months is about 4 miles (and even that far hasn't been frequent), the confirmation email the week of gave instructions on how to change race distances (in fact, you could even change at packet pickup the day of - a friend switched from the half to the 10k when arriving for the race). I gratefully stepped it down to the distance that I knew I could do without being too uncomfortable and at least still enjoy somewhat.

I arrived about 90 minutes before any of the races started (two hours before mine), as I was worried about traffic and parking (this is an evening race - even on a Saturday there was a bit of slow downs getting from Portland to Vancouver). Parking nearer to the start line did start filling up not too long thereafter, but the overflow parking in the park was still not that far away. I was able to quickly get my bib and shirt - as we got closer to race time there was a bit of a line for pickup but I didn't see it ridiculously long. What was long was the line for the porta potties - they had portable sinks which was nice, but I think overall not quite enough units.

The 5k course went out of the park for about 0.7, then turned onto a bike path, out and back. (The 10k then went a bit further with another turn north, before turning around.) A path obviously tends to be somewhat narrow, but the race was small enough for there to not be too much congestion once we got going. (The race announcer also reminded people before we started to try to line up based on pace, which is great! I'm surprised by how many races don't bother to do this.)

My goal for the race was to finish in under 36 minutes - my pre-pregnancy PR (29:14 but rounding up to 30 minutes) plus a minute for each month pregnant. That's been my goal in the two previous 5ks I did this year, but I missed it each time by a minute or two. I've actually been doing more faster (relatively speaking) than easy running, though, lately, as somehow (either my running form or breathing?) that's enabled me to run with fewer round ligament and side stitch issues. So I had more confidence this time that I'd be able to get close. 

I challenged myself, as I got 5 minutes in, then 10 minutes, to try to not walk until I got to the turnaround point/aid station. And I actually did! I stopped to walk then and grabbed a cup of water, giving myself a minute or two of a break (for a slightly slower second mile). I let myself take another quick walking break after the second mile, then made it the rest of the way running. Official time: 35:45, 11:32 pace. 

Mile 1: 11:28
Mile 2: 12:02
Mile 3: 11:32
Mile 3.1: 8:03

Even the 5k and 10k runners got a medal! (A different one than the half marathon finishers.) Which, honestly, was part of why I registered for this. (If I can't get a PR, I want to at least get something for the cost!) The race shirt is really cute, too (a tank top with a glow in the dark owl image). 

Right near the finish line was water and electrolytes (especially for the half marathoners it might be nice to add in bagels or something else light and easy to eat right away, though). But for the post-race event there were burritos from Laughing Planet (they had meat, vegetarian, and vegan options), cookies, beer, chips and salsa, and lemonade/fruit punch. The way the race start times staggered, even as a middling 5k finisher I was near the first to make it to the food, so I didn't have to wait, though by the time 10k and half marathoners started coming in the line got pretty long.

Overall, very good swag and goodies, and a well-run race. I only wish I'd done it last year (their inaugural event) so I could say I've done it all years! Will definitely be keeping it mind to do again in the future.  

Portland Parks 5k: Fernhill Park

Since I know I'm not going to be setting any PRs this year, I didn't want to spend too much money on races - but it's still fun to have an opportunity to push myself a little! Abe doesn't like spending money on races in general, but is focusing on trying to set a new 5k PR, so he signed up for several in the Portland Parks $5 5k series, and I figured I'd join him for a couple of them. The series does each race in a different park; the first one of the series for this year was recently in Fernhill Park. 

We were able to find parking pretty close in the neighborhood, and arrived about an hour before the race started at 9. Packet (ok, bib) pickup is just the morning of, as far as I could tell, but it's a small-ish event so it's not crowded or long lines. We quickly got our bibs, checked out the route map, used the porta potties, and tried our best to stay dry from the rain. (We could have gotten away with less lead time, for sure.) There was a kids' race of one lap around the track before the 5k started. 

The course was three loops (just over a mile each) around the park; starting on the track, going around on a sort of dirt trail, some across grass, then back onto some dirt trail to lead back onto the track. It was definitely a bit more of a cross-county type of race than I realized I was getting into, with some caution needed to avoid mud and tree roots, but I don't think it ended up slowing me down too horribly. 

Mile splits:
1 - 11:29
2 - 11:17
3 - 10:55
3.1 - 10:00 (1:14 time for 0.13 per my garmin)

Negative splits! Total unofficial time: 34:58, which is only 20 seconds slower than the Race for the Roses four weeks prior. For pregnancy, I think that's a sign of making progress. 

There were a few issues overall - they were out of bananas by the time I finished, when there must have been at least a third of the people still on the course. Though I don't actually know how many were really still on the course after me, though, because the timing systems somehow got messed up (they said because of the rain), and many people (including me) were left off all together, and others' were messed up (Abe has a time that looks like it only includes his first two laps, and shows an age of 116). I realize you can't expect tons for only $5, although I think their reaction to the issue (more jokey than apologetic) left a little to be desired - just because it's inexpensive doesn't meant people's times aren't important.

I'm signed up to also do the June 5k, so hopefully that one goes a bit better to at least provide an official time, but as long as that time isn't much slower than this one I'll be happy with it. 

Bloomsday 2016

Previous Bloomsdays: 2013, 2014, 2015. 

Through three years of running Bloomsday, I've tried to talk my parents into doing it too (walking). My dad used to run Bloomsday (20-ish years ago), but doesn't run anymore. My mom has never done running, though she does walk a lot for exercise, but the longest she'd walked was the 5k Turkey Trot I convinced them to do last Thanksgiving. Finally I told them that if I was pregnant at the time for it this year, I'd walk it with them. 

I flew in Saturday (the day before the race), we grabbed a quick lunch then checked into our hotel (just a 10-minute walk across the river from the expo center and race start). Next we headed to the expo to get our race bibs. There was a mix up with my mom's bib, which we discovered later, so we ended up having to go back the next morning (they do packet pickup only for out-of-towners the day of the race - which, even though we were already in town before that, we did qualify for). 

That meant we were up a bit early, even though we were starting in the second to last wave. We went back to the expo, got my mom's correct bib, used the real plumbing bathrooms while we were there, then headed to the start line. Though it didn't get too hot by the time we were done with the race, it was getting warmed up pretty quickly, and we were starting to ditch layers while waiting. We got right in the porta potty line by our corral, then starting moving towards the start line, officially beginning around 10:15.

I'd been doing some training walks in the 17:00 - 18:00 mile range, and my parents said they'd been doing some in the 18:00 - 19:00, so I figured we'd end up around there, maybe slowing some on Doomsday hill. Whenever I looked at my watch, it seemed like the instant pace was much slower than that (22:00 - 23:00 or so), and the average got skewed (for actual walking pace) due to a long wait in a porta potty line in mile 2, so in the end I was surprised that our actual mile splits were closer to our goal than I realized. 

Approaching Doomsday Hill

I kept trying to be encouraging and get my parents moving  faster - my competitive side definitely made me a little frustrated, although I tried to just enjoy the time. There was lots of "come on, you can keep up with the pregnant lady", and "let's try to catch up with the grandma pushing the double stroller". I'm not sure my mom entirely appreciated my motivational methods...

Despite my mom feeling some pain in her knee (though her feet, which had been giving some trouble during training, held up fine), we kept up a pretty good time overall, ending with an official time of 2:45:10 and 22:08 pace. That included a long-ish wait for a porta potty at one point (not for the pregnant lady, I might add!), so my garmin shows moving time of 2:33:51 and moving pace of 20:01. I really wanted to come in at under a 20:00 pace, so we got close to that!

Still at least able to smile long enough for a photo, in the last mile.

Mile splits:
1 - 20:09 (a bit congested at the start, so hard to move as fast as we wanted to)
2 - 28:25 (includes about 10 minutes stopped, so awesome pace while moving)
3 - 18:57
4 - 19:42
5 - 19:45 
6 - 21:33 (Doomsday Hill starts at the end of mile 5 and into mile 6 - didn't slow down much!)
7 - 20:56
7.46 - 23:04 (15:31 time for .69 per my garmin)

We were all glad to be finished, and by the next day my mom was sort of able to say she was glad she'd done it (and her knee was feeling much better, no permanent damage as she'd feared during the event, and as I'd told her during the event would be the case). For next year, though, I've given her the out of asking her if she'll watch the baby while I run the race. 

Race for the Roses 5k

Race for the Roses is a well-known (though, smaller than I expected, for how much I've heard of it) race in Portland, hosted by and benefiting the nonprofit Albertina Kerr. I'll admit I picked this race in large part because it looked like (and it turned out to be true that) they hand out medals for finishers of all the distances (compared to many that have medals for the half marathon but not shorter 5k or 10k events that are part of the day), and if I know I can't get a PR but am paying for a race anyway, I might as well get something tangible out of it like a finisher's medal or shirt. 

And yes, obviously I know I'm not going to be getting any PRs while pregnant. I'm definitely comfortable running (the medical advice - both generically, and from my doctors - is if you're used to running, you can keep it up), and hope to keep it up so long as it's reasonably comfortable. But not going to push quite to my limits; I can do tempo type paces and be breathing hard, but I'm not comfortable doing anything resembling real speedwork or 5k race pace where you're on the edge of having to catch your breath. (Plus, gaining weight and a changing body slows you down a bit anyway.) But it's also fun to "race", and so to keep challenging myself, I decided that for the handful of 5ks I do this year (and I might throw in a 10k, but nothing longer than that), I'll set a moving target of my PR (just under 30 minutes) plus a minute for each month pregnant. So for now, at just over 3 months pregnant, my goal was about 33 minutes. 

I was able to go to packet pick up on Saturday (cause I wasn't working!!!) at Albertina Kerr, and once I saw the t-shirts and how pretty they are decided to go ahead and buy one. (They're not included with the race registration - a good way of doing things, in my opinion - once you've been running long enough you've acquired plenty of tech t-shirts - but it does seem like a fairly expensive race considering they're not including a t-shirt.) 

The race starts and ends just outside the Oregon Convention Center on the east side of the river. Based on the hoardes of people walking over to the start-line from the direction of the convention center before each distance started, I gather that there was space for people to hang out there until shortly before your race started (I got off the MAX in sight of the start line and just headed directly there). The course overlapped with some waterfront looping that's common in downtown races, including even a good chunk of the Portland Marathon course, but starting east side instead of west side and sort of going in reverse. 

It was a little chilly waiting at the start (though it fairly quickly warmed up to be a beautiful day!) Due to some delays in getting course set up (apparently some early morning bridge raises and such), each distance was delayed in starting about 15 minutes. They did a good job keeping everyone informed, though. 

When we finally got going for the 5k, I was aiming for under 11:00 miles for as long as possible. I kept that up for the first two miles - 10:53, 10:49. My pace was rather inconsistent - if I got breathing too hard I'd back off for a bit, but it wasn't too difficult to keep this up. About halfway through it warmed up enough to take off my arm-warmers - I'd been starting to regret wearing shorts and short-sleeves, but by the end it was perfect! Part way through the third mile, I slowed down, especially going up the ramp to the Steel Bridge to cross back over to the finish line - 11:26, 10:03 pace for the last bit - official finish time of 34:36, 11:08 pace. I got a medal and rose at the finish line, then went inside the convention center for a finisher's photo - you got a free print out on the spot and a download of it later! Not that a photo right after running a 5k is necessarily a good photo (you might note I'm not choosing to include mine here :) ). I grabbed a water bottle and bagel and headed back home on the max.

This turned out to be my perfect sized race - enough people that you're never by yourself, but it was never too crowded after the initial spread out in the first couple minutes. A bit pricey, but well organized, cute shirt, and a good spread of food for after (including mimosas, which I was sad I couldn't partake in). 

PRC Peacock Lane Run

The Peacock Lane run is a free run hosted each year by Portland Running Company (I meant to do it last year, but can't recall why I didn't!). No timing or anything, but a chance to run in a big group down to see the famous Christmas lights on one of their pedestrian-only nights. 

We got there a few minutes late, but my friend Karey was there and said the store was ridiculously packed, and about 5:00 people just started running. We got to the store, checked to see if she'd left yet, and headed out probably 10 minutes after. There were still a few stragglers, and we passed some walkers as we approached the lane. It wasn't as social of a run, but I think that might be better than being in the huge crowd! 

It was 2 miles each way to the lane (and I surprised myself at how fast I ran it - it was a comfortably hard pace trying to keep up with Abe, and ended up averaging just over 10:30 pace both ways!). So we got the lane just after 5:30, and realized all the runners were now standing around waiting for the lights to officially being at 6:00. (I'm not clear why not start at 5:30 to arrive right on time? Some would arrive after 6, but that's ok, the lights stay on for a while!)

We found Karey and chatted during the wait. There were some lights on early, but not everything, and the street wasn't totally cleared of cars until the 6:00 start time. Then, we got to head down and enjoy the view! There was no running here - not only a lot of people on the PRC run, but lots of other pedestrians (this weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, were pedestrian only nights, with the street closed to traffic. Normally, cars can (slowly) drive down to view the lights, while walkers stay on the sidewalk.). We took about 10 minutes to walk the 4 blocks (about 0.15 of a mile). 

I have to admit I was teensy bit underwhelmed (I'm not even sure what I expected, to be underwhelmed compared to, though), but it was still cool to see the lights at least once! I think I saw one house that wasn't decorated, but everything else was lit up to varying degrees, many with some sort of theme. 

We ran the 2 miles back to the PRC store, where there was hot cocoa, beer, and cookies! It was fun after to be back in a crowd of runners and enjoying a warm, festive atmosphere. (The rain held off just long enough! There were sprinkles as we were coming around the last block at the end.) I don't think I'll do this every year, but it was fun to do once! I think walking would definitely be the best way to see the lights at Peacock Lane (I can't imagine driving down the 4 blocks at 2 mph - definitely park somewhere and walk it!).

(This seems to be taking a minute to fully load, but it's a slideshow!) 

Ho Ho 5k Race Recap

I ran this race not out of any particular race or pacing goal (haven't been doing speedwork or otherwise training for it), but just to have a race every month of the year. It's also a smaller holiday-themed race that I hadn't yet had the chance to do, so it seemed like a good one to fit in.

The Ho Ho 5k is in the Tigard/Tualatin area, starting in the same conglomerate of parks as the Twilight 5k I did last summer (but was a different configuration of course). There wasn't any early packet pick-up, just day of, starting at 8:30 for a 10:00 race start. I got there just a few minutes after 9:00. At that time, there was plenty of parking and no line for pickup, but as we approached 9:30 it was starting to get crowded, so I'd definitely err again on the earlier side for arrival if I did the race in the future.

I was able to walk right up to get my bib, used the bathroom (real! albeit slightly dingy park bathrooms - some of the units were closed for the season, but enough were open), and headed back to my car to wait for a bit. About 20 minutes til I headed into the park for a brief, half mile warm-up, then went to the start. The race was underway just a minute or two after 10:00. They could have done a bit more in terms of encouraging proper lineup (there was a pair of walkers in like the third row), but small enough race it didn't matter too much. 

The course starts heading out of the park, and through some residential neighborhoods. There was a small out-and-back around the halfway point (with Santa directing at the corner with runners goings both ways), then down a hill back into the parks. Over some paved trail, a little bit of dirt trail, than park roads back to the finish line. Kind of cruel - you come very close to the finish line - twice! - in the last mile for additional out-and-back sections.

I wasn't sure I could beat my PR (9:25 pace), but figured I should at least try, so my plan was to get as close to 9:00 (or slightly below) as I could and just hang on as long as I could. 

Mile splits: 9:21, 9:27, 9:29, 8:29
Official time: 29:52

I saw some high 8s within the first mile, but couldn't keep it up. I even walked on one incline in the second mile. I kept my watch to show lap pace, rather than overall pace, and just focused on being in each mile. But I got tired as I went along and gradually slowed down (slightly, but slowing down). As we went by the finish line before the second to last out and back, and I saw 27:something on the clock, I decided I could at least get another sub-30 finish, so did my best to at least hold steady. I even got a nice little kick in the last bit.

Considering the lack of training (or maybe benefiting from the slow heartrate training), I'm pretty happy with this time. Though I'd be happier if I'd at least negative split (as I did in my current PR 5k).

I stuck around briefly after the race, got some water (there wasn't a water stop on course - I know it's cold (ish - actually unseasonably warm at 50 on race day), but I still think one water stop is a good idea, especially if you're walker friendly), and a ho ho. Saw my friend Windy, who I haven't run into at a race for a while, and turns out she and her husband are part of the running group that puts on the race. 

Rather than traditional race foods, there were a variety of Hostess snack cakes, including the title ho hos and seasonally appropriate sno balls, along with candy canes and a few other treats. Supposedly there was hot chocolate, but I didn't look for it. Overall I'd call it a well put on race, and I liked the cheaper price (I think it was $25) and the option to not purchase a shirt. Fairly abundant parking and flushing toilets are a plus, and it's a good size - not too crowded, never alone. 

Tacoma City Turkey Trot 5k 2015

For every Thanksgiving since college, including the past five years since I've been running, I've not only been somewhere that's not home, but schedules have worked out that I've been traveling wherever that is on Thursday morning. I've always wanted to do a Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning, but never been able to.

Finally, this year it worked out to travel to Tacoma (where we were all convening, and where my sister and aunt live) on Wednesday, leaving Thursday morning totally open. But the holiday is about being with family... so I talked my immediate family into doing a turkey trot, too! (My parents and sister - Abe's done plenty of races with me, so he went to explore to new-to-him disc golf courses instead.)

My dad used to run (and did the occasional race), but this was my mom's and sister's first race ever! They all walked; when I first talked to my mom about it I told her I'd walk with her, but since she had others to walk with her I went ahead and ran.

My parents did packet pickup for all of us Wednesday afternoon, since Abe and I got in a little later in the evening, but it sounds like it went smoothly. There were a few minor organization issues the day of: my parents had been told at packet pickup that the Fleet Feet store would be open for people to hang out in before the race, and it wasn't (at least when we went by about 45 minutes before the race start time). The people manning tables for day-of pickup seemed to be willy nilly trying to hand out bags to anyone walking by, rather than having some system to give them to people who were actually getting their bibs. The race also started about 10 minutes late, with no announcement that was audible at the back of the lineup as to why or when we would actually start. 

Things went fine once we got going, though. It was a small-ish race, just over a thousand people, so there weren't waves or corrals, but people seeded themselves decently and it was easy to get settled into a nice pace as people spread out. There were friendly volunteers at every turn directing runners and helping traffic. 

The Tacoma City Turkey Trot takes place in the North End of Tacoma, the course being a loop that starts in a small shopping area (by the host running store), and mostly goes through residential areas with pretty older homes. While cautioned to arrive at least an hour before the 9 am start to ensure close parking, we go there closer to 8:20, and quickly found a spot two blocks away; as we walked to the start we also saw more spaces even closer, including in the Safeway lots in the block behind the start. 

It was definitely chilly (right around freezing) at the start; more of a problem for running than walking (e.g., more discrepancy between number of layers needed for before and during), but we were able to go across the street a Starbucks to stay inside for a bit. We headed over the start line about 10 til 9, and then waited about 20 minutes for the race to actually start. 

I was nearer the back of the pack with my parents, but started running and didn't have to do much weaving once people spread out. Since I haven't been doing any real training since the marathon, plus have enough to worry about in trying to get pregnant without adding additional stressors like a PR-effort race (TMI: knew I was on the verge of ovulating, so didn't want to delay it if it hadn't happened yet; had I been earlier in my cycle I might have tried to see what I was currently capable of), I wasn't going all out, but just putting forth a solid, tempo, hard but not breathing that hard, kind of effort.

Mile splits: 11:26, 11:11, 10:41, 8:35

For only being a slightly hard effort, I'm pretty happy with my time, official of 34:08. Of course, as I got close to the end and saw I was just over an 11:00 average, I had to give it a final kick to bring it down. :)

Once I crossed the finish line, I ran back about a half mile on the course to see the rest of my family. My sister ended up finishing in a bit under an hour, and our parents in about 1:03. At the beginning of the race, since they started near the back and were walking, at one point they realized they were literally last - but that motivated them to walk faster! They ended up with more than 20 people finishing after them, but I also witnessed plenty of walkers cutting the course at the corner where I was watching (it was sort of easy to do accidentally, if you weren't paying attention, but obviously the volunteer there wasn't doing a great job), so they probably actually beat at least 30 or 40. 

Once I saw my parents, I ran back to the finish line, arriving just in time to hear my sister's name being announced, and then wait a few minutes for the parents. Despite the cold, my mom had fun (she routinely walks 45-ish minutes several times a week for exercise, so this was a little bit of a stretch in terms of distance/duration but not tons), and said this would be a fun Thanksgiving tradition to keep up! 

Despite the delayed start and minor disorganization, I enjoyed the race, and would definitely do it again on years when our Thanksgiving is in Tacoma. The course seems like it would be relatively PR-friendly if you were trying, some slight inclines and maybe more turns than ideal but mostly pretty flat. Parking really isn't that hard to come by, and it's near a Starbucks and a Safeway (in case you need anything last minute for Thanksgiving dinner!) After the race there were at least bananas and water bottles (wasn't paying much attention if there was more, it was basic but sufficient, I think); but there wasn't any water on the course - even though the weather was cold, with walkers being out there for over an hour I think one water stop would be nice. The shirt is cute. It's a good number of people - the course didn't feel crowded after the first couple minutes, but even nearer the end where my parents were they weren't so spread out that you couldn't see other people either. It was very friendly to all abilities, with plenty of walkers and also lots of speedy finishers.

2015 Portland Marathon Race Recap

I survived another marathon! (See recap of my first marathon in 2013 here.)

After a solid go at carb loading and hydrating the day before, I got up at 5 am, had my usual pre-run toast with peanut butter and Golazo energy drink. Abe drove me to the start line (and then went home and back to bed!) to arrive shortly after 6 am, for the 7 am start. I immediately got in the fairly short porta potty lines, peed, then got back into the now-longer line to pee again. (Overheard: it never hurts to be in the porta potty line.)

I then still had some time to kill, hung out and chatted with another runner, finally figuring out what was going on with the different colored race bibs: most bibs I saw (and mine) were blue, but here and there were red (actually orange-y, but looked red in the low light at that hour of the morning), green, and purple. Turns out they corresponded with what color finisher shirt you'd ordered (classic marathon blue and green, Beavers, Ducks, or Huskies). 

The weather turned out pretty perfectly - it was about 50 degrees at the start; I wore shorts, short-sleeves, and cheap-socks-turned-arm-warmers to begin, plus a long-sleeve throw away shirt (a very old shirt of Abe's that's torn enough that I hate to see him wear it in public, so I convinced hi to let me wear it to toss). After tossing the extra shirt, I was a bit chilly as my corral walked to the start line, but by the end of the first mile I also got rid of the arm warmers. There were some spots in the middle with shade and some wind that felt slightly cooler, but overly it stayed pretty warm and comfortable. By the end I think it was in the mid to upper 60s, plenty warm but not so hot to be overheated while running.

The overall goal: stay between 12:00 and 12:30 for as long as possible, for a 5:15 to 5:30 finish. But mainly, I wanted to finish strong, i.e., without tons of walking and stopping at porta potties simply for a break from moving (as I may have done last time).

Miles 1 - 5: 12:25, 12:00, 12:15, 11:39, 11:56

A little slower than I felt I could go in the first mile as it was crowded, then settling in to a nice comfortable pace as we spread out. Miles 4 and 5 are downhill, so not extra effort even though slightly fast. Started eating 2 shot bloks at mile 3, and about every 3 miles after. I carried a 12-ounce water bottle, getting it refilled several times at water stations. 

Miles 6 - 10: 12:03, 12:02, 12:10, 12:49, 11:54

Mile 9 included about a minute stopping to pee. I needed from about mile 5 or 6, but waited until there were some porta potties without a line. 

Miles 11 - 15: 12:11, 12:14, 12:21, 13:05, 14:28

Started to feel a bit tired, and wondered how the hell that was when I've gone this far, faster, in half marathons. I saw a friend who was spectating near his house in mile 12, which was fun to see a familiar face - everyone cheers for you by name if it's on your bib, so it takes a second to realize when it's someone you actually know yelling at you!

I was starting to slow down here and there, but the slower splits here are also due to taking care of other things - at the halfway point I ate a pack of nut butter, which is what I've been using to fuel on long runs (to try to train my body to use more fat than just sugar - the single-serving Justin's varieties that include honey or maple syrup, so they do have some sugar, but it's not just carbs) And then mile 15 was a porta potty stop for #2 - though I tolerated the shot bloks pretty well for not having used them much in this training cycle, I started having some mild stomach discomfort in the few miles before this.

I also let myself pull out my headphones around the halfway mark, and listened to Gilmore Guys for the remainder of the race as a distraction.

Miles 16 - 20: 12:11, 14:33, 13:22, 13:56, 14:24

After talking strategy with a coworker who was also running, I decided it wasn't worth expending energy to run up the hill to St. John's Bridge in mile 17, but I did manage quite a bit of speed walking. I was getting pretty tired by now, though, even without the hill, and had a hard time getting myself back into a groove of running even once I reached the top of the bridge. I took some gummy bears at aid stations a couple times to spread out my shot bloks (I had planned to take 2 every 3 miles, but for some reason didn't bother calculating then how many I'd need, and didn't have quite enough.)

Heading off the bridge, I started talking some walking breaks, but again, trying to do more speed walking than plain walking. I wore toe socks, which was actually kind of stupid, because I rarely wear socks while running (minimialist shoes are designed to not have any seams that make them prone to rubbing in the wrong places), but thought it'd be good... just because, I'm not really sure. But one of the toes of the sock was pulling and rubbing in a weird way, so I think it was in mile 20 that I sat down to take off my shoe and see if I could adjust the sock at all. That was where I saw some goats walking along the street (they didn't seem to be with anyone, so not sure what was going on with that), and since I was already stopped figured I might as well get photographic evidence.

Miles 21 - 24: 14:51, 14:46, 14:45, 16:05

This was getting really hard. My feet were hurting from the pounding. My left IT band was hurting. I pulled to the side a few times to try to stretch it. I had lots of walking intervals, but I think at most I walked a tenth of a mile at a time, and ran for at least half a mile (last time I think those ratios were probably the opposite). Although lots of stuff hurt, and I was getting really tried, It was easier - not easy, but easier - to push through, give myself a short break, but continue running, at least some.

Miles 25 - 26.2: 13:44, 13:11, 9:25 

Coming off the Broadway Bridge I got a small portion of a second wind, and was able to stretch out between walking intervals even more. Before 24.2 I tried to promise myself to run the last 2 solid miles, didn't quite, but I think only one break in the midst of that. I calculated by this point that getting under 5:45 was a definite possibility so long as I didn't walk the whole thing, so that became a new goal to focus on.

My parents and Abe were waiting for me just before the final finishing chute (there was a tracking app through the race that worked on GPS activated on the app on my phone, so they knew I was approaching), and I handed off my water bottle for the final stretch. I was pretty much running down the chute by myself, small clusters ahead and behind me. An announcer was talking on a microphone, I think by his expression when I passed by he had been teasing me in some way, but I was pretty out of it and had no idea what he was saying beyond hearing my name a couple times. 

My watch turned to 5:44 with the finish line still just around the corner, so I busted out a pretty good sprint to make sure it wouldn't be more than another minute. When counting in hours, the garmin screen I had showing doesn't show seconds, so I didn't know who close under I was, but I knew I'd made it under 5:45! 

Stopping, my legs felt stiff, but I felt decent overall, all things considered. Nothing sounded good to eat, but I quickly drank a cup of orange juice to get in some calories, and grabbed a banana, chips, and some candy. A friend from my Toastmasters group was volunteering at a food table, another friendly face that's nice to see at that point (I'll definitely need to volunteer next year!).

I walked out to meet up with my family, where I sat down as soon as I could, putting on flip flops (beyond the pounding, a mostly-healed blister from the tri a few weeks ago (where I wore perfectly worn-in but torn up shoes in which I really should always wear socks as the rips do rub the wrong way) got aggravated a bit by the aforementioned toe socks that were pulling weirdly), and drank up some coconut water. (Froze half of it overnight, pulled it out and filled the remaining way when I left the house for them to bring for me, and it was perfectly chilled!) 

They were parked maybe half a mile away, which I slowly walked rather than have them drive over, figuring the movement would help. I took a few minutes to stretch before the quick drive home, but was pretty sore and walking funny for a while. For a few hours after the race, my feet hurt a ton, even to the point that I took an Ibuprofen (which I rarely do, just cause I figure most pain is a signal to your body to do something (like hydrate, or rest), but in this case I knew what it was telling me already!), and hung out laying on the floor with my legs up on the couch. But then there was a tipping point where it pretty quickly dissipated to a mere annoyance, and then I started noticing the aches elsewhere in my legs.  

We went out to pizza for dinner, though I remained not too hungry until Monday morning, and even that hunger didn't last too long. Last time, after not feeling like eating for the first few hours, I remember being ravenous for a few days, and I still don't feel like that's really happened, which seems odd. My legs feel a bit tired still, and have plenty of sore muscles and knots, but overall not too painful. I got a massage on Tuesday that highlighted the worst spots, including my hip flexors (the speed walking that my body's not used to probably contributed to that). 

I'm both proud of and disappointed in my time. While I set my time goal based on what I thought capable on my half marathon PR (2:31, so twice plus some), 5:30 was also a pace that was faster than my first 5k five years ago - but by going over a 13:00 pace, I ended up not meeting that, and I really wanted to be able to say that. 

I still fell apart in the last several miles, and I thought I was strong enough to not do that. I thought the back to back long/medium-long runs, and especially the longer tempo runs in the Hansons plan would be great to help deal with that fatigue. I also thought the skill I've been developing in shorter races, of getting over the mental hurdle of just being able to push through pain and be uncomfortable for the remainder of the race, would be utilized, and I did to a degree, but the pain and discomfort of a marathon is different than that of a 10k, and I couldn't push through it the same way. 

I wanted to not take any real walking breaks and say I ran the entire marathon, and I didn't meet that, but even for as much of the walking that I did do, I think I still finished reasonably strong, I still pushed through and didn't walk as much as I wanted to, and for that I'm proud of myself. 

You'll either do one marathon or you'll keep doing them.. well I've already done two! I definitely plan on another one, but it will likely be further out this time. Portland Marathon's 50th will be in six years, so that sounds like a good timeframe at this point.

Best Dam Run 10k Race Recap

On Friday (the day before this race), a quasi-retired firm partner who likes to stay up on people's lives, and whose son does triathlons so he has a decent feel on running and triathlon stuff, stopped by to see what my next race was, if I had anything going on before the marathon. 

Now, he can be interesting to talk to, has had lots of life and professional experiences, but also long-winded, and tends to be very rah-rah religious and use a very "inspirational story" kind of approach to conversation (and those aren't positives, in my book). But when I said I had just hit my sub-30 5k, and was going to PR at the 10k, he asked if I was going for a sub-60 time. At that point, I was thinking of going for 1:02 or 1:03 - still a huge PR (it was currently sitting at 1:15:20 (12:07 pace) for real races, and 1:10:26 for a virtual race), but definitely totally doable. Maybe start out under 11:00, push down towards 10:00, maybe finish under 10:00 the last couple miles.

But he got me thinking, even with the inspiration quote he used of "attitude determines altitude" - if there's any chance of achieving it, you first have to believe that you can. The McMillan calculator said my new 5k time indicated a 1:00:43 10k - and I felt like I went a bit too conservatively at the start of the 5k - I certainly didn't want to finish that close but over a one hour finish!

What the hell. While being a little aware that I shouldn't stress my body too much just 8 days before my goal race, I figured I might as well go out fast, aiming for a 59:59 finish, and if I couldn't hold on, even if I slowed down into the 10:00s, or really even in the 11:00s, I'd still get a PR. I knew I could start for under a 1:00 finish, and even if I slowed down probably still get under 1:03, definitely under 1:05; but if I started for a 1:03 I didn't think I could pick up enough for under 1:00. Starting fast gave me the most options, and a virtually guaranteed PR either way. 

The Best Dam Run is held in Estacada, about an hour SE of Portland. It's a point-to-point course, with day-of packet pick-up (there was also pick-up the day before at the Tualatin Road Runner store) and buses at the city hall. Buses started at 8:30 to take runners out to the starting line, and then the 10k walkers began at 9:30 and the runners at 10:00. 

It was a small-ish race (though not quite as small as the 5k the week prior) - 79 walkers and 330 runners. The buses dropped us off by the start line, and from there we had a quarter mile walk down the road (the same way the course went) to a boat ramp on the lake to the porta potties. (There was also an enclosed "bathroom" as part of the available accommodations, but it was just a permanent porta potty, no plumbing, so actually kind of worse in a way.)

As usual I was super early, got my packet and t-shirt (very pretty shirt! worth paying the extra for, but I'm still wary of going down a size in shirt ordering - and ordering the size I used to need is a bit big), and hung out in my car for a bit even before the buses were heading out. An older gentleman chatted with me for a few minutes, explaining that he used to run a lot, but as he aged (now 72), he was getting into speed walking, and this was the first 10k he was walking.

I was on the second bus to the start line. Walked down to the porty potties. Ran back up, waited around (sadly, not good cell coverage at this area) and watched the walkers take off, ran back down and back, and then partly down and back again, to get a total of 1 mile easy running to warm up.

As the runners started, I got in the middle of the pack. Started off a smidge slow until the crowd thinned out, then got into a groove. I was leap frogging off and on with a few people, but gradually passing them, and picking it up a bit at the end. The course was almost entirely downhill. The most noticeable incline near the beginning was slight as we went over the title dam; then near the end of mile 5 we had a much more significant hill as the side road/quasi-path we were on went up to meet back up with the main highway. But quite an easy course overall!

Mile splits:
1 - 9:49
2 - 9:31
3 - 9:27
4 - 9:28
5 - 9:27
6 - 9:08
6.2 - 2:47 time for 0.35 - 8:14 pace

Official time: 59:37! Obviously my garmin went long, and I was getting worried as I approached just how long it would be, since I realized it would be quite close as far as getting in under an hour. I kept passing people, and made it!

There were finisher medals, and the finish line had a good spread of snacks - bagels, pretzels, tootsie rolls, red vines, cookies, peanut butter, gatorade. There was also a tent set up with laptops to immediately look up your official results, which was pretty nifty. All in all a very organized race - I think it's the first ORRC race I've actually done, even though some of them have been on my radar as possibilities before. Definitely makes me inclined to do more of their events.

(The 72-year-old speedwalker also finished in under an hour! (And was the first place walker.) But at least he was 10 seconds slower than me. :) )


(And the inspirational-conversationalist partner was excited for me when I talked to him on Monday.)