Portland Marathon

Yup - you guys have seen the write-up, now witness the pictures. If you haven't seen the write up, here it is:

Family, friends and coworkers – I’ve just come back from Portland where I ran the Portland Marathon for the second time. The first time didn’t go so well. A quick recap – cramp in right leg around mile 16, cramp in left leg at mile 17, stiff legged shuffle for the last 9 miles. I had to run it again. My friend Brian Neville signed up for a second tour of duty, but this time his wife Taryn also stepped up to the plate. Training started around March 2006 with a couple of races in between. I was feeling good during training except my entire left leg was just painful – will it survive the race was the big question.

To the day of the race: perfect conditions, about 54F with a high of mid 70s, no rain. (Also thanks to my friend Drew Corrigan who put me up again at his home in Portland the night before the race and was my limo / shuttle day of). This narrative is not quite as funny as the last one (as I didn’t experience as much pain):

Mile Split Random thoughts in my mind at the time
1 10:05 Geez there are a lot of people here. Darn it – I hope I don’t need my bandana (I run with a bandana to keep the sweat from my face)…

2 10:47 What the heck? I know we got to be going faster than a 11 min mile. Maybe we’re not… Crud. Bad thoughts… Stop thinking bad thoughts.

3 8:07 Wow.. I know we sped up, but… Oooh.. they marked the mile markers wrong.. PS We caught up with the 4.5 hr pace bunny. Brian left us to chase a 3:45 finish.

4 8:42 Hmm.. slightly faster than we want to go. Wait what was that? Why is my RIGHT leg acting up? It’s my left leg that’s the issue!!!! Nooo….

5 8:27 Need to rein back Taryn. Damn first timers – always speedy. Is it bad that my who back side of my right leg feels tight?

6 8:57 Focus on something other than the right leg! Ah, I just past an Oregon Duck… I’m so happy…

7 9:10 One hour down, 3 more to go. Right leg tightness has now moved from calf and hammys to the quads now. Time to be a Floyd and drug up. (1 ibuprofen).

8 8:37 You gotta love drugs. Leg is much better, much faster time. We shouldn’t judge Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Marion Jones, etc.

9 9:00 Oh – I should mention we caught up and past the 4:15 pace bunny about 20 minutes ago. Screw the pace bunny, we’re kicking his butt.

10 8:55 Boring mile, with boring scenery.

11 8:56 Met an older race who was competing in his 12^th marathon this year. Is he crazy? And why am I on the same pace as he is?

12 9:07 The ibuprofen is either wearing off, or the pain can no longer be masked by one pill. I’ve got more drugs though.

13 9:18 We were going much faster than this as Taryn needed a porta-potty break and I was more than willing to stop to stretch out my right leg. (2 more ibuprofens)

14 9:48 The stretch didn’t help. The hill climb to St. John’s bridge is looming in my mind. I remember that on mile 16 it was the right leg that cramped first… Why??!!

15 9:13 Convinced Taryn I needed one more stretch. Spent 30 seconds stretching. I vowed that this is the last time I stretch even if my legs fall off in this race.

16 9:55 The darn hill climb. Taryn and I made it up VERY well. We passed a lot of folks – I sympathize completely with them – this was where I cramped.

17 8:46 This portion was a breeze. I switch to think how much BETTER this was than last year. Focus on the good stuff. (1 more ibuprofen for good measure)

18 9:38 Taryn’s beginning to pull away. She’s kind enough to say that she’d run with me to mile 20. Is 4 ibuprofen and 1 tylenol in 2 hrs 45 mins bad for you?

19 9:27 Holy cow. I gots 7 more miles of this? Crud. I’m thinking bad thoughts again. Bad thoughts be gone!

20 9:47 The last I ran with Taryn. We got our photo op, she waved bye. Damn – must keep her in my sights. Time for more drugs!

21 8:59 Bad news: no more drugs. Good news: Great mile split based on pure will to not let Taryn out of my sights.

22 9:50 Bad news: That last mile killed me. Right leg letting me know it doesn’t like me. Left leg now acting up. Who wants to take up marathon running now?

23 8:54 Huge downhill leg. It’s amazing how much faster you can run with decent legs. I checked this against last year’s split (14:53) – harness the downhill!

24 9:50 I’ve still got Taryn in might sights. She’s about 1 to 2 mins ahead of me. It’s about 3:42:00 – it’s possible that I could break 4 hours. I decide to try.

25 10:27 I’m no longer trying to break 4 hrs. My body told me definitively that I am a crazy idiot. Why don’t race organizers hand out codeine on the course. In fact, if I was a drug dealer…

26 10:58 I try to finish strong. Although this is 1.2 miles officially, I still ran a 9.5 min mile although I felt like I was sprinting like the wind (more like a gentle puff though).

Finish 4:03:53
I am so glad that’s over. Under 4:30 (absolute goal – otherwise I’d have to run another marathon), under 4:20 (10 min mile splits) which was my real goal. Over 4:00 which was my stretch goal. 50 min better than last year though!! Brian finished 3:38 (great time – a 42 min improvement from last year). Taryn kicked ass and finished in 4:01. AND my coworker Marian completely dominated with a 3:36!