Finisher!
This was my first 'destination' race, even though it wasn't very far. We left for Portland on Saturday morning, arriving about lunchtime. We were able to do an early check in at our hotel, which was really nice but quite far from downtown - it was at the airport. But there was a train stop a block away that went right downtown Portland so we hopped on that after getting settled in our room. The Girl had some birthday money to blow on tax-free shopping so that and hitting the expo was the grand plan for the day.
We got downtown, and after a brief stop in the wrong area of downtown, we figured out where we were going. We were starving so we found food first and then I peeled off to meet up with Jess and D at the Expo.
It took a couple tries to get this picture. The old man we asked
had a hard time figuring out how to use an iPhone
camera....which incidentally, kept happening to us.
After hitting the expo, we went our separate ways until our planned dinner...we were late getting reservations made so after striking out at four different Italian restaurants, we had to settle for a brewery....
Representing Blue!
We had our Circle of Remembrance by calling out the names of the fallen soldiers -- a reminder of who we were running for. Then it was time to split up into our separate corrals. D was up front in B corral, Mike started in G I believe,and Jess and I started in Corral F. The corrals were all split up on separate blocks so we weren't able to hear the National Anthem at the beginning, which was a bummer. We finally rolled across the start at about 7:25am or so.
Have no idea which mile this was at....
I am still smiling though....
The first 8 miles or so flew by pretty quickly...we did an out and back along the river, walking mostly, yogging some of the time. There were bands all along the course, cheer squads and a lot of spectators. There was also a good deal of aid on the course, which - thank god - because I was so unprepared, I was totally reliant on what they had to offer.
We also got to see everyone at some point or other....We saw Deidra twice on a couple out and back portions; as well as Mike and April, our Ragnar teammate. That was really cool since there were so many people....the flags totally helped with that! Easier to spot.
As I mentioned in my "I can't believe I actually did that" post, this whole experience was very surreal and didn't feel like it was actually happening. If every single part of my body wasn't screaming at me right now, it might seem like a crazy feverish dream....since I did everything so very very wrong. Wrong clothes, no preparation, and made do with what I had in front of me...All the things you aren't supposed to do were done, but I survived it.
We got through the first half and I still felt pretty good. My hamstring and hip didn't hurt anymore than normal so I decided to keep going past the 13 mile mark....and past that, there was really no turning back. After mile 16, you hit the first bridge, St. Johns bridge. The next 8-9 miles were on the other side of the river and I knew it wouldn't be easy to get back if I stopped there. Plus my phone had already died, so I wouldn't have been able to call my sister to come rescue me anyway....
Headed up the killer hills to the bridge, approaching Mile 17.
This picture is a result of the nice lady coming to
the rescue of another iPhone challenged runner....
We made it over the bridge and by then it was H-O-T hot. Mid 70's and I was still in my long sleeve shirt. This next 8 miles or so was in a residential area and there were at least a couple nice folks who turned on their sprinklers in the street for us. I ran through both of them and dumped at least 4-5 cups of water on my head during the last 10 miles. I was definitely hitting the wall by this point. My energy was dropping significantly, I was really thirsty and the blisters on my feet were getting more raw. But we just kept plodding along....passing mile markers slowly but surely. 22, then 23...then finally 24 and were back over on the other side of the river after crossing the final bridge.
At this point, we were yogging more than walking since it hurt less. Jess kept getting shooting pains in her knee and was limping a bit, so she felt better walking. I sort of shuffle/dragged my feet beside her and we finally made it to mile 25. Right at that corner, I heard my sister and daughter screaming our names...I looked over at them in a daze and immediately burst into tears and almost started hyperventilating.....but seeing them was exactly the boost I needed to finish the last 1.2 miles. We rounded the corner at mile 26 and both of us held the flag the last .2 of the race across the finish line. Until this point, we were taking turns carrying it, switching off whenever one of us got too tired.
We crossed the finish line and it was so nice to be done.....I was exhausted though. And almost burst into tears again when they said they didn't have medals right then and water was a half block away around the corner. I seriously almost lost it big time. I hobbled over to get water and again was defeated when I was handed a half full dixie cup. Seriously? No bottles of water? They got some medals finally (they had taken them all for some reason to the new finish line they were setting up since it was nearly the end of the regular course time) and I was able to stop by the medical tent to get some ice packs saran-wrapped to my arse.
The post race food was pretty sad by then...all the fruit was brown and the chocolate milk was slightly warm. I guess that is what happens when you finish after 7 hours. We picked up the rest of our swag and got the hell out of there....by then most people were gone. And we all had long drives ahead of us to get home....
Smiling or grimacing? You be the judge...
Overall, I thought the race was well organized, the volunteers were superb and the Pirate Band was by far the best on-course entertainment. I didn't love the on-course fuel, but when you don't bring any of your own, anything is better than nothing.....I would have loved Gatorade instead of the awful pink stuff they were calling Ultima (which I only drank b/c it was hot and I need to replace electrolytes in bad way) and gels of some kind instead of pretzels and gummy bears. But I survived.
Overall stats- which I am writing out, since screen-grabbing is in violation of their 'copyright policy' (which, really?) and I really don't feel like risking a $150,000 fine.
Finish: 7:08:41 (Tag time; 7:27:19 Gun time)
Avg Pace: 16:21 (not too bad for walking)
Overall Place: 6374 of 6518 (ha!)
Women: 3251 of 3360
F 35-39: 557 of 565
Splits:
5 km: 43.13
10 km: 1:30:48
8.9 mi: 2:12:52
Half: 3:20:21
17.5 mi: 4:41:44
21.1 mi: 5:42:18
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