2013 HELVETIA HALF MARATHON RECAP

Right after the start of the 2011 version of the race. (Kevin Zuercher/Hillsboro Parks & Recreation)

Saturday morning I woke up around 6:45am to get ready for the Helvetia Half Marathon. My breakfast was a donut I saved from "Free Donut Day" at Krispy Kreme the day before (thanks Libbie!) and a Starbucks Frappuccino drink that was sitting in my fridge for six months and two months expired. My belly felt a little bit iffy after that combination... I could tell I would have to number two at some point, but knowing my body, it wasn't going to come before the race. I was starting to get the pre-race jitters despite committing myself to "taking it easy" on this one.

I was able to find my way to the parking lot via surface streets pretty easily for this race which is notorious for the backup onto Hwy 26 with people trying to park. Since I already picked up my bib the day before, I didn't have much to do before the race, so I just kind of wandered towards the start line and stretched out.

Before I knew it we were lining up and getting ready to start. They had pacers at this race designated by the mile time on a balloon tied to themselves. It wasn't very well organized as the 8:30 pacer was in front of the 8:00 pacer in the starting chute. The chute was kind of a cluster, they didn't really have signs to direct people to sort themselves by pace, so I went to looking at the pacers, yet they weren't in the right order.

MILES 1-3 - ANNNNND THERE GOES THE PLAN (7:21, 7:22, 7:34)

Starting line cluster. See yellow pace balloon.

Anyways, the gun sounded and off we went. Almost 2,000 were running this half marathon, less than normal (they had been averaging around 3,000 the last few years) but it was still a fuckton of people. The start was a Shamrock Run like shuffle affair. My plan was to stick to the 8:00 pacer, but she was going SUPER slow and behind the 8:30 pacer. I panicked. I didn't want to fuck around on that first mile and lose time, so I darted ahead. I certainly wasn't running a great line during that first half mile as I tried to find some open space.

Eventually I was able to get with my peeps at the pace I wanted to go and wasn't passing very many people. I settled into what I thought was an easy pace, as I wanted to give about 90% on this race. Turns out this pace on the first three miles averaged about 7:26 or so. I didn't think I was going that fast, which I think is a good sign. When I can run that fast and have it feel pretty easy that means I've been doing some good training.

Overall those first three miles were great. I felt pretty comfortable and was taking it easy in my mind but still rattling off some good times. I checked my phone about three miles in and saw my pace... at that point I decided to say "fuck it" and try to run the race a bit quicker than 8:00/mile for the first eight miles or so. I wasn't going to try and PR, but I'd run it a little harder than I planned.

MILES 4-7 - THE HILLS HIT (7:51, 8:04, 7:25, 7:36)

Like I had anticipated by looking at elevation charts, the hills weren't as bad as I thought. There was one hill that was a pain in the ass (see my 8:04 mile) but I was able to summit it without many problems. Again, I was able to pass a lot of people on these hills. Other than that one big hill there weren't many sizable ones. Yes, definitely some rolling hills, no doubt there, but nothing that was too big of a pain.

Part of the out and back along the narrow forest road.

There was a Gu station around mile 6 where I took a Gu and ate it. To that point I had been stopping at all the water stations and drinking a cup of water. Like in Corvallis, I allowed myself to slow to a brisk walk to make sure I could drink it instead of choking on it. My belly felt a little weird after the Gu but it recovered a little later with no damage.

Miles six and seven were an out and back along a little one lane road through the forest along some rolling hills. It was really pretty! It was also fun to see the steady stream of runners going in both directions for motivation. Around this time a man in his 30s pulled next to me and started to chat, saying he had been within like 15 feet of me the whole race. I joked that I didn't plan on running this fast but "it was happening, so I'll go with it." Eventually he pulled a bit ahead.

MILES 8-10 - DOWNHILL AND FLAT RELIEF (7:17, 7:18, 7:28)

Course map.

After those rolling hills in the woods we got a decent downhill mile. I attacked this fairly hard, but not as hard as I probably could of. I was still trying to not kill myself as I was in marathon training mode, not PR a half mode. I passed that man on the downhills, I seemed to handle those a little bit better than him. Eventually he passed on the flats and finished about a minute and a half ahead of me, so touche to him.

I was still feeling pretty good here but the miles were starting to wear on me a bit. I didn't taper at all for this run like I usually do for a half. I had run six hard miles on Wednesday and then another four on Thursday. So I only had one day of rest. I think if I had given myself the traditional three days of rest I would have able to really attack this part of the race, but I just didn't really have it in me. Oh well. I just didn't feel much pressure on this race, which was nice. I was running it a lot faster than i planned, but oh well.

MILES 11-13 - GRAVEL BULLSHIT AND THE HOMESTRETCH (7:51, 7:41, 7:51)

Mile 11 was all gravel and we mixed in with the walkers of the 10K. Needless to say, I wasn't able to maintain a great line with all the walkers and the gravel was hard to run on. A relief from the pounding of the pavement, but it took a lot more work to push off on the gravel. A couple of times I landed on a big piece and had my shoe "roll" along it for a second. Anyways, it was annoying.

I was starting to feel pretty tired and I didn't push myself like I might usually do. I still kept up a hard clip but I wasn't going to kill myself over this thing. Eventually we found our way back to the pavement and then hit the final stretch.

Those last two miles seemed to take forever. At least I had the 10k field I could pass as motivation. I was starting to feel pretty tired and my joints weren't feeling great. I think the pounding of the up and down on the hills really wore on them. Eventually I got the stadium, saw Libbie who was volunteering at the race, and then hit the finish at the 50 yard line like at Corvallis (albeit in a much smaller, shittier stadium). My time was just a touch over 1:40... pretty damn good!

POST RACE!

Picture with the stadium finish in the background.

This race is evil in the fact that after you finish you have to climb a flight of stairs out of the stadium. Luckily, I was still feeling pretty good and was able to do so fairly well, although it wasn't super pleasant. After that I went straight to get my free Helvetia Tavern burger. It was delicious! They had their secret sauce you could put on it and OMG it was amazing! Anyways, once that was done the rumbly in my tumbly got kind of serious so I did something I have never done at a race before... dropped bombs in the portable toilet. Gross, I know.

Once that was over, there wasn't really much to do. I knew a few people at the race and kept my eyes open for them but wasn't able to find them. There was just too many damn people. Between the half, 10K, and 5K there were over 3,000 runners, so it was a zoo. I felt really drained so I just decided to head home. After getting home I took a bath and then collapsed in bed and napped. I was absolutely knackered. I ended up taking a four hour nap and then going to bed at normal time that night. I was drained.

Overall, pretty freaking good for trying to take it easy. Only 40 seconds off a PR on a much hillier course and a different mindset. So yay me! I think I have a really good shot at getting another PR in a few weeks at the much flatter Foot Traffic Flat.

Official Chip Time: 1:40:29, 7:40/mile. 129/1960 overall, 15/69 M2529, 105/812 overall male.