2019 RUNNING RECAP

This post won't be very useful, because most of my limited blog posts are race recaps, but it will be fun to look back at the year with an eye toward 2020.

I started off this year really having a hard time staying motivated. I called it my "hibernation" mode, but I wasn't exactly totally hibernating and not running. Basically I became a big baby about the cold and the dark and started running in the gym a bunch. I'd go to the gym, set the treadmill at 6.0mph (10:00/mi) and run for forty minutes. I'd do that twice a week on the weekdays, then do a run on the weekend. Sometimes it was ten miles, many times it was only 6 or 8.

Long story short, I lost a LOT of fitness over the winter despite running three days a week. Basically any speed I had was gone. This was pretty apparent when I ran a 1:56 in Miami just four months after a 1:42 in Boring. It wasn't even like I could blame the hot weather all that much either. It was kind of a wake up call for me... I wouldn't be able to just kick it hard for a couple runs and be magically back into shape, I'd have to do some real work again.

That being said, I still was being a baby and didn't have the greatest February or March. I tried to kick my pace up a little in the weeks leading up to Shamrock but didn't really do any actual speedwork minus one progression run. I thought for sure I'd end up getting a PW at Shamrock, but much to my surprise, I ran WAY better than expected that day and ending up beating my time from 2018. Which isn't saying much given I was only a few months back into serious running in 2018 after my hiatus, but still, it was enough to light a little fire and give me some positive momentum toward training season.

The fire was pretty light though. Before I knew it I was hosting a friend and running the Bridge to Brews 10k. I barely got my goal of under 8:00/mi with a 7:59 there, but hey, it counts. The main issue was I still wasn't doing any speedwork. While I was seeing minor improvement from somewhat more consistent long runs and slightly faster easy runs, deep down I knew I needed to do actual speedwork if I wanted to see real improvement and give myself a chance to beat my MCM time.

Finally, toward the end of May, I started to add tempo runs and other speed work once a week. It was something I was planning to do since January, but it took not cold and not dark outside before I mustered the resolve to do it. Better late than never. I started my serious training with an eye toward the Portland Marathon in the fall. Four runs a week, one speedwork, and then a long run every weekend. I saw results, posting a 1:43 at the Independence Day Half. I had gotten a 1:47 the year before, so I was hoping I was ahead of where I was last year.

Unlike 2018, I did not have another race to gauge my progress before the marathon. However, once I started officially training I was VERY good about hitting all my runs. You cannot cheat a marathon training plan and hope to achieve the results you want. So I hit all the runs as prescribed, including all the speedwork. I could feel myself getting into better shape, and while I didn't have another race to make sure, going into the Portland Marathon I felt confident I could beat last year. And I did. A hard summer of training paid off!

Since the marathon, it has been back to the "blahs." I am running three times a week, twice on the weekdays and then the long run on the weekend. My goal this winter is to not lose as much shape as I did last winter, so I need to consistently do a long run (check so far) and one speed workout most weeks (check-ish so far). I ran the hilly Give n' Gobble 10k at 7:46 pace, so I feel okay about my current shape. If I can get to Miami in early February and run a 1:4X, I'll be in a good spot to see continued improvement in 2020. So my focus at the moment is to just keep hitting at least three runs a week... easy, speed, and long.

Cheers to a successful 2020!

2019 GIVE N' GOBBLE 10K RACE RECAP

The start of the 5k/10k run (Looked through the 100+ photos and could not find one of me).

The wake up call for the Give N' Gobble wasn't too painful as the race started at 9:00am. Hooray for reasonable start times! I left my house about 8 and was there with plenty of time to spare. As usual, I parked and the nearby church and trekked into Sherwood High School, probably a 10 minute walk. It was surprisingly cold, just about freezing. After grabbing my bib, I walked back to the car and hung out until 8:45 or so.

On the way to the start line I did a few periods of sprinting and jogging to warm up. The older I get the more important these warm ups are for these shorter distances. The 5k walkers actually went out first at 9 and had a different course than the 5k/10k runners. I found a patch of sun and stood there trying to stay warm while they lined up and left, then joined the chute near the front once it was the runners' turn. Our race got off on time at 9:05.

MILE ONE (7:31)

Okay, this might have been a little fast, especially given that, while rolling, this mile trended upward 50 feet. It felt like the correct pace though, so I wasn't too concerned. Probably a little race day adrenaline that quickly faded. As mentioned in the preview, this course doesn't have very many flat spots, and this mile is no different. However, there are no hateful hills on this stretch and it is all manageable, especially when you are fresh.

MILE TWO (7:44)

My pace settled into something more realistic. Again, rolling hills, although this mile is more downhill than most, giving back the exact 50 feet you climbed in the first mile. My beanie was removed and placed in my pocket early on during this stretch... despite the cold you warm up pretty quick when you are doing a 10k effort! Still felt relatively good here, legs were responding nicely and if anything at this point my cardio was holding me back. Just kept trying to clock good times until the dreaded uphill of mile five.

MILE THREE (7:56)

This mile is essentially a net zero in the elevation department, however, there are a couple of nasty steep uphills. I think that was more responsible for my mile time then actually getting tired or whatever. This is also a straight shot on a country road, having left the suburbs toward the end of the last mile. I was just settled in my rhythm and trying to hit that. I left my watch on the main stats screen, so I had no feedback on current pace or current mile pace. Just running by feel at this point and still feeling good.

MILE FOUR (7:49)

Last chance to make hay before hitting the uphills of Sunset Boulevard. Still in my rhythm. It was a hard effort, definitely a full out 10k race pace. In this mile I could feel my limiting factor switch from cardio to legs though. Not so springy and fresh anymore! I was able to keep pace but was a little concerned on how they would react to the hill based on my hard effort to this point. A couple of turns in this mile as we exited the farmland and went back into suburbia.

MILE FIVE (8:14)

This was the real test! Honestly, it wasn't quite as bad as I remembered. All told, there is about 100 feet of elevation gain in this mile and for the most part it is pretty gradual. So while my pace did slow down, it wasn't significantly slower like you see in the Shamrock Run or another race with a real bear of a hill. When my watch beeped with the mile time I was quite pleased as I knew I had built up more than enough of a cushion to finish under 8:00/mile barring a complete disaster the last mile. The hill definitely tired me out a bit, both legs and lungs screaming at this point, but I could do another mile no problem.

MILE SIX (8:01)

Afterward with traditional outfit and photo!

I was hoping to go under 8:00/mi on this final rolling downhill mile, but I guess it wasn't in the cards. As usual I just concentrated on my effort and ignored the watch. This part of the race is tricky because there is a lot of weaving around walkers and slower 5k runners and the paths definitely are not flat. With the finish line in sight though, it was easy to stay motivated and keep pushing knowing relief was within sight.

FINISH LINE

Before I knew it I could hear the finish line and the high school was in sight. My pace this final chunk of the race was 7:25, so I still had a little left in the tank. I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch... 48:10. Nice! 7:46/mi average, about twenty seconds faster than I was expecting.

After regaining my senses I wandered over to the snack table and get some water and a donut hole. After that, it was back home into a hot bath. Definitely earned my Thanksgiving dinner later that day!

Official Results: 48:10, 7:46/mi. 46/285 overall, 30/125 male, 3/11 M30-34.

Technically a podium finish (my first as a 30+ year old? Maybe) but they don't do age group awards.

2019 GIVE N' GOBBLE RACE PREVIEW

Course has not changed since my first time in 2013.

Well, I never got around to doing a reflections post about the Portland Marathon. My bad. Maybe I'll do a post about that in the upcoming winter lull. Maybe not. Anyways, after the Portland Marathon I took an entire week off and then ran sparingly the next two weeks. I wanted to give my body more time to recover than I did last year. Did it work? Eh. It still took probably a month before my legs even felt like they might be back to their normal "spring."

Regardless, I have been back running regularly for a few weeks now. Two weekday runs of at least four miles and then ten on the weekends. The usual off season stuff. My goal this year is to do at least one speed run during those weekday runs. Last winter all I did was easy runs and I feel like I lost a lot of speed. So I'm going to try to slow down the speed loss this year. In addition to speedwork, a good way to keep up your speed is doing races. And in that spirit, I will once again be doing the Give n' Gobble 10k in Sherwood this Thanksgiving. I also did it back in 2013 and 2017.

Am I ready for a 10k? Sure, why not. I don't think I'll be particularly fast. In fact, I think I'm going to be slower than the Bridge to Brews 10k earlier this year (7:59/mi). This course is tough... very hilly and very little flat ground. It never really allows you to "settle" into a nice 10k pace, you're either huffing up a hill, or trying to catch your breath on the way back down. A good comparison will be my performance in 2017 when I ran it at 8:24/mile. My legs were definitely fresher back then, but I should be faster now. I'm expecting something in between that pace an the Bridge to Brews pace.

My plan is to not stare at my watch and just go with what feels right for a 10k. On a flat course, I think that would be something like 7:50/mi. However, on this course, I think it will be in the low 8s. We'll see on race day. My legs don't feel super fresh; again it has been a slog back from the marathon, although better this year than last year. We'll see what happens. I'll have to make sure to take advantage of the downhills while I can, although that can be hard on this course. Most the ups and downs aren't sustained for very long, so by the time you have caught your breath on the downhill it goes back up again.

Anyways, it will still be fun to get out there and run a race and see what happens. We can do some apples to apples comparisons between 2013 (7:14/mi!) and 2017. Whatever pace I get, I think you can subtract about 15 seconds a mile and that would be my "flat" 10k pace. The weather looks good so it'll fun to just get out there and race something shorter. Then, a mere ten days later, I will be lining up for the Holiday Half again. So it'll be a busy two weeks of races and then probably nothing until the Miami Half Marathon in early February.

2019 PORTLAND MARATHON RACE REPORT

With Katie before the start of the race! This was right before heading toward the start line, about 6:45am.

Another fall, another marathon. Five months of training all led to Sunday morning. While it was nice to have "home bed advantage" this year, I wasn't able to take advantage of it. I did get a good night of sleep on Friday night, about nine hours, so the three I got the night before the marathon didn't hurt me too much. Just tossing and turning with anxiety and nerves again. I sleep like a log before any lesser race distance, so it just goes to show you what I think about the challenge of a full marathon.

Very early on in downtown.

My alarm went off at 5am. My goal was to leave the house around 5:45 and be downtown by shortly after 6:00 as the race kicked off at 7:10. So despite my lack of sleep, I popped up and got dressed. I had a cup of coffee and bagel and cream cheese, my traditional marathon morning meal. I was also able to go to the bathroom a little, not a lot, but enough to make me feel good about that not being an issue during the race. I actually got out of the house on time and headed downtown.

Getting downtown was a breeze at that time of day and I ended up parking in my trusty SmartPark garage. It was only a few blocks to the starting area. I had some time to kill but it was nice not to be in a rush. I used a bathroom without having to wait in line and then met Katie near the bag check. We chatted for a bit, but I didn't want to get stuck back in the chute, so about 6:45 I peeled off my clothes and headed to the start line. They had big banners displaying different speeds and you were supposed to self seed. Makes sense for a race this size and I was easily able to line up near a 3:40 marathon pace.

MILES 1-7: NORTHWEST & THE ROSE QUARTER (8:13, 8:12, 8:44, 8:05, 8:09, 8:40, 8:22)

It was about 45 degrees with the race kicked off but I was never really cold and the weather was honestly just about perfect! There was basically no wind so it was very comfortable. I accidentally left my beanie on, I meant to take that off at the bag check, so I almost immediately had to put that in my pocket and carried it 26 miles. My gloves lasted about six miles before they too were in my pocket. It wasn't long before the sleeves on my long sleeve shirt were rolled up too.

Coming back from the Moda Center.

The chute actually went really well. People seemed to seed themselves appropriately and it wasn't ridiculously busy like the Marine Corp Marathon. I never had trouble hitting whatever pace I was trying for. I ended up staying with the 3:40 pacer and just following their lead. While their goal pace was 8:23/mile, they were going a little fast. Not terrible though, they have to have some cushion due to not running a perfect course. In retrospect, it might have been a little fast, but nothing too drastic.

The 8:44 mile was the climb up Burnside. It wasn't too bad, pretty similar to the start of the MCM last year, or the early hill on the old Portland Marathon course. The problem with this race though... it wasn't the first of one or two hills, it was the first of MANY hills. The 8:40 mile was the hill to get over the Broadway Bridge over to the Moda Center. Some good sights on the route. I have seen all of this a million times, but if you were from out of town it is a really great course for seeing the various parts of the city.

So how was I feeling after the hilly jaunt through Northwest and the Rose Quarter? Eh, not great. The pace felt easy, which was good, but my chest was tight, like I was about to have a side stitch. I think it was just nerves that took a long time to go away, but it was uncomfortable and annoying because my cardio wasn't labored at all. My legs felt great but it wasn't as comfortable as I was hoping due to the tightness in my chest. The atmosphere of the race was great though and the 3:40 pacers were nice and chatty.

MILES 8-13: GOOD STRETCH OVER THE SELLWOOD (8:14, 8:39, 7:57, 8:25, 8:15, 8:50)

My cardio finally relaxed and felt good about mile eight or so. Unfortunately, this part of the race was just about the only part where I was feeling good. After coming back across the Broadway Bridge from the Moda Center we headed south toward Macadam Avenue. This included a nice downhill mile where I was able to clock a 7:57. Again, probably too fast. I was sticking with the 3:40 pace in the hopes I could hang with them for a good while before slowly drifting back

Coming across the Sellwood Bridge.

I ate my first pack of Shot Bloks at mile six near the Moda Center, and then another pack once I had crested the Sellwood Bridge. By the way, that 8:50 mile was the hill up to the bridge. The amount of hills in the first half of the race was a little surprising. I knew there would be hills based on the elevation chart, but I was kind of hoping they would be the type of hill that looked big but you would barely notice them during the race. Unfortunately, all of these hills were noticeable. None of them were bad, but they added up.

This part of the race down to Macadam was probably the last scenic of the entire run but it still beat the pants off of a lot of the old course. Once to the Sellwood Bridge and into Sellwood though the sights were pretty good. As mentioned, I ate a pack of gummies at the top of the bridge, so when I swung into the neighborhoods and met Vincent around mile 13, I already had a lot of sugar in my belly.

It was at this point I made a bad mistake. Vincent had brought me KitKats as a treat and he offered me one as soon as I saw him. It sounded good, so I ate it. I then swigged some of the Gatorade he brought for me. Too much sugar. My belly almost immediately started to hurt. As I crossed the half marathon mark in 1:50:18, my stomach was in a lot of discomfort. I was hoping a few burps would get rid of it, but unfortunately the rest of the race I would be struggling with a touchy tummy.

MILES 14-20: WANTING TO RALPH NEAR REED (8:13, 8:29, 8:51, 8:53, 8:47, 8:57, 8:49)

I was able to keep pace for one more mile (I think this included some downhill) before I started to succumb to the problems in my stomach. I have no idea how much further I would have lasted if my stomach wasn't bothering me though. The first half was a lot hillier than I expected and I could feel it starting to wear on my legs. They still felt fine, but I could tell the miles and elevation were starting to take a small bit of the spring out of my step. While the new Portland Marathon doesn't have a monster hill, the many smaller hills do add up.

Eating the ill-fated Kit Kat.

As you can see, my times quickly slipped into the high 8s. At this point I knew I had started too fast and had some time banked, so the goal was to just stay under 9 as long as I possibly could. My stomach was really bothersome though. I was burping to no avail and I would let out terrible sounding greats as the indigestion would rise in my throat. Not fun! The slowdown here really wasn't due to my legs or my cardio, it was trying to keep my stomach at bay. The faster I ran the more uncomfortable it was, so I was just trying to ride the line between speed and not blowing chunks.

This part of the course is really scenic though. The hilliest part of the second half, but good sights and good crowd support. There is a nice, long portion of this part of the race where runners are running opposite directions on a tree lined avenue. That was fun because I was able to spot a couple of people faster and slower than me depending on where I was. At the top of this "lollipop" portion was a loop around Reed College, which I had never actually been to. Really pretty campus, but one of the steepest hills in the race somewhere along here. Overall though the sights were a nice distraction from everything else.

At the beginning of the race I was drinking two cups at each aid station, one water and one Nuun electrolyte drink. After the stomach issues around halfway, it took everything I had just to drink one water at each station. I was DREADING the water stations (weird flip of the normal script) because I knew I had to splash water into my stomach which was making it hurt even more. However, I knew I needed to keep my fluids up, so I powered through it. I did NOT eat at mile 18 as planned though. Just couldn't bring myself to do it. Was hoping the two packs of gummies and single fun sized KitKat would be enough.

MILES 21-26.2: GRINDING TO THE FINISH (9:17, 9:06, 9:20, 9:25, 9:28, 8:57)

One of the larger hills on the backside resulted in my first mile time above 9. I was hoping to bring the next one in below 9 and try to keep that trend going, but as you can see, it didn't work. At point point my legs were definitely starting to tire. So I think without the stomach issues I could have made it to mile 21 or so before really slowing down. About par for the course. Overall the stomach thing maybe cost me 2 or 3 minutes, nothing huge.

You could say I was ready to be done.

I was just in survival mode at this point. I wasn't in any pain or anything, I was just tired with a stomachache. Honestly this was the best my legs have ever felt in the final stretch of a marathon. While they were worn down and I was exhausted, they weren't screaming at me like most years. My feet, while a little sore, weren't too bad, unlike the MCM last year. So all told I was in pretty decent shape and I knew I could finish without walking a step, so that became my new goal. I wasn't certain if I would be able to finish below 3:50, but I knew I could beat last year and run the thing in.

While it was a little risky, I did starting drinking the Nuun again. I went to wipe my face and it was covered in dried salt and I figured I should give it a try before I cramped. My stomach felt a little better at this point and I was able to get it down. Vincent kept trying to convince me to eat something and I kept rejecting him, but around mile 24 I did decide to eat one of his SIS gels. It went down okay and gave me a little boost. The 3:50 pacer passed me around this time as well, which was kind of a downer. I looked at my watch though and was still on pace to beat 3:50, so I figured she was running a little fast. If I could keep her in sight, I should still get below 3:50.

Finally we crossed back over the Burnside Bridge and into downtown for the final mile or so. At this point I was feeling pretty good. Knowing you are almost done in a marathon is a great feeling. Alejandro surprised me by showing up and running along side me for the final mile or so along the other side of the barricade. The 3:50 pacer was still in my sights, probably only 50 feet ahead of me. After some urging from Vincent and Alejandro, and initial rejections from me, I decided to pass her. I like out a primal grunt ("aaaagggggGGGHHHHH") and started to kick. Surprisingly my legs felt good. The 26th mile was below 9 and that final quarter mile or so was probably in the low 8s! Felt good to finish strong.

FINISH AND THE AFTER PARTY

Feeling decent and pretty proud!

I tried to recreate the "airplane" finish from my first Portland Marathon for the rebirth of the new course and failed miserably. In fact, just about every photo from the race has me looking miserable. There is a not a SINGLE good picture in the lot. And they are free! Ugh. Anyways, crossing a marathon finish line is an amazing feeling! Based on the clock, I got a 3:48 something, exactly what I was expecting the last few miles based on my calculations. I tried to soak in the accomplishment before wallowing in the sure to come pain.

My legs were the best they have ever felt after a marathon. Even better than last year I think. So that's very encouraging! They hurt a little, but I could easily walk around and I didn't have the overwhelming need to sit. I was able to get through the "chute" area and out to meet Vincent without much hassle. Although I did sit down for about two minutes just to keep that tradition going. But I was able to stand up and get going again no problem.

After meeting Vincent, we found a place were I could sit down and try to eat some of the food I collected. I managed to choke down a banana but that was it. I'm never hungry right after a marathon and with my stomach the way it was, food was extra unappealing. In fact, I didn't actually get hungry until 4 that afternoon. And boy did I get hungry. I must have ate 3,000 calories and I still wasn't satisfied. Don't know why I am never hungry after a marathon but I never am. Didn't even drink my beer. Don't think I've ever drank my beer after a full.

Anyways, all told, a very successful race and training cycle! I'll have some more reflections about that coming up, but I need to get this entry over with already and posted.

OFFICIAL CHIP TIME: 3:48:14, 8:42/mile. 470/2115 overall, 365/1268 male, 69/217 M30-34.

2019 PORTLAND MARATHON RACE PREVIEW

Last Portland finish. 2015 with Alejandro and Glenn.

Well, I can't quite believe it, but the Portland Marathon starts bright and early tomorrow morning. Yikes! The anticipation for a full marathon is very unique... I do not freak out and get anxious about any other race distance, but every time I think about an upcoming marathon I start getting the cold sweats. For good reason though - marathons are hard! However, I just have to remind myself I have done them before and I can do it again. It might suck for about an hour, but that's it.

Weather still looks perfect, basically unchanged since the last update! Really lucked out with that one. It's going to be a bit chilly at the start, about 45, so I'll probably end up wearing a long sleeve t-shirt. I won't be wearing shorts with pockets due to an anti-chaffing measure, so I think I'll skip a beanie and gloves. The beanie would get ditched within the first mile anyways, and looking at the Marine Corp Marathon last year, I didn't wear my gloves for very long in similar weather. So I should be good once the race starts... maybe just a little chilly waiting.

The course itself is going to be a surprise. The Portland Marathon Clinic previewed the first half during one of their reunion runs, and then my other group previewed the second half during one of their runs. And I missed both - d'oh! Regardless, I have familiarized myself with the course a little bit, just so I am not surprised by unexpected hills or something. But the sights themselves and the neighborhoods should mostly be a surprise. Hopefully that will be a nice distraction, unlike the 2015 & 2016 Portland Marathons when I knew the course like the back of my hand.

The new course! Like spaghetti!

Much like the MCM last year, there is an uphill almost instantly. It looks to be about 150 feet in the course of a mile and a half, so about the same. Like last year, shouldn't be an issue that early. After that there is a decent uphill to the Broadway bridge starting about mile 5. After looping around the Rose Quarter, it is back downtown and heading south toward the Sellwood Bridge on Macadam. Some more uphill here, about 120 feet in two miles.  And then another 80 feet or so to climb up the bridge. Once crossing into the Sellwood neighborhood we'll hit the half marathon mark.

The difference between the MCM last year and the Portland Marathon this year will be those hills. All minor in the normal course of things, but with fatigue building they will present a challenge. I wish I could say the second half was significantly less hilly, but I can't. It is less hilly, but not by much. We go through Sellwood, loop through Reed College (hill!) and then head north toward OMSI. Luckily the hills after mile 20 are minor, so that's good at least. No climb over 50 feet. After wandering around the eastside, we cross the Burnside Bridge and head back downtown on Naito to the finish!

Overall, the course will be challenging because of those multiple hill climbs and the number of turns. It is going to be very hard to run a good tangent during this race. I have to be very mindful of that so I don't end up running 26.7 miles. While the course is definitely more scenic than the previous Portland Marathon, it is NOT faster. How much slower is it? I don't know. But I think at least a few minutes slower. So a 3:47 here might have translated to a 3:43 on the old course. Hard to tell though.

Elevation chart. At least 7 or 8 noticeable climbs.

As for my pacing strategy, I plan to start out targeting miles between 8:20 and 8:25. I need to average 8:34 to hit my "A+" goal, but that's assuming a perfect course. I have to assume I'll run something like 26.5 miles, which means the pace on my watch won't be accurate for the final race results. Last year my official pace was 8:59 enough though my watch said 8:52. So I need to plan for that, plus the eventual slowdown toward the end. If I run a course of 26.5 miles, I need to average 8:29 on my watch. Averaging 8:23 over the first twenty miles or so won't give me a ton of wiggle room at the end, it'll have to be a perfect day. Any faster though and I have no shot.

So that's that! I am ready, I did the training, so now I just have to go out and execute. I even practiced the pace of 8:25 a couple of times, so I should instinctively be able to lock in. My watch pace will probably bounce all over the place with all the turns and buildings, so I'll have to call on that "feeling" when I know my watch is being a liar. Oh, and same refueling strategy as last year... half water, half sports drink with an entire pack of gummies every 6 miles.

GOALS:

"A+" Goal: Under 3:45. I'm having an A+ goal this year. It is what I am going to try to hit assuming everything goes right. This would take doing the first 20 miles at 8:25 pace and then finishing out the rest all below 8:50 average. This will take the perfect race for me. While I will set out to achieve this, I won't be bummed if I don't hit it.

"A" Goal: Under 3:50. I would really like a 3:4X time. I feel like that is the next "step" from my 3:55. I'd be super, super happy with this time. It would feel wrong to make this my "B" goal given how happy I would be with it.

"B" Goal: Under 3:55:54. Beat last year. Show improvement. After a good training cycle and speedwork almost every week, I need to beat last year. I could be satisfied with this.

"C" Goal: Under 4:00. Barring an injury or extreme cramping or something, I need to be below 4:00. Still about a 9:00/mile pace, nothing to sneeze at. Will be bummed not to beat last year, but this is a tougher course and it might just not have been my day.

THREE DAYS TO GO

I cannot believe how fast the Portland Marathon is barreling toward me. It feels like this week just started and it's already Thursday. Ahh!

Good news on the weather front, it is holding out. Still looks great! The temperature for the morning has ticked down some, now estimated at 45 when the race starts... a little cold but not a big deal. The chance of it raining at all has decreased a lot, now down to 3%. So basically it should be clear and crisp. Can't ask for much more!

My next post will be a preview of the race with my goals. I ran my final two runs on Monday and Tuesday, they went great, no issues. Should feel nice and fresh for race day! Haven't done a great job with my sleep schedule... I've been getting to bed a little earlier, but still sleeping in until the same time, so I don't know if that helps or not.

The expo is only on Saturday, which is kind of annoying. I liked to go on Friday and avoid the crowds, but no option of that this year. I've also learned there will be no corrals; we are supposed to line up accordingly based on our time. Which would be a great idea if people actually lined up at the right speed. So it might be a frustrating first mile or two, but this race shouldn't be too large, a couple of thousand maybe, so unlike the Marine Corp Marathon, I should be able to hit target pace pretty quick.

A WEEK AWAY FROM PORTLAND 2019

Alright, now that we are only a week out, things start to get interesting! I start freaking out at random moments of the day, I can furiously F5 the weather forecast, I can over-analyze my morning approach, etc. Good times.

Just a quick post today, but I wanted to reflect back on my September. I felt good, I hit all my runs, and when it was all totaled up, it was my second most miles EVER. I was very surprised at that fact! I had definitely hit two 20 milers in a month before and it only had four Saturdays (aka long runs) so it wasn't like it was a weird coincidence of circumstance. Nope, I just ran a lot (for me) and held myself accountable. So that was pretty cool to see, thinking back about 2014 when I was really serious about things and being right in that ballpark, albeit slower. You can also see my highest month last year, some twenty miles less.

We are also well within ten days of the race now, so it is time to weather stalk. And for NOW, the weather looks awesome. Knock on wood. I always look at the day before and the day after, because things tend to shift earlier/later and right now, both those days look pretty good as well. So right now it's looking very promising. The expected high right now at 11am is 60 degrees, which isn't bad. It also should be partly cloudy, so hopefully the direct sun won't be blasting in my face.

Click here if you want to stalk me on Sunday morning and watch my inevitable spectacular collapse!

The plan this week is pretty simple. Five easy on Monday, four easy on Tuesday, and then that's it until the race! I always love tapering! Some runners hate it and feel an itch to go out and run... not me. I will gladly sit on my ass and do nothing for a week. Vital to my training you say? Well, probably shouldn't even go get the mail then. Don't want to stress myself out.

One other thing I need to do this week is get into a better sleep schedule. I was able to do it last year to adjust to east coast time, but it is hard to do without a time zone change looming. However, I've been falling asleep around 1am recently and that is NOT going to work for this race. Knowing me, I'll be up later than that because of the nerves before the race. I'd like to get at least five or six hours of sleep and I'll probably need to wake up around 5am.

Anyways, that's the update for now!

AUGUST RECAP & TWO TWENTIES

At the top of Mount Tabor during my 2nd 20 mile run of the training cycle. No watch? No problem!

Yikes, has it really been more than a month since I lasted updated? My bad!

Training has been going really well! August wasn't the ideal month of training for me, but that was planned and anticipated. I was out of town for three of the five Saturdays, which complicated my long runs. So after doing that first twenty miler I wrote about in the previous post, my "long" runs went like this:  12, 6, 18, 16. Not the best!

However, I did do 141 miles in August, which was the most out of any month so far. So it all wasn't for nothing. I was very good about hitting all my runs. I even did 42 miles on my 8 day vacation, including that 18 miler. So honestly, I did pretty well given the scheduling challenges August presented! I even got my speedwork in every week as scheduled.

My route two days ago for 20.

The real test was when I settled back into the normal groove in September, would my "distance" legs still be there? Well, I did twenty milers the last two weekends and I have to say that question is answered with a resounding "yes!" Both of those twenty milers felt GREAT. They were no sweat! Frankly I couldn't quite believe how well they went.

The first one, on September 7th, I was a little iffy about. I hadn't run twenty in over a month, so it was going to tell me a lot about if August's schedule was going to affect me in any way. In what might have been a blessing in disguise, I forgot my watch that morning! Ahhh! Damn you 6:45am brain. However, this was actually quite liberating! Ignorance is bliss! I could just tell myself what I wanted to hear ("oh, this is mile 11, only 9 left" ... when in reality it was mile 8). Honestly the run flew by without a hitch and each time I got a distance update I was surprised we were that far. I finished this run no problem feeling spunky.

And then this last weekend, two days ago, I made myself do another twenty. With the marathon three weeks out (yikes!) this would be my third and final one. I had a compressed time frame due to the OSU football game, so I got to Sunstone at 6:50am and ran seven miles before the normal 8am start. I then ran ten miles with the group. That flew by! Before I knew it I was 17 miles in. I felt great too! My final three miles were something like 9:45, 9:30, 9:15. I've never finished a twenty mile run feeling that spunky. I honestly feel I could have done 23 before having any real issues.

Overall, I feel very confident about my marathon shape. The last four weeks I have ran 36, 36, 39, and 40 miles. I realize that is not a lot to "serious" marathon runners, but for me, that is a significant amount. For my goal, namely to give myself a chance to finish without walking, that is where I need to be. And my legs feel good. My knees feel awesome. I never felt this good before psoriatic arthritis. As I've said before, I definitely think I had it at a low level for years before it flared badly.

So that's the update! I'll try to update again at some point this month before the marathon is right around the corner. Overall, I am feeling good and hitting my runs as scheduled.

FIRST TWENTY IN TWENTY NINETEEN

Classic waterfront loop and Springwater spur.

Things continue to tick along successfully. Last weekend I completed my first twenty mile run of the training cycle. That is always a milestone, although each training cycle it seems to become less of one. It's been encouraging just how painless the transition back into marathon form has been. I lost a lot while unmotivated this last winter, yet I am back and hopefully on pace to improve on my time from last year. Gotta keep on track and not blow up marathon day.

As I mentioned, last weekend was my first twenty mile run of the training cycle. The group I am training with was only planning nineteen, they hadn't hit twenty yet, but I got there 10 minutes early to run an extra mile. That meant a 6:35am wake up call. Ugh. Anyways, it was relatively painless. However, in the fog of morning brain I put on my everyday shoes instead of my running shoes. Yikes! Now, these everyday shoes are retired running shoes, but they have 440 miles on them (460 now) and are DEAD in terms of running support. So I noticed that a few miles in.

Also, I am part of an indoor soccer league and we have games on Friday nights. This has been an obstacle all training cycle and I think in the long run it'll actually be a net positive. My legs being just a little more tired from a half hour of soccer the night before should make these long runs that much more effective. We'll see. Anyways, couple those already a bit tired legs with dead shoes on the hottest long run morning so far, and you have the recipe for a bad run.

Honestly though, the run wasn't bad! My legs were a little more tired and achy than usual due the shoes and I started feeling the miles earlier in the run as well. However, I was able to finish without too much of a problem and felt like normal later that day and the next day. So no harm done. The weather was warm, hot even, but manageable. I have never been one to complain about the heat. Worst it can get if you start at a reasonable hour is high 70s or low 80s by the end. Just hydrate and enjoy the extra training effect.

The worst part of the run was MAJOR chaffing in the inner thigh area. Right where the "briefs" in my shorts have their seams. This was the worst chaffing I have ever experienced. It was brutal. I wished death upon myself in the shower after the run. My legs are still red today, five days later. Chaffing has been more of an issue this time around. It never used to be a problem, but I've had some low level stuff and this run just exploded things. I'm going to have to completely rethink my long run lubrication strategy.

Lastly, I'll talk about the interval run I did last night. I'm just kind of making my speed workouts up as I go along. So last night I decided to do 4 x 1 mile with some warm up and warm down to hit six miles on the night. I've never done a workout like this before, so I was interested to see how it went. My goal was to go below 7:30 on each interval and I was able to do that. 7:17, 7:06, 7:14, 7:09. It was actually kind of fun! I walked a quarter mile between each one for rest. Afterward, my body felt great and I surprised myself at how fast I was able to do them. Also can't believe I ran a 5k at 6:35/mi at one point.

Anyways, it is back to Roseburg for camping this weekend. Last time I went I couldn't bring myself to run because I felt like trash after sleeping on the ground. So I am going to run 12 miles tonight instead. That'll be my long run this week, and then I'll fit in another 6 when I get back on Sunday evening.

FIRST FARTLEK IN FIVE YEARS (PLUS OTHER SPEEDWORK)

Time for some updates on what has been happening since my relatively successful race on the Fourth of July. Marathon training is ticking along pretty well! I did end up skipping my long run last weekend. I had planned for a down week (11 miles) because of going to the Umpqua River to camp for a mini-vacation. While there, I just could not bring myself to run. Eff that. So, I ran six miles Sunday night when I got home and called it good. I'll hit 18 this weekend as planned and we'll be back on track.

6 x 800m Intervals on 7/11
I did this workout exactly one week after the Independence Day Half Marathon as my speed workout for the week. Unlike my 400s, I wasn't quite as fast as back in the day, but I was pretty close, only a couple seconds off each interval.

They went as follows: 3:23.1, 3:24.7, 3:24.1, 3:27.2, 3:25.9, 3:25.1. That's an average between 6:46/mi and 6:54/mi. I used to do these between 6:30 and 6:45. So not quite as quick, but in the ballpark. I definitely gave these my all given I had to do 6 of them and pace myself appropriately, so all told it was a pretty good workout.

6mi Tempo Run on 7/18
The next week I decided to do a tempo run. I think I'll be alternating between tempo runs and an interval type workout each week. This tempo run went off pretty well. I did my "home loop," which makes for a difficult tempo course because of over 400 feet of elevation gain over the course of six miles. Now, you get some downhills too, but those are typically after you've hoofed it uphill and thus can't take full advantage.

Anyways, I averaged 7:45/mile, which was pretty good! It was a really difficult workout and I definitely wasn't slacking on the pace. I think on a flat course that is equivalent to about 7:30 or so, which is a pretty decent speed and about where I would expect to be given my recent half time. As long as I keep running tempos on the course they will be apples to apples comparisons. Hopefully by the end of the cycle maybe I can do one at 7:30 despite the hills?

5.5mi Fartlek Run 7/24
Turns out this was my first fartlek since February of 2014. 2014! Crazy. I really didn't plan on doing this until a few hours before the run. I knew I needed to do some sort of speedwork but I couldn't decide what. For whatever reason a fartlek sounded "fun" so that's what I did. Gotta mix the speedwork up! So off I went for a slightly abridged version of my home loop.

So, it turns out fartleks, when done properly, are really hard! Holy hell! This thing was as hard as my famous pyramid interval. The "intervals" were anywhere from 150m to 1400m. It ended up being a really good variety of shorter and long intervals. At one point I did 320m at 5:30ish pace. I tried to time it so most of my "rests" were the uphill portions. That seemed to work pretty well but it also meant my rests weren't as restful as they could have been. Definitely wore out a little toward the end.

Overall I think this was the most difficult speed workout I've had in years. I was breathing hard for over five minutes after the run was over. I could not have gone any longer, I really gave it my all. Once I came back to reality though I felt pretty good. That is the kind of workout that results in measurable gains. Overall I averaged 7:57/mi, and that includes the rest periods!

My paces during the farlek run a few night ago.

2019 INDEPENDENCE DAY HALF MARATHON RACE REPORT

At the finish!

Year two of the Independence Day Half at Champoeg Park started at 6:45 with my alarm blaring. Unlike last year, I wasn't second guessing my decision to wake up early on a holiday and run my butt off. I was excited to see where I was with my training. It would give me a good baseline for my current fitness level and inform me for the second half of my marathon training.

Breakfast was a Clif bar and a cup of coffee. I've been doing a cup of coffee before my longs runs as well and it seems to really help out. Luckily I was able to "go" this time around at my house and didn't spend the whole run with a slightly rumbly tummy. Getting there was a breeze traffic wise and I parked my car with about a half hour until gun time. I had picked my bib up the day before, so there was nothing to do but wander to the start line and wait.

THE FIRST 10K (7:36, 7:59, 7:52, 7:58, 8:03, 7:50)

I ran into a couple people I knew at the start line, so that was fun to chat with them and pass time until the race started. Eventually I wandered toward the front of the chute and before I knew it the race was off! For whatever reason I wasn't a ball of nerves, I think this time around I was much more sure in my abilities compared to last year. I had to weave around some people at the beginning but nothing too hateful. Within the first quarter mile or so I was in a pocket of people going just about the same speed.

The split times you'll see aren't necessarily accurate. For example, that 7:59... that was not my mile time. It was more like 7:45. This course has some twists and turns in the forest, and when you couple that with all the trees, sometimes the splits aren't quite accurate. Some probably are... the 7:58 is the turnaround with the hill and I can totally believe that time. 8:03 on that next mile though? No way. I was being very steady all all these miles were in the 7:50 range. I was keeping tracking of how far off the mile markers were, so when it said I was running 8:03 but only recorded .96 between the mile markers, I knew not to panic.

Luckily I do have a pretty good sense of pacing so I relied on that a lot since this course just isn't the best in terms of accurate GPS results. It's not terrible, far better than being in a big city with buildings, but just not the best. Anyways, for this first half I was running my target of 7:50s and feeling pretty good. It felt like the correct half marathon pace... you never really know until the later miles if that is true, but I was feeling pretty good about things. If I could just complete the first lap at 7:50ish, then I only needed to average 8:05ish on the next one to stay under 8:00/mile, which was my ultimate goal.

THE SECOND 10K PLUS (7:50, 8:14, 8:02, 8:19, 8:13, 8:16, 8:06)

Again, these splits don't really tell the whole story. I did not run an 8:14 8th mile. That was more like 8:00... again, it missed a lot of back and forth in one area like the lap before. I did slow down though. So while the splits might not be correct, they are instructive in that I slowed by about 20 seconds per mile the last four miles or so. Perhaps I went out a little hot.

Sunstone peeps!

Not much to report on this second loop, just trying to hold on. Some of these lap times were concerning when they flashed, but again, I was keeping track of the beeps in relation to the mile markers and adjusting accordingly. Toward the end the average pace on my watch climbed above 8:00/mi (it actually finished at 8:02), however, I knew this was inaccurate and didn't let it deter me. I was going to end about a quarter mile short on my watch, which translated into something like 8/sec mile. Yes, I was doing this math in my head as I ran, it was good distraction!

As with last year, the second loop is extended a little bit to help us hit 13.1, and that extension is basically a giant hill you have to go up and down. So that's the 8:19 mile. By the time I had finished this part I was ready to be done. My legs were officially tired. In terms of the lung/leg debate, it was my legs letting me down. Maybe I would have felt a little better if I wasn't running this in the middle of marathon training. Who knows. All I knew was that I had to grind those last few miles out.

And grind I did. Based on my math, I knew I would finish below 8:00/mile as long as I could finish them out in 8:15 or less. So that's what I focused on. The final part of the course leaves the shade of the trees and it was actually kind of hot with the sun beating down on me. Regardless, I just kept trucking. In a way this part of a race is kind of fun. When you are struggling a bit but just focus and grind it out. Maybe I'm just weird like that.

THE FINISH AND AFTER PARTY

I rolled through the finish and stopped my watch. Probably a shade under 1:44, meaning I was for sure below 8 per mile. Score! My total distance was also something stupid like 12.89 or something. The course wasn't short, my watch was just cheating me, as expected. Anyways, I was tired but not in terrible shape. I was able to walk around and be normal. Exhausted, sure, but feeling very accomplished.

The after party was fun, because unlike last year, I knew a bunch of people there and we were able to hung out and eat our burgers and drink our beers. I didn't check my results until after I got home, but it pretty much confirmed everything I suspected. 7:46 on the first lap (look at my splits again, I told you they weren't accurate) and 8:04 on the second lap. So even better than I thought. Overall a 7:55/mile pace. Sweet! Not quite the 7:49 of Boring last year, but still early enough in the cycle after a really lazy winter.

Official Results: 1:43:58, 7:55/mile. 21/127 overall, 15/61 male, 5/7 M30-34.

INDEPENDENCE DAY HALF MARATHON YEAR TWO

Will I win the race? Answer: no.

Thursday, I am running the Independence Day Half Marathon again at Champoeg Park. I ran this race last year for the first time and generally enjoyed it, so I signed up again for another round. I have not had a dense year of racing, only three races so far, so it'll be good to get out there again. I wanted to sign up for more, but it is hard to fit them into my marathon training schedule without blowing out an entire week.

Since I've built this one into my schedule and want to make sure it counts, I'll be "racing" it. Like last year, running a half during marathon training isn't ideal, but with today and tomorrow off my legs should be in reasonable shape. It will be a good baseline for my fitness after running 1:47:33 a year ago. Obviously, I will want to beat that time at minimum. While my winter was really poor in terms of maintaining my fitness, I do feel like I am a touch faster than last year. So it will be good to run this to the best of my abilities and see how that shakes out.

Weather this year looks pretty decent. It is going to be a sunny day but it should be high 50s when the race kicks off at 8am, and low 60s by the time I finish. The course also has a decent amount of shade, so while not ideal, the weather shouldn't be a factor. The course also isn't the fastest, but also isn't too bad. There are a couple rolling hills and one decent climb on the second loop, but overall these will maybe add a minute or so over a completely flat course. Besides, it will be a good "apples to apples" comparison to last year.

As for an update on training in general... it is going well! I have been very good about my new "easy or fast" distinction, and if I am not doing speedwork, all my runs have basically been truly easy at 9:30 or slower. Last week I did a 5 mile tempo run on a HILLY course and got 7:41/mile overall. I was shocked I was able to do that given the route. Regardless of course, it was my fastest tempo run in training since August 2015. Almost four years! So that was a shot of confidence. I am also able to run my long runs (17 miles last week) without any issue. They don't even really feel hard. So I'm feeling like I'm in a good spot.

I've thought about my goals on Thursday and I basically have two. The first, and most important, is to beat last year. If I don't do that, I am going to be feeling pretty down on myself. So that's the goal at minimum. However, I would also really like to get under 8 minutes a mile. I feel like that is back in me (after losing it over the winter and spring), so that will be my main focus. I'm going to pace myself at 7:50/mile and try to hold onto it as long as possible. I feel like with race day adrenaline I can hold this for at least 8 or 9 miles. We'll see about the final few as it will depend on my how legs feel.

So that's the update! As always, I will post a race report with the results. Really hoping I can get under 8:00/mile. That would put me ahead of last year, and the main goal at Portland will be to beat my time at MCM, so that would mean I'm on track.

FIRST INTERVALS IN NEARLY FOUR YEARS

Oh, hai. Just a quick post about the workout I did last night. I was feeling a bit rickety after my run Monday at PRC. It ended up being just over six miles and I accidentally wore the wrong shoes. Without noticing I put on my "everyday" sneakers, which are a retired pair of Nike Structures with 430 miles on them. Oops. About halfway through the run I was wondering why my legs felt like garbage and I looked down and was like... "Oh, that makes sense."

Anyways, I still felt a little out of sorts yesterday, not bad, but not great. Regardless, I wanted to get my four mile "speed" run this week out of the way. When the Sunstone route came out and it was a journey up the hilliest part of Beaverton, I knew that wasn't a good option for a tempo run. For whatever reason I got a wild hair and started to think about doing intervals on the track at Southridge High. I knew I wanted to vary my speed runs this training cycle, they can't all be four or five mile tempo runs, so I thought this was a perfect opportunity to get some variety in.

This time around I had the right shoes on and after a warm up lap my legs were actually feeling pretty good. So I went for it. The plan was 8 x 400m with 400m rests. A workout I had done numerous times in the past. It would be a good baseline to compare my fitness back against 2013-2015 when I was significantly faster. I remember my 400 times usually being around 1:35 back then, so I was a little surprised when my first 400 clocked in at 1:32.5. Huh?

Interval times: 1:32.5, 1:33.9, 1:33.1, 1:34.5, 1:34.9, 1:34.7, 1:35.1, 1:32.6
Overall Average: 1:33.9 (6:16 per mile)

Every lap I was blown away at the times. There was no way. I was expecting like 1:42 or something. Needless to say, my first set of intervals in almost four years was a success! Looking back at my training log on Garmin Connect, this was the fastest I had averaged on 400m intervals. Even beating back when I was in my best shape. What gives?

I'm almost certain the reason I was able do them so quickly was because of my wholesale embrace of the "run slower to run faster" running theory. Basically, do your easy runs TRULY easy. Too many runners, the vast majority I would say, run their easy runs too quick. It feels "easy" but it isn't necessarily the easiest on your body. I used to do this all the time. I would run an "easy" 8:45 pace and then call 7:45/mile a tempo run.

While I was aware of this theory back in the day, I would kind of "yeah, yeah" poo poo it. Now, if I was sore and I truly needed an easy run, I would do it, but basically the majority of my "easy" runs were really "moderate" runs. Also, looking back at my old intervals, my "rest" laps were done at like a 9:00/mile pace. That's not resting! No wonder I wasn't able to hit the actual intervals harder. I shake my head looking back at my historical data sometimes. My recovery laps were 10:30-11:30ish this time around and I started to walk parts toward the end. Frankly, I could have walked the recovery laps and hit the intervals harder and it would have been a better workout.

Anyways, I am a huge subscriber of the "actually easy" run now. It works, people! Sometimes I miss chatting with people at run group because of it. You are going to run 9:00s? Sorry, see ya. I'll be back here doing 10:00s. I think this workout shows tangible result of that restraint though. I'm building mileage and hitting my speedwork hard when I do it. Speedwork on tired legs is not nearly as effective. So onward with this training style I go! I will sing its virtues from the hilltops.

Now watch me run a 5:15 marathon...

MARATHON TRAINING TWENTY NINETEEN

Tomorrow, by resting and doing absolutely nothing, I will have completed my second official week of Portland Marathon training. However, as you can see by the calendar off to the right, I actually got in the groove a few weeks back. With the weather officially turning over to "nice," it has not been hard to motivate myself to get out there. And, with a running group almost every night I want to run, they are usually pretty fun too!

My long run distance is already up to 16 miles. My last four weekends have been 13.1, 13.5, 15, and 16. None of those were particularly hard either. The sixteen mile run today was a breeze. So that's really cool. I think after all these years my legs are adapting well and remembering distance after some time off. My legs also being treated for psoriatic arthritis helps. Who knows how long I had it at a low level affecting me. My knees never bug me anymore. Nary a complaint.

Last year, I basically did no speedwork. A couple of races during the training cycle and maybe like three random tempo runs? Nothing structured though. That was on purpose. The whole point of last year was to build mileage and see if my knees would hit a limit at some point. Everything last year went off swimmingly. I honestly think my knees are better than ever. I could do a 100 mile race and I don't think they'd be any worse off than anyone else's knees (I am NOT going to do a 100 miler btw!).

Group long run last Saturday for 15 miles

So, with that said, I am determined to do speedwork this year. Once a week I will do a speed run of some sort. Probably a lot of tempo runs, because that is still something I can do at run group and sometimes even have someone run with me. But I would also like to break off to the track and do some intervals at some point. We'll see. While I am dedicated to one speed run a week, I'm going to just play those by ear. Maybe sometimes I'll feel like doing it on Tuesday. Maybe some weeks I'll wait until Thursday. Just as long as I get it in.

In addition to the speed runs, I plan to do a couple races too. Nothing in stone yet, but a half marathon around the Fourth of July weekend and then probably another half in there somewhere. I meant to do more 5Ks and 10Ks, but those are hard with long runs on Saturday. If I do a lot of tempo runs though, I will basically be doing the same thing, so maybe I can distract myself with shorter races once the marathon cycle is over.

Anyways, that's the update! Can't believe I am in the middle of a training cycle again. At the same time though, it just feels right. What would my summers be without waking up at 6:45am on a Saturday on run for hours on end?

THOMAS THE HUMAN METRONOME

Early on when the group was larger. Notice there isn't a cloud in the sky.

A quick report from pacing the Hippie Chick Half Marathon... it was a lot of fun! Getting there as a bit iffy as the roads were really backed up trying to get to Hillsboro Stadium. Once again, traffic lights not adjusting to the crush of people trying to get to one spot. After nearly sitting in place for fifteen minutes I called an audible and eventually found my way to an official "secondary" lot at Intel that was a breeze to get into. Very glad I did that otherwise I would have been late!

We all met at the start line at the designated time. I just happened to be wearing a bright yellow shirt, which ended up working well because all the "pacer" indications were bright yellow as well. We each wore a bib on our front and back with our mile pace and then also had a balloon with it as well. No sign to hold up the entire time! Yay! Each time had two pacers. There was a group for 8:00, 8:30, 8:45, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, and 15:00. I was assigned the 10:00/mile pace, which was perfect, as that was my normal long run pace.

The start was a little congested but nothing too horrible. Within a quarter mile or so we had enough room and were able to hit our pace. It was interesting being under pressure to hit a certain pace. Because it wasn't just enough to average 10:00 over the course of the race, we were trying to hit 10:00 each mile! Plus, when there are two watches and they are saying different things it can be a little concerning! Luckily, I have been known to be a "human metronome" so I instinctively know that pace pretty well. So a couple times when one of our watches was saying 10:30 or 9:30 or whatever the hell, we didn't panic and just kept on trucking.

Mile 9ish. Our numbers have dwindled.

Now, a 10:00 mile in a half marathon is a 2:11:05, which is a weird time. So not a lot of people were hanging out with us. Overall time group might have made more sense. 1:45,1:50, 2:00, etc. While we had a decent group with us at the beginning, they gradually spread out. Not many people had a 10:00 mile as their goal. This race also had a Quarter Marathon, and it was funny because a woman asked which one of us would be breaking off to pace the quarter. She was quite disappointed with the "neither of us, sorry!" response we had. By the time the half split off we were basically only leading two runners.

Those two runners though, their goal was under ten. And they were using us as a measuring stick on their progress. Honestly, I didn't think they were going to make it. Because they seemed to be grinding by about mile 8 or 9, and when I've been in that situation before, I've always fallen back (to be fair, that was in marathons though). However, they both dug deep and did not let us pass them! If we caught up to one of them, they'd kick it up a little and get a bit of distance. It was a tough race because the course had NO shade and it was warm, in the sixties, during the race. Even I was grinding a bit toward the end.

My final chip time details.

Overall we did a really good job. We were targeting 9:55 miles to account for a long course and we hit that each mile within about 5 seconds either way. We did notice the mile signs getting further and further away at each mile. By mile ten our watch would beep about .07 miles too early. I did the quick math and an extra .10 at 9:55/mile would still get us under 10:00/mile on the clock. Well, while mile 12 beeped .08 early, mile 13 beeped .12 early. Crap! By then our two gals were sprinting toward the line though. We continued at the right pace and crossed at 2:11:14. NINE seconds over the goal time. First of all, that's really fucking good. Second of all, the gals we were with finished at least ten seconds ahead of us, so they were good. So despite our watches saying 9:55/mile our official pace was 10:00.

It was a really fun experience! Not only was it nice to run a race and get that race day energy without having to haul ass, it was cool to help those two gals stay on pace and get their goal. And, despite being a "ladies" event, a lot of the pace team was male, so it wasn't too awkward. If given the chance, I would definitely do it again!

UPDATES AND PACING A HALF MARATHON

So, I finally have my target marathon for this fall. After trying for Chicago and New York, and failing, I figured I would wait to see what the new organizers of the Portland Marathon would come up with. By the time May Day rolled around there was still no announcement and I was getting a little antsy, but BAM, May 2nd the new race was announced!

It will be put on by Brooksee (they put on the "Revel" series of downhill marathons), which we knew. What we didn't know was the course and whether the City of Portland was actually going to play ball to get a first class event up and running. Thankfully, the new course looks GREAT and it appears Brooksee will take over the historic "Portland Marathon" name. I've heard great things about the Revel series, so I'm sure they'll do a fantastic job with the Portland Marathon. So I'm excited! It will remain on the traditional first Sunday of October.

New Portland Marathon course!

They were having a deal so I already signed up. $105 for the full, not bad. Unfortunately, that means I'm going to have to start officially marathon training soon. I'll need to mock up and plan and this time around I'm going to include speedwork. As usual, I'll run four times a week... two easy runs, one speed run, and then the long run. My main focus will just to be faster than last year (3:55), so I'll be working toward that this summer. Hard to believe I'll be facing twenty mile runs in the heat here soon. Oh well, bring it on.

Lately I have been really good about getting my runs in. As predicted, the turn in weather made it a lot easier to motivate myself to get out there. So I've been pretty good about the three weekday runs and then the long run on the weekend. Since I'm already in that routine, marathon training will just be increasing the mileage and getting a speed run in. Easy enough. For my long runs, I've basically only been doing ten miles, which seems like the right distance to (sort of?) stay in half shape. Which brings me to...

I'll be pacing the Hippie Chick Half Marathon tomorrow. This is a woman-centric event that I actually volunteered at with Libbie many years back as a flagger. This time, I have been recruited as a pacer though. They were trying to get me to do a faster pace time but I basically said I'll volunteer if I can do 10:00 or slower. I mean, I could probably pace 9:00/mile, but my actual half marathon time wouldn't be much faster than that. Plus, I'm trained for ten, not thirteen, and while I know I can do thirteen, the question of whether I could be consistent and not slow down toward the end isn't something I wanted to find out.

Anyways, I'm confident I can provide a solid, consistent pace at 10:00/mile so that's what I'll be doing! That's around what I do my long runs at, so the pace should be very familiar. The course is really flat and I'm good at "locking" into a pace, so I'm hoping I'll be a pacer that people will appreciate and not one that is all over the map! Looking at the results from last year, about 500 people ran it and about 10 would have been in my "area." So I won't likely be leading a large group. Luckily, I also have a fellow pacer, so it's not all on me, and many of the other pacers are male, so it won't be too awkward. Let's hope!

2019 BRIDGE TO BREWS 10K RACE REPORT

The start along Naito!

My first 10k in 18 months! Exciting I guess? Anyways, my prep for this race wasn't the greatest. I had basically done no speedwork since the Shamrock Run, and my friend was coming into town to do the race as well. Needless to say, the days leading up to the race weren't the best in terms of eating or drinking choices, but I kept it within reason as to not totally crash and burn during the race.

Honestly, if anything held me back, it was my legs. Thursday we went on a 6 mile run AND a 5.5 mile hike and then Friday we went on another hike through Ape Cave. About four miles there, but a lot of bouldering. My legs felt pretty worn Saturday, a day on which we did nothing, and they were still a little tired by the time the race rolled around Sunday. Not terribly so, but I may have been able to do teeny tiny bit quicker on fresh legs.

Again, this race would be a good benchmark for my current fitness level. I keep thinking I'm about to turn it up but then never do. I need to get some more races on the schedule. The weather appears to have finally turned in my favor (70 and sunny any day of the week over 45 and cloudy), so hopefully I can actually start doing some speedwork or something. I don't have any ambitious goals or anything, I think I'll just want to beat my MCM time this fall, but I need to actually, you know, do something, in order to make that happen.

RACE MORNING

Thankfully this race wasn't ridiculously early, kicking off at 8:45am. We left the house shortly before 8am, so I was able to sleep into about 7:30am before throwing on some clothes and chugging a mug of coffee. I drove us downtown and parked in my standard Smart Park garage. That thing is like 8 blocks or less from everything! We approached Waterfront Park and marveled at the amount of people bustling about. This was a major production!

In usual Thomas fashion, I didn't want to be there too early, so we got there with about 25 minutes until the gun went off. We walked toward the bag check and there was the LONGEST LINE. Dammit! Did I mess up? Were we going to be stuck behind a bunch of walkers? Luckily, that line went amazingly fast. We checked our bag and still had about 15 minutes to go. With that, we wandered toward the start line and settled into the appropriate pace group of under eight minutes per mile.

THE RACE

It was fun starting on Naito Parkway and not doing a giant out and back or a run up Barbur. Instead, we quickly turned west into the city and run through "scenic" Old Town/Chinatown. The people around me seemed to be going the right pace so I didn't have to weave very much despite there being a decent amount of people. A couple slowdowns, but nothing tragic. My goal was under 8:00/mile and I knew there was that giant bridge climb, so I was trying to target my miles around 7:50. If I could do that for the other five miles, then I could go 8:45 on the hill and still be at 7:59/mile.

My first mile hit in 7:53. Just about perfect. Despite not having done a 10k in a while, I felt like I paced myself correctly. For whatever reason, I can judge my 5k/10k/15k/half paces pretty well. Instinctual for me. Long story short, I settled into the correct pace and it felt like a 10k should. Challenging, not really comfortable, but sustainable for six miles.

Certified finishers.

The "hill" in this race, the bridge climb, was from miles 1.5 to 2. Only a half mile and after that, only rollers are worst. So I just did my normal hill strategy of trying to keep the same energy "output" as if I were running on flat ground. This meant I was doing the hill at about 9:20 or so for this level of effort. Not the fastest, but the hill ended pretty quickly and my mile time was 8:39, so I was a tiny bit ahead of schedule. This was the part over the Fremont Bridge. Unfortunately, we were not on the top deck, so while the view was good, it wasn't as good as it could have been. Plus, we were socked in with clouds so you couldn't even see the mountains.

After the climb, we got the downhill portion, and I knew I would want to take advantage of this and get a cushion of time for later on in the race. My pace on the third mile was 7:28 and honestly I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to go a little faster, but hey, I was still ahead of schedule. After we exited the bridge, we did a bunch of random streets in the industrial area around the Widmer plant and Interstate Avenue. Not very scenic, a couple tiny hills and downhills, not much to write home about. 7:38 fourth mile.

Eventually we wound our way out of that area and onto Interstate Avenue heading south. Major Portland Marathon flashbacks. That is about mile 23 and the site of many painful memories for me. Luckily, feeling much better this time around! 7:55 mile five. Crap. Can't quite make up the uphill on the downhill on these rollers. Still ahead of schedule but getting close. Need to finish strong. Over the Steel Bridge. I can see the finish line. That was all the visual I needed after an 8:05 mile six (oops!). 7:10/mile on that last .22 coming home.

AFTER PARTY

The after party beer festival.

I crossed the finish line with a great sense of relief! My watch had me at 7:55/mile, beating my goal. However, I also had it clocked at 6.27 miles, so I knew with the adjustment down to 6.22 it might be close. Luckily, when all was said and done, I averaged 7:59/mile. PHEW! Literally a couple seconds away from not meeting my goal.

Part of the draw for this race was the beer festival afterwards; hence, the "to Brews" part of the name. Everybody got 10 "tasting tickets" and then there were about a dozen breweries set up showing off their product. 1 ticket got you a 4oz taste, while 4 tickets got your whole cup filled up. The lines were already off the wall for these places, so I was set on full beers. The first we tasted as a dunkelweizen, usually one of my favorites, but this rendition from West Coast Grocery was just so-so. We then were able to taste whiskeys from Westward Whiskey for two tickets. These were delicious and very interesting to try! Our final four tickets went to another beer, this one an IPA from Laurelwood. Yummy!

With that, we headed home for a day of doing nothing and gluttony. Well earned!

Official Results: 49:35, 7:59/mile. 163/1831 overall, 119/726 male, 25/138 M30-34.