In addition to the summertime marathons, I had the pleasure of running on a mixed masters team at the Ragnar NW Passage. We won our division and had a great time doing it! I would highly recommend this relay to anyone considering doing one. It was extremely well-organized and scenic. And for people like me who hate running in heat, the temperatures are usually very reasonable. (Hey, it's the Pacific Northwest! A heat wave is typically when it's been in the low 80s for a few days. ;) ) In addition, there are fewer teams than one will find at Hood-to-Coast Relay, so the traffic issues are considerably less than the zoo you will find at HTC.
That said, I did run HTC for the first time, too! It felt like it was a rite of passage for anyone living in the Portland, OR area. It was fun but, as I was warned, it was chaotic with the masses of people trying to get runners to exchanges and I think perhaps, in my opinion, it is a bit overrated. Would I do it again? Maybe, but probably not next year.
After having survived seven marathons, two half marathons and two team relays in 4.5 months, I decided to run The Oregon Marathon this September. It's a new marathon put on by Uberthons and this year they were basically using the Vernonia Marathon course along the Banks-Vernonia trail. The last couple years I've had scheduling conflicts during that marathon but have wanted to run it eventually. I have run parts of the trail on numerous occasions and it is a very nicely paved bike path that follows an old railroad line. Very few turns and mostly a low grade climb/drop through the countryside. September is usually a beautiful time of year in the PNW, so it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to get in one more marathon before I head to the East coast with my daughter to run the Marine Corps Marathon.
As luck would have it, I came down with a stomach virus the week leading into the marathon. Also, the weather was threatening to become nasty as the remnants of a typhoon was sweeping across the Pacific right towards our neck of the woods. I must admit I had a rather piss-poor attitude going into the race. So I told myself I would play it by ear and if it become too bad, I'd just run it as an easy training run.
It's a point-to-point run and we were encouraged to park our vehicles at the finish and board school buses to head out to the start. Nice idea, unless you have the world's tiniest and nervous bladder, along with a tender tummy from a week of stomach yuck! Add to that, the fact that our driver took a wrong turn and was lost. This necessitated turning back and starting over, which, of course, took more time. About three-quarters of the way there, I really we may have a problem, Houston! I started praying and strategizing. You see, I couldn't even walk up to the driver because a wheelchair competitor had boarded our bus and his fancy racing chair COMPLETELY blocked the aisle. I considered whether I could physically climb over the seats to reach the bus driver and BEG for her to STOP!
I realize she probably would've refused due to safety issues, HOWEVER, I do believe that the positioning of the wheelchair/racer was clearly against safety code! I then began to wonder if I could empty out my coffee mug (no, I was not drinking it!) and discretely pee into it. (Yeah, there would be no discreet anything.) In all my life I have NEVER hurt as bad (including childbirth) as I did on this ride. FINALLY we arrived. Naturally, we had to wait for the racing vehicle to be removed but I was the very next one off the bus. I nearly vaulted over people.
Luckily, we were able to use the high school restrooms and I was able to get right into a stall. I think the ladies may have any heard an audible cry of relief. I don't care. At this point I didn't know whether I should pee, vomit or both! (Note to self: Perhaps consider wearing Depends on long bus rides to race starts if that ride is on a school bus!)
The morning started out with pouring rain and it showed no signs of letting up. Again, we were lucky. We were allowed to hang out in the high school where it was dry and warm. The prospect of running 26.2 miles in the wet was almost certain. However, once you get onto the B-V trail, there is quite a bit of tree cover. This cut down on the wind effects but the droplets that did hit you were nice big sloppy ones from all the moisture collecting on the trees before they rolled off onto trail. At least the temperatures weren't too bad since it was a tropical storm that had hitting us.
This course was definitely a PR course. It could be divided into four distinct sections. The start (basically flat with a short downhill at the beginning), the second quarter (a very gradual uphill climb, culminating into a much steeper uphill that included a brief switchback), the third quarter (a 6 mile gradual downhill starting at about mile 14), and the final piece (flat, although exposed to wind and rain). I had strategized how I would have to reach my goal of breaking 3:40. I knew for certain I would lose quite a bit of time on the hilly part, I also knew I typically lose 5% of my pace in the last six miles. So I ran slightly under pace for the first quarter and, as predicted, somewhat over pace for the next quarter. At the half I was exactly on pace for just breaking 3:40. I ran the 6 mile downhill under pace and tried to stay on pace for the last flat section on pace. I did slow down considerably by mile 22-23 when I started to feel my calves cramping. By mile 23 I decided to walk at the next mile marker for 30-40 steps, try to run to the next mile marker and do the same. It seemed to help.
I was soaked to the bone, a slight headwind/crosswind had developed and I had struggled with fueling due in part to residual effects of the stomach virus, I think. Because I started out the race running with a friend who also wanted to break 3:40, I think I did better than usual at keeping track of my pace and not being lulled into sub-8 minute miles. I decided I wanted to run my plan. Not run crazy fast at the start in the hope of having plenty left to take advantage of the 6 mile downhill. Having run the section of the train many times, I knew that it wasn't downhill enough to make you feel like you didn't have to work at it. I told my friend that I could not guarantee I could get her to the finish in under 3:40 but I thought I could get her close. Had she not succumbed to leg cramps, she would've made it. We separated about mile 12, but she wasn't far behind.
I was very fortunate to see one of my Honey Badger friends on the cheering runners along the course, as well as several other runner friends who were there in those craptastic conditions to support us poor suckers running in Typhoon Pabuk. Sometime in the last half mile, my HB friend pulled up alongside me, honking and shouting. (This was in a neighborhood and I'm sure the inhabitants were "thrilled" by this entertainment.) It was just what I needed at that point. They had us turning, and turning, and turning throughout the neighborhood! I never thought the finish line would show itself.
FINALLY, there it was! And there was my track coach waiting for those he knew were still out there. He screamed at me that I had one minute to get my ass across the finish. I looked up and saw 3:39 and change. I booked it as fast as my tired sore legs would carry me. I did it! I broke 3:40. Better yet, I actually broke 3:39!! Because they had started us in waves, I had actually started a minute or so after the gun. My official time: 3:38:29!!! Wow!
In spite of truly nasty conditions, many people ran PRs that day. My starting partner ran very close to her goal and had a great PR! I also PR'd and now have qualified for Boston 2015 as well as time-qualified for NYC 2014. It was a small race and so I was able to place 1st in my age group, 1st female master and 6th overall female. There were so many friends out there not just running it, but supporting us on a course that did not lend itself easily to crowd support since it's mostly in the woods.
It was good day. It also reinforced the "trust your training". I worried that I wasn't ready. I'd lost a little time being sick that week but friends assured me that my training would carry me to the finish. A marathon is an interesting distance. It takes patience, planning, faith, and the willingness to ignore the voices in your head that tell you "let's quit now!" Some days the voice wins, this day it didn't. :)
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