Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Portland In Review

Over the past few days there have been so many things that make me think "oh, I need to remember to blog about that." In typical POM fashion, I sit in front of my computer not knowing where to start. As Frauline Maria would say, "Start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start."


Thursday - My Denver Gal Pal and I met up, checked into our weird hotel and had lunch (1 bottle of wine down, for those counting). Then we shopped it up as only we know how. On our way back to hotel, we picked up mas vino to "get ready" (2 down). It was her bday so we went to a fun restaurant called "OBA" in the Pearl District (3rd bottle down). Then it was time for the blogger meet up. I was a bit nervous, but knew we would have fun. Plus with 1.5 bottles of wine in my system, nerves were not an issue. I am waiting for my gal pal to send the pics, but the meet up was Gazelle, Junk Miles, Alisa, Jen, HTC, and Carrie. I think I had 2 martinis. What happens at a blogger meet up, stays at a blogger meet up. That is all. (Queue barf-o-rama here.)



Friday-Saturday - Rest, eat, sleep, rest, sight see, rest. We went to the Expo on Saturday. I love expos. Running + Shopping = My dream day. But I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the expo. Not enough snacky food samples, small, crowded and kinda boring. The Long Beach expo was at the Convention Center and was just huge. I guess I was expecting the same thing. The only memorable part was a creepy experience. As we were walking out of the hotel this guy comes running after me. Apparently my girls noticed that he had been following us since we arrived. He asked if I was running the marathon. (Uhm, that seems quite obvious with the big green "Portland Marathon" bag I was holding as I was walking out of the marathon expo... just saying). I said, "yes, I am." Then he said that I was the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, but I probably have a boyfriend. Then he ran off. Literally. Something you might expect from a 11 yr old, but a 40+ makes it funny. Poor guy, obviously he doesn't get out much.


Sunday - Marathon DAY!!!


We woke up bright and early, ate some toast, peanut butter, banana, cereal and an apple. We got down to the race with about 45 mins to use the awesome porto-potties (my least favorite thing in the universe), drop off our stuff and get to the starting line. All my girls run at different paces, so we decided to line up somewhere in the middle. They knew my 4 hour goal and we talked about not running together once the gun goes off. We squeezed our way to the 4:45 pace group. But right at the last minute, I told him I was going to try to get closer. I managed to get to the 4:30 pace group, but luckly I was at the front of it.


And we're off. The weather (at this point) was nice and I think I block out my surroundings when I run. I remember staring at my Garmin thinking I was on pace. I also remember trying to remind myself to ENJOY THE MOMENT and LOOK AROUND. There were some nice views - lots of sexy runner man legs and some hotties (that I passed!) I think around mile 4 or so, it started raining. I was really cold. I mean REALLY cold. Once I post some pics, I'm sure you will be able to tell how cold I was... if you know what I mean. The muscles in my legs started to cramp. The race had a lot more hills then I was expecting. The rain got worse and didn't let up until the end.

I quickly caught up with the 4 hour pace group. It was a big group and annoying to run with. I don't like running with lots of people, plus I felt like they were slowing me down, so I kept my earlier pace and passed them. REPEAT: I passed the 4 hour group! I knew if I could just keep them BEHIND me, I was good to go. Mile 17 kicked my ass (huge hill). But then I saw Gazelle and Alisa around 18! I yelled "I'm sub 4!" I felt strong again. Alisa took a pic ~ In typical POM fashion, I have my hands up and a weird face. Let's all say a little prayer that the rest of my pictures are "normal." To be honest, a couple times I did have to throw up the JAZZ hands, for pure blogger entertainment purposes.

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Then it gets weird up in herre. Somewhere in the middle of the race, I started doing some math in my head. You know the math - if I run at X pace for Y minutes, then I can finish in XY time. Mid-race, I got it my silly little head that maybe I could qualify for Boston. Now, let me tell ya - BOSTON has never been a dream of mine. I don't really care about it to be honest. I would rather run NY or some other country. But the ability to say "I QUALIFIED for Boston" seems really, really cool. Now this is in my head and I'm trying to haul ass.

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Mile 20 hits me. Literally. Mile 2o sucked. My legs were so tight and sore and cold. I tried to think Bikram thoughts, but that didn't work. I remember some guy in red telling me to relax my shoulders and push my hips forward. I remember thinking "F*&% off Red Shirt Guy." I tried to get back to my happy place and stay focused and positive. It was hard. My thoughts were slipping to how much this hurt. My training runs never hurt like this, then again, I train on super-flat ground and in warmer weather. At mile 22, I realized that Boston was a SHORT LIVED PIPE DREAM(like 45 minutes short lived).

Not sure why I was so emotional, but I burst into tears on the course at mile 22. Yes, I cried. Then I couldn't breath. But I kept running. I was doing some weird maternity breath thing trying to get my head back to a normal place and stop crying.
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Luckily, I saw 3 studly guys in front of me. This is when I decided to start picking people off. I had 4 more miles and those guys were NOT going to beat me. For some reason I take great satisfaction beating men, especially fit ones. Then I saw a big booty skirt girl - no way was she going to beat me. Then I saw something really gross that I can't bare to blog about it. I definately couldn't let this girl beat me. My little head game got me through to mile 25.
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I knew I was be sub 4 and was relived. I was honestly worried about not making my goal and having to tell you all that I failed. I crossed the finish line and realized I didn't have anyone waiting for me. I knew this before I started, obviously. But it hit me hard when I was finished. Here I am - done with the marathon, completely alone, emotional and freezing. I burst into tears again. But these tears wouldn't stop. I was hyperventilating and totally out of it. I grabbed a chocolate milk and banana. There was nowhere to just lounge around - a big lawn - nothing. So I sat on the curb, caught my breath, tried to stretch, took a pic, then went to the sidelines to wait for my girls. I wished the Captain was there.
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Overall, the race had goods and bads. The adorable Chiarunner has a better detailed report about the race... the homeless, the hills, etc. I love the city of Portland, but not sure I could deal with the gloomy skies and so much rain.
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I'm proud of my time.
I'm sore as hell.
I'm happy to be done training (for a while at least).

Pics to follow.

48 comments:

Viv said...

Great report! I love how you could cut it down to a sweet story. I need those skills. LMAO at picking of hot guys, and big booty skirt girl.

The pic of your jazz hands priceless as is you sub 4! Seriously girl without sounding cheesy it has been awesome to watch you set your goals and conquer them!

OK cheesy

Amy - the gazelle said...

I love picking people off at the end!

It's unfortunate that the race isn't 1 week earlier - the weekend before was so beautiful. And today? Sunny & 60. I'm so sad that all these people have such a poor impression of my little city :(

It was great seeing you & maybe some day we can marathon together! (A keeps talking about the San Diego marathon in May.)

Jess said...

Congrats on an awesome race and on breaking sub four!! Can't wait for the rest of the pics!

the Bag Lady said...

WOOHOO!! Good for you. Looking forward to more pictures.

Anonymous said...

Excellent report! Thanks for sharing. I cal SO imagnie that it is a great help to picking people off at the end of a run.

Congratulations on a great race!

Laurel said...

Sheesh, I can't believe you got stuck racing in the rain again! But it seems to be your thing, because you did amazing!

I cried in my marathon at mile 22 as well. I think you and I have some weird, cosmic, numerical connection. Oh wait, now I am sounding like that creepoid at the expo...lol!

So wait. Now you HAVE to blog about the disgusting thing you saw during the race. We're runners, we've seen it all. We can take it.

Great job girl!

Ian said...

Great job and awesome race report.

Unknown said...

Great job! Loved the report. I get emotional at events sometimes too. Congrats on the great time!

Marcy said...

CONGRATS!! You did freekin AWESOME chica! Absolutely awesome! ;D ;D Definitely a race to be proud of, and bonus for picking off the hotties ;-)

Ohhhh girl I'm with Laurel! You know you HAVE to tell us now!! Just please don't tell me it was some man pleasuring himself on the sidelines *puke*

Aron said...

congrats congrats congrats!! you are seriously amazing :) great report and AWESOME race!!

RunToTheFinish said...

I started crying when I finished my first marathon...it's this huge thing you've done and it's very emotional... Um I also cried in SF when I didn't hit my time and I was so upset with myself. Running brings a lot of joy, but some weird and unexpected upset moments.

HOW AWESOME YOU DID IT UNDER 4 HOURS!! I'm really jealous and now motivated!

Romance said...

You are awesome and amazing and I totally wonder what was so gross you cannot write about it...

Great report back and huge congrats to you. You rock and you totally inspire me.

Tina Mickelson said...

Great Job on the Portland! In spite of the rainy cold weather (I don't like it either) you did spectacular. You paced better than I did for my half! Lets trade bodies for a race or two k? How about you wear my chip for the CIM and run your heart out. Just kidding.

I'm proud of you. That ROCKS

Alisa said...

Sorry about the weather...I warned you peeps =).

So awesome on your sub-4 time. I would love to run NYC...maybe we can have a blogger marathon meetup in 09?

I totally agree that the marathon expo sucked. The SD one was sooooo huge lots more free stuff and lots more shopping! (Though I managed to buy new shoes at the expo and a new handheld water bottle).

Alisa said...

Sorry about the weather...I warned you peeps =).

So awesome on your sub-4 time. I would love to run NYC...maybe we can have a blogger marathon meetup in 09?

I totally agree that the marathon expo sucked. The SD one was sooooo huge lots more free stuff and lots more shopping! (Though I managed to buy new shoes at the expo and a new handheld water bottle).

Emily said...

I saw so many people weeping in the finish area, and one of them was probably you! Great job, wish I could have welcomed you at the finish. Congrats on the new PR and enjoy the time off now!

Laura said...

Weird - I've been waiting all day for your race report but my Google Reader didn't show it till now.

I was really disappointed in the expo snacks - that's usually my plan for lunch the day before :)

Great job!!!! You totally rocked the sub-4 by quite a bit. I think you should definitely go for a BQ in the future.

Unknown said...

As I posted recently, while "there's no crying in baseball," there's a ton of it in running! So sorry no one was there at the end to share in your celebration. But what an awesome race!

M*J*C said...

Girl, you had me tearing up!!! What an amazing accomplishment, no wonder you became emotional. You really got me at the end when you said that you wished the Captain was there, I guess I relate my feelings on "the Original" to yours with the Captain, I'm sure I'll feel that way at the end too.
Reading your report was great inspiration, you totally rocked it, sub 4!!!! Congratulations!!

Judi said...

YESSSSSS!!!! Can't wait to see the pix!

BeachRunner said...

Congrats. Great job.

Lily on the Road said...

WAY TO GO!!

Love your report...and yes, you HAVE to tell us....come on, you know you wanna!!

N.D. said...

What a great race report!! It made me laugh so hard about passing things and people, hhaha... great job again - you rock!! You'll have someone waiting for you soon enough! But for now, you did this all on your own and for yourself. Way to go!

Jess said...

Congrats again!! Great report.

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Congrats!! That's an amazing time and race report! I think i'd be emotional too... :)

Laurel said...

I was going to ask about you and C but I didn't want to pry. I'm glad to hear it!

As far as number 2, I saw that once on a training run. It was a woman and it was awful! Poor thing. It was like she didn't even notice it though. So crazy.

Marathon Maritza said...

Congratulations on your great race!

I like the pic - looks like you're raising the roof!! Whoo-whoo!

(oh and hi! I'm a new reader! Love your blog!)

teacherwoman said...

Congrats, again Jess. You did awesome!

Danielle said...

Great job! I am truly impressed and in awe!! You are a RAWKstar! :)

healthy ashley said...

Your story is exhilarating! I am so happy for you!

Brianna said...

Congrats on a KICKIN' time - awesome!! Great strategy for passing folks when your brain and body wanted to give in.

Thanks for sharing your story with those of us who were thinking of you and wishing you a great run.

E said...

Congrats! I think next time you will qualify for Boston. :)

Victoria said...

Yay you! Way to pull through and run really, really well. Boston is only 8 minutes faster than what you ran, and considering you didn't really speed train much (track/ lots of fartleks), you could totally qualify for Boston if you wanted to. At least, that's my absolutely unprofessional opinion. Way to go though-- you should be really proud of yourself!

TonyP said...

Awesome report. You were fantastic out there !

Amy said...

Great race report! Congrats on the race and meeting your goal!

Susan said...

Congrats!!!

C said...

Fantastic job once again, POM. Great race report. I know it's not the same, but we were all there with you at the end in spirit. Not much consolation now, I know.

Jennifer Burgett said...

Congratulations!!!

And you have to end this "no blogging about boys" thing you have going on!

You'll get Boston next time - whether you run it or not! Your rock and are truly an inspiration to me.

Michelle said...

p.o.m i am so freaking proud of you i don't have the words here to express it all!!

BUT, i say lets do NYC 09!! I'm in if you are and well lets throw this out to everybody!!! NYC 09!!! Big blogger meet up in the big APPLE!!!

WOOHOO!!!

Ali said...

Great race, great report ... you are my hero!

Nitmos said...

Well, you and Boston are not a pipe dream in the future. You sure bitch slapped Portland. Great race! Congratulations again!

Sarah said...

I would have never thought you were nervous for the meet up! That's cute. And I feel for your emotions during the race - while you may have been alone at the end for a while, a ton of people were with you in spirit and totally rooting for you. You rocked it :)

Julianne said...

That creepy guy experience is totally CREEPY. But, it's a little bit flattering, no? :-)

And crying is normal during a marathon!! Really! I do it all the time. And I totally understand about no one being there at the end of the race. I hate that feeling. But, I am really impressed with your time. And very very proud of you. ( I know we don't really know each other at all but still, I'm very proud of you.) I would KILL for a sub 4 hour finish!!!

RooBabs said...

Wow! What a great report. I'm so proud of you- you rock! Love the hands up picture ("hollah"), and LOL at Big Booty Skirt Girl- that totally could've been me. Oh wait, except I never would have been in front of you, and I don't wear skirts (and I wasn't running in Portland- he he).

Great job with using the head games to get through it. And that's so sad that no one was there at the end for you (I know what that's like). Now I'm checking out the slideshow. = )

The Laminator said...

Great job, POM! You really rocked the course on this one. I think it's quite natural to be emotional running the last miles of a marathon...IT'S THE MARATHON...for god sakes. The emotions are what makes the journey memorable.

Great job in setting, training, and crushing your goal.

I know you don't care too much about it, but honestly, Boston is not really that far away for you.

Take care and rest well.

chia said...

Chica... you lined up RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY OPTIMISTIC FREEZING ARSE. So you're neon blue girl I was trying to keep up with for the first 6 (and failed).

Red shirt guy.... where do I start... little mister "loosen up your face"...

I think the words that came out of my mouth was "how about I loosen your face up dickwad"

You rocked that joint. Hands down, you're my hero!

AddictedToEndorphins said...

Great job! Awesome (and consise) report. You did do it! Blew it out of the water. I may have to try that 'picking people off' game.

Enjoy the rest.

Aaron Cunningham said...

Congrats on the great race. Not just sub 4, but way sub 4.

Great report and slideshow too.