2009 Portland Marthon Race Report

Sometimes I question my sanity.  I often shrug it off when people say I'm crazy, then every once in a while I look at myself from the outside and say "hmm.  maybe I am".  Sunday I took part in the Portland Marathon - a marathon that has received consistently high rankings for greenest, most friendly to walkers, best marathon, best people's marathon in the west, etc.  I will say it certainly gives the Nike Womens marathon a run for it's money for my overall favorite.  The expo and race morning events were certainly very organized and easy to follow.  More on that later...

Christina dropped me off around 6:10 and I hit the porta-potty line right away (almost no waiting at this point).  There were fences everywhere gates off sections of the race and (one of my favorites) gating off the walkers from the runners.  How many marathons do you find yourself dodging walkers for the first mile or so?  Not in Portland...  I went to go drop off my jacket and the line was too long so I went to Foot Traffic near the race start since I heard they had indoor bathrooms and a free bag check.  There was no line for the bag check and I got in the bathroom line again.  Pre-race nerves?  At least I stayed warm until just before the race started since the morning temp was in the upper 40s.

The race started in several waves which helped alleviate congestion while running through the early city blocks.  I was in between the 4:45 and 5:00 pace groups and reached the start line at 7:07AM.  Not too bad for a crowd this size.  I think it took me 15 minutes in some other marathons.

I was just warm enough in my running skirt, thermal tank and Moeben arm sleeves (the zebra print got LOTS of compliments).  I settled into the race, turned up my tunes and was enjoying the early morning run through downtown Portland. Temps warmed up a little but stayed mostly in the low 50s during the entire race (and no rain!)

My goal had been 11:20 miles and at 10K my pace was exactly 11:18 and I was feeling good.  One problem I had was no nutrition.  I thought there would be stuff at the aid stations but I didn't take in my first batch of calories until mile 7 (about 1:20 in the race) and then it was only gummy bears.  Not exactly the best fuel and within the next few miles I'd start to feel it in my stomach.  Also around mile 6 I stopped to use the bathroom and that break cost me 4 minutes.  Despite that I was feeling good and my mile 9 pace was down to 11:06 per mile.  Either I ran too fast or I was just feeling good.  Maybe both...  The 4:45 pace group passed me around mile 10 which was fine since that was a bit too fast for my goal.  So long as I stayed in front of the 5:00 pace group!

Somewhere during the out and back section I saw Michelle running up the other side but wasn't able to say hello.  I also ran into Eric around mile 18 and chatted with him briefly.

My first half split was 2:28 which was an 11:20 pace.  Perfect!  I was still feeling pretty good and with the 6 minutes in bathroom stops during the first half I thought a PR was in my reach.  What I didn't know was that the lack of calories and lack of water (I drank maybe 60oz during the entire race).  The slog up St. Helens Road  took it's toll with the cold headwind and climb up to St. John's Bridge at mile 16.  By 17.5 I was at an 11:40 pace and from mile 13-20 mile average pace was just over 13 minutes.  And by mile 18 the 5:00 pace group passed me.  Damn.  I didn't have the energy to keep up with them.  Whatever my finish would be, it was not going to be a PR or sub 5.

On St. John's bridge I tried adjusting the laces on my right foot for a second time because I had A LOT of pain on the top.  Finally around mile 20 I stopped to re-lace them altogether and that took care of the problem.  Most of my body felt okay - just tired.  My low back did hurt quite a bit and surprisingly my feet didn't start getting sore until about mile 22.  I had minor issues but overall I was just spent.  I had hit the wall (as I call it St. John's Bridge) and never really recovered.  The last 10K would be a long slow death march that saw my pace slow to 15 minutes per mile over that section.  I just wanted to be done.

I crossed the finish line in 5:31:00 (just behind Rob and his wife who passed me around mile 25 and beat me to the line by about 3 minutes) and was in a daze as I wandered through the 3 blocks of barricades gathering food (stomach in too much pain to eat), my shirt, and about 4 blocks later finally met up with Christina.  About the only complain I have about the Portland Marathon is that it's hard for someone to watch you finish and be there for you right after.  I guess they do that to keep non runners out of the finish and food area.  The food layout was pretty amazing for sure.  Despite the painful ending, the Portland Marathon goes down as a very close second behind the Nike Womens Marathon.  With the later selling out every year faster and faster, Portland is a very fine alternative.

Marathon #6 (#8 if you count ultras) is finished.  I need a running break now.  Not completely but I want to focus on cross training and building my core which I have realized is VERY weak.  I'm not planning any long races until at least next spring and that is sorta up for debate right now.  My endurance really seems to fall apart after 15 miles and I think that is in large part to my weak core and no strength training.

Some stats:
Overall place: 6062 of 8091
Female place: 2759 of 4266
AG place: 496 of 701
First half: 2:28:30
Second half: 3:02:30
Overall pace: 12:38 (11:20 goal)

Despite missing a PR and sub 5 hours I'm fairly happy with my results. 

If you get a chance to run this marathon - I HIGHLY recommend it.  I will definitely be back!

Happy Running & Dirty Feet,
Jessica

Comments

[rustyboy]

Excellent report, and way to get it done!

[Abbie]

Maybe I'll train for it for next year! If you still live there ;)

[Lauren Miertschin]

Congratulations on another marathon! That's awesome.

I was gonna go for marathon #2 in October, but ended up running myself ragged and decided instead to cut back miles for the month : )

[Sarah]

I can't believe we just missed each other again. We were at Foot Traffic too, from about 6:10 to 6:45-50ish. Funny!

Nice job sticking with it. Portland is a great marathon.

[Anne]

Congratulations on finishing, and with all those little setbacks. How cool to run into some of my favorite running bloggers too. I'm so glad you did this one. I think a new winning streak is upon you.

[Juls]

Congratulations Jessica. I'm going to have to try Portland some time.

[Paul]

nice one and well done! bruises on the top of feet suck....

[Stuart]

Nice job and congrats on #6, that's 4 more that me!

[backofpack]

Great report. I didn't even see you at the out and back! It's hard to catch sight of everyone. Margaret was counting on some fuel too, and wasn't able to get Gummi Bears till mile 10ish, then they were out for a few aid stations (but all over the road) before she got more. I didn't eat well enough either, but didn't start running low on steam till 23. My own fault, just not paying enough attention. Congrats on your finish!