Warning: Long race report. I tried to type as much info as I could to help me improve my future races. 2012 Portland Marathon Bib# 5120 At the marathon expo the day before the race, I was standing at the pacers table. They were giving out pace bracelets, adjusted for the terrain of the Portland Marathon course, in 5-minute finish-time increments. The question was: do I get the 3:15, or the 3:10 pace band? A 3:10 would be a BQ, but it was a pretty aggressive goal-time. My current PR was 3:14, and I weighed nearly 10 lbs less than I do now when I ran that PR race. I decided to go for it, even though it could risk continuing my Portland Marathon Curse (extremely painful races in the past). Prerace dinner was at an Italian restaurant (I'll look up the name of it later). The main dish was a pasta with bolognese sauce, yum! I also had some bread and a glass of wine. Throughout the day, I munched on Chex Party Mix and chugged Gatorade and Powerade. Lunch was a spicy sushi roll, and breakfast was pancakes. I woke up at 4 AM, three hours before the start, and brewed up some coffee. Then, I showered, stretched, ate a muffin, drank more coffee and Gatorade. After that, I spent some quality time on the toilet. I hit the porta-potty about 30 minutes before the start, and then lined up about 20 feet behind the 3:10 pacer. I didn't want to race with the pacer mob, just keep them in sight. The first couple of miles were a little slower than race pace. That was good. I like using the early miles as a warmup instead of hitting race-pace cold. Around mile 4, I was starting to get the urge to use a porta-potty. Hoping that the urge was temporary, I passed the porta-potties around the 5 mile marker. After passing them, I seriously considered turning around to make the pit stop. Just past the 7 mile marker, I saw more porta-potties. They looked very inviting, and then I started to feel desperate for them! I was obviously the first runner to use the facility since the TP still had its wrapper covering it. I sat down and immediately began multitasking: riping the wrapper off while doing my business. The whole operation probably lasted about 1-2 minutes. It was worth the time sacrifice because the alternative would have caused an even greater slowdown, eventually. (Note to self: no more than ONE cup of coffee on race morning!) After exiting the Fortress of Solitude and rejoining the race, the pace group was nowhere in sight. My plan was to gradually catch up with them by running 10-15 seconds faster than race pace. I felt good, but was concerned that I could be running too fast. Somewhere after the 9 mile marker, I encountered my first "gummi bear station". Portland does not offer any energy drinks at their aid stations; instead, they have Ultima, an almost zero-calorie electrolyle replacement drink. Think: flavored salt-water with some token vitamins added to make it seem special. If you want sugar/carbs, you'll have to get them through one of the 7 gummi bear stations (how many calories are in a gummi bear?), or 3 pretzel stations along the course... unless you bring your own! Gummi bears are almost as annoying to eat on the run as Cliff blocks are. The only difference being that gummi bears are smaller, and therefore a little bit easier to masticate prior to swallowing. Still, I ate the bears at three points along the course. A little after the 13 mile marker, I caught up with the 3:10 pace group. The road felt especially "hard" under my feet on this section, and the sun was heating things up. My right hip started to complain. This could turn into a full-blown IT-band flare-up. I mentally "spoke" to my hip, acknowledged the pain, and re-assured the IT-band that everything was going to be okay. Amazingly, the pain disappeared! Crossing the St. Johns Bridge, I passed the 17 mile marker. Decided it was time for a Gu. I tore open the package and slowly ate the Gu over the next couple of miles since the next aid station didn't appear until mile 19... good thing I drank water at all the previous aid stations! Once I crossed the bridge, it was time for me to face the cursed section of the Portland Marathon course. The previous 2 times that I've raced Portland, extreme pain (the most intense I have ever felt) attacked my legs. This part of the course heads down a fairly steep hill which turns to the left, but is cambored to the right (I was told, this is called an "adverse cambor"). If you were driving a car down this hill at a high speed, you would lose control and roll your car to the right. I think the combination of 17 miles of fatigue, eccentric muscle contractions from the quad-busting downhill, along with with use of supplemental muscles to try to turn the body to the left when it wants to go right, is responsible for the Curse. I tried to slow down and run this section very controlled. I made it to mile 20 without pain suddenly stopping me in my tracks. I was still hangin' with the (much smaller now) pace group. 3:10 was looking like a believable time now! For the next 3 miles, I maintained my 3-3 breathing pattern. As the intensity increased, I had to switch to 2-2 for the last 5K. I ran side-by-side with one of the pacers. Just a couple of miles earlier, I was telling jokes to him and a couple of other runners. Now I was digging deep, staying focused. It was at this point that I remembered a comment that Scott made on Fast Running Blog. Something about how some of the race time predictor calculators "don't know how tough I am". Thanks, Scott, it helped! The pacer was helpful too. He told us we were right on pace to finish about 20 seconds fast of 3:10. In the last 385 yards, he suggested that I maintain the speed, but pickup my cadence... that felt better! I crossed the finish knowing that I had a new PR of 3:09. At nearly every aid station, I drank water and poured almost as much water on top of my head. I carried 2 Gu's, but only used one. I ate 9-12 gummi bears, and 2 mini pretzels (which required lots of water to wash down--I won't eat those in a race again). At the finish, I ate and drank what I could. The urge to immediately sit down was strong, but I kept moving. Got all my "swag". I'd have to say, this year's finisher's shirt is pretty nice-looking. Met up with Jodi and took the train to the hotel. Had a nice shower and a 30 minute nap before checking out. Then we went to the Widmer Brewery where I quite possibly had the best hamburger I have ever tasted (the Brewer's burger), along with a pint of their Oktoberfest ale.
|
lap
|
time
|
distance miles
|
pace
|
AverageHeartRateBpm
|
MaximumHeartRateBpm
|
|
1
|
0:07:40
|
1.01
|
0:07:34
|
142
|
153
|
|
2
|
0:07:14
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1.00
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0:07:15
|
159
|
164
|
|
3
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0:07:45
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1.06
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0:07:21
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160
|
168
|
|
4
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0:06:42
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0.97
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0:06:53
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150
|
156
|
|
5
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0:07:11
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1.03
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0:07:00
|
152
|
158
|
|
6
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0:06:48
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0.96
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0:07:05
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155
|
158
|
|
7
|
0:07:20
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1.02
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0:07:10
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154
|
158
|
|
8
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0:08:12
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1.01
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0:08:06
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153
|
162
|
|
9
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0:06:58
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1.00
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0:06:59
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154
|
159
|
|
10
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0:07:08
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1.01
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0:07:03
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153
|
157
|
|
11
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0:07:01
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1.00
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0:07:00
|
156
|
162
|
|
12
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0:07:08
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1.00
|
0:07:07
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160
|
164
|
|
13
|
0:06:50 |
| Flame Nimbus 13 Miles: 26.22 |
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| | Comments(8) | | | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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ZERO Very sore today. It was a joy to get up and move from one operatory to the next all day long. Looks like my mile splits were cut off from yesterday's overly-long race entry. I'll try posting them here: lap time distance mile pace AverageHeartRateBpm MaximumHeartRateBpm 1 0:07:40 1.01 0:07:34 142 153 2 0:07:14 1.00 0:07:15 159 164 3 0:07:45 1.06 0:07:21 160 168 4 0:06:42 0.97 0:06:53 150 156 5 0:07:11 1.03 0:07:00 152 158 6 0:06:48 0.96 0:07:05 155 158 7 0:07:20 1.02 0:07:10 154 158 8 0:08:12 1.01 0:08:06 153 162 9 0:06:58 1.00 0:06:59 154 159 10 0:07:08 1.01 0:07:03 153 157 11 0:07:01 1.00 0:07:00 156 162 12 0:07:08 1.00 0:07:07 160 164 13 0:06:50 1.00 0:06:51 159 163 14 0:07:03 1.00 0:07:03 159 161 15 0:07:06 1.00 0:07:05 161 163 16 0:07:16 1.00 0:07:16 160 164 17 0:08:01 1.06 0:07:34 167 171 18 0:06:35 0.95 0:06:55 163 169 19 0:07:32 1.01 0:07:26 160 167 20 0:07:16 1.01 0:07:12 162 165 21 0:07:18 1.01 0:07:14 165 170 22 0:07:05 1.01 0:06:59 167 171 23 0:07:06 1.01 0:07:03 162 169 24 0:07:12 1.01 0:07:07 170 174 25 0:07:02 0.97 0:07:15 169 173 26 0:07:25 1.03 0:07:12 170 172 27 0:01:37 0.23 0:06:59 174 177 | |
| | Comments(5) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| ZERO I am just about as sore today as I was yesterday. At any given hour, a different set of muscles will feel more sore than the others. While I may be walking down stairs backwards and sideways, it's a "good" soreness. I'm not injured! I plan to take at least 5 completely off for recovery. | |
| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| ZERO Soreness is WAY better today. I can walk down stairs, but it's still nice to have a handrail to hold on to. | |
| | Comments(2) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| ZERO Soreness almost gone. | |
| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| ZERO Soreness... what soreness? | |
| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| ZERO I almost went for a run today, but a nap sounded better! | |
| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| ZERO Busy day today. Operated the sound board at church and had a transition team meeting. Cleaned (part of) the garage and watched the end of the Seahawks game. Then went on a date with Jodi (and Brandon and Jerene) to Cal's in Kent. | |
| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| ZERO I almost ran this morning. Maybe tomorrow. | |
| | Comments(3) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 4.14 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.14 |
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Brad Lk x 2 (mostly) Thanks to accountability that Fast Running Blog has fostered, I got up at 5:30 this morning for my first run since the Portland Marathon. It was very windy, the tail-end of our first winter storm, and dark outside. I had to don my running jacket for the first time since spring. Had to wear my headlamp too. On the plus side, Orion was shining very clear in the night sky. I felt great! It feels so much better running a week after a hard marathon vs. only taking 2-4 days off. No fatigue, no "dead legs". A mile or so into the run, I felt a few little reminders of various areas of my legs that complained through the training and racing of the past few months. I planned on doing 4.5 miles today, but really wanted to do 6. The coach inside me said, "stick with 4.5 today, this is only your first run since Portland." I listened to the coach. Good thing I did! About 0.5 miles from my house, I felt a sharp twinge of pain/tightness in my right knee. I've had this before... it's my IT-band. Knowing that running through the pain for the last 0.5 mile would be counter-productive, I walked the rest of the way back home. I didn't limp, and I didn't feel any more discomfort once I got home. I rolled my IT-bands with the foam roller, and did 60 crunches, and 40 pushups, before eating breakfast and showering. Depending on how I feel tomorrow, I'll run 2-3 miles or just go for a walk in the morning. It's interesting to note that: I felt great running, but I was running much slower than normal (I think it was 9:05 pace). Also, even though I felt relaxed and not at all labored in breathing, my breathing pattern was a 2-2, instead of my typical 3-3 or even 4-4 pattern at such a slow pace. Complete recovery is going to take a while!
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| Flame Nimbus 13 Miles: 4.58 |
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| | Comments(2) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 1.46 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.46 |
| Arrrrggg! I thought an easy run of 2-3 miles wouldn't set off my IT-band. Yesterday, it flared up at 4 miles. Today, it flared up before 1.5 miles! I had to walk 1.5 miles all the way back home. Walking downhill agitated the knee, otherwise it just felt "tight" for the walking portion. At the very beginning of the run, the outside of my lower right leg was giving off twinges of pain. I stopped to stretch and then decided to run up the hill out of my neiborhood. By then, the twinges stopped, so I decided to continue running. It might be time for some new running shoes. Whatever is going on in the lower leg may be the cause of the IT-band flaring up later in the run. Plan: - Rest more (definitely no running tomorrow!)
- Get new running shoes
- Stretch
- Roll
- Strength training
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| | Comments(2) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| ZERO Resting the IT band | |
| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| ZERO Resting the IT band. Rode my bike for a few miles. I just attached the cadence sensor to the bike computer. I think I read that you should be spinning at a cadence of 90/min... interesting how that's the same cadence that a runner should have for each step per minute for each foot (180 steps/min for both feet)... so I tried to pedal at that rate. | |
| | Comments(1) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 3.26 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.26 |
| 26:42 (8:12/mi) Brad Lk x 1 My intension was to just run to the lake and back, about 3 miles. I felt so good though, that I didn't resist the urge to do a loop around the lake (0.8 miles) before going back home. Bad call. About 1/2 mile from home, the knee started to tighten-up... Over this weekend, I read the section in Tim Noakes book, The Lore of Running, on IT band injuries. (I sure wish this info was around back in my high school and college days, but alas, the experiments were not published yet.) The book recommends frequent stretching and strengthening of the IT band (I'm working on that). The book also says I can run, but at the first sign of tightness in the knee, I need to stop running. I can tell you, from someone who has had this injury off-and-on for 20 years, that if you continue to run when the tightness starts, it only gets worse... then you are forced to not run for weeks! So, it looks like I'll have to stick with 3 mile runs for the near future. It's only been 2 weeks since Portland. Going by the rule of 1 day recovery per mile raced, this doesn't seem too bad. |
| Flame Nimbus 13 Miles: 3.80 |
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| | Comments(2) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| To Bradley Lake and back Kept my run to only 3 miles today. No sign of IT band pain! I'm trying to stretch 6xday, but only did it 4x today. In the evening, I bought some new running shoes! I'm trying something new this time. the ASICS Gel Blur33 v2.0. It's a shoe with a smaller midfoot to heel rise than what I normally wear. It's not a minimalist shoe, but something between minimalist and traditional. No stabilizers built into it, a pure cushioned, neutral shoe. I'm not sure if it's a good long run shoe, but it'll do the job for this phase of my running. | |
| | Comments(2) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| To Bradley Lake and back Ran in my new shoes. Lots of cushioning! No IT band pain. I'm sticking with 3 milers for the rest of the week, even though they barely feel worth the effort of lacing up my shoes. I actually forgot to hit the start button on my Garmin today. I can't remember the last time I did that! I didn't realize it until I got to the half-way turn-around point too. | |
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| | Comments(2) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 27:23 (9:08/mi) To Brad Lk and back | |
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| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 3.03 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.03 |
| 26:45 (8:44/mi) To Brad Lk and back Having a hard time remembering to stretch often. It's because I don't have any pain to remind me to do it (and that's a good thing). It needs to become a habit though. I think the older you get, the more important stretching becomes. | |
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| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 3.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.01 |
| 26:14 (8:44/mi) To Brad Lk and back | |
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| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 23:40 (7:53/mi) To Brad Lk and back Legs are jumpy. They want to go faster or farther. | |
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| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 24:57 (8:19/mi) To Brad Lk and back No problems with IT Band for the past week. I think I'm ready for 4 milers now. | |
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| | Comments(3) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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ZERO Busy day, busy weekend. Just didn't have time to run. I'm feeling a little sleep-deprived anyway.
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| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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ZERO I slept in. Running was just not happening today.
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| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 4.56 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.56 |
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41:47 (9:09/mi) Brad Lk x 2 Well, I ran my good 'ol standard easy run today without any IT band pain! Stretching was a little rushed this morning due to sleeping in a little. At the beginning of the run, a muscle on the outside of my right lower leg was aching. That same muscle has ached on some other runs, ever since Portland. I almost turned around after the first 1/4 mile because the ache was worsening, but then it went away and troubled me no more for the rest of the run.
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| | Comments(2) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Trainer 1 Miles | Trainer 2 Miles | Racer Miles | Total Distance | | 45.46 | 35.11 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 80.57 |
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| Flame Nimbus 13 Miles: 54.49 | Blur33 Miles: 22.60 |
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