Race for the Roses Half Marathon 4/2007

April 15, 2007
Portland, OR
13.1m Run

Let me start with some background.

I'm currently training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene which is coming up in June. I've been logging miles according to my training plan since January and last week my plan called for a 2.5 hour run so I decided it was a good opportunity to run an organized race.

Pre-Race - Stayed out late with friends on Friday night after a busy week of work and training. Slept in Saturday morning and then immediately got started on my day. Now normally I'd not recount an entire day to you but indulge me because it cracks me up that I did so much on a day before running 13.1 miles.

Got dressed, ate a banana and some yogurt and went out for a 30 minute (2.5 mile run). Grabbed my stuff and headed out for a bunch of errands. Dropped some stuff at Goodwill, got my car's key fob reprogrammed at the dealership, had a Jamba Juice smoothie, went to the cycling shop to pick up GU20 and new cycling shoes, headed across town to pick up my race packet and got a NF latte and 1/2 a low fat muffin. Then back across town to buy some running socks at the running store and hit the pool. Swam 3000 yards (1.7 miles) then went grocery shopping and headed home.

Whew, long day but wait there's more :)

Had a quick dinner and then went to see the Portland Trailblazers basketball game. The Blazers won and we headed home where I got my gear ready for the early AM wake up the next day.

Race Day
Woke up at 5am, got dressed, checked the weather (no rain and low 50s), ate a PB & J and headed to the train station.

Took the train to the convention center and then walked around, got my fuel belt on, ate a banana, took some Tylenol and stretched.

While I'm doing this I'm thinking about Arizona. Why are you thinking about Arizona, you ask? Well today is Ironman Arizona and my friend Katherine (Tink short for Tinkerbell57) was racing it and it was her first Ironman. So while I'm standing on the starting line waiting to go for what I consider a pretty short run these days, my friend Tink is in the water getting ready to the Ironman. GOOOOOO TINK!!!!!!!

They start the countdown and I start my interval timer and get a little choked up because in 9 weeks I'll be in the water waiting to start my Ironman, I can't imagine how that feel but I was so excited and nervous for Tink. WOO HOO - I sent her some positive thoughts and then crossed the timing mat to start my run.

Since this was a training run my plan was very easy. I set my watch for 4/1 intervals so I would run 4 minutes and walk 1 min for the whole race. I also decided that since this was a training run and I tend to obsess over mile splits that I wouldn't take splits. I'd just follow my plan.

I was running in shorts, sports bra and tank top with a long sleeved running top over the top. My fuel belt was filled with GU20 (about 150 total) and my plan was to drink water at the aid stations, sip my GU20 and take a GU at mile 4,8, 12 and then some yummy Sport Beans at mile 10.

This will be a short race report because I worked my plan. Ran when I was supposed to, walked when I was supposed to and then a few times at aid stations to fill a bottle with water or suck down a GU. My legs felt great, there were actually people cheering and everyone was having fun!

The course had a long steady climb from mile 2-4 then a few more rollers at mile 7-8 and then for the most part it was flat. I took off the long sleeved top at mile 8 and just kept on running. At mile 12 I went to take my last GU and started getting tummy issues. Weird! I've never had problems before but I actually think I took in too many calories. Apparently I need to stick to about 200-250 for the run even though I do 300-350 on the bike. Okay, that's cool. Walked an extra minute to let my stomach settle and then picked up the pace a bit to crest the final hill and run it into the finish.

Finish Time - 2:35.45

That's an 11:53 minute mile average. Holy mackeral!!!! Legs felt great so I stretched, got a bottle of water and headed to the train to check in on Tink. Got some breakfast and did some more errands then spent the rest of the day tracking her progress on Ironmanlive.com

WOO HOO - She finished with 10 minutes to spare in spite of 30 MPH winds on the bike. Way to go Tink!!!!