It's just that simple

Neighborhoods + Borah Track - 42:55

A long day at work and home so I didn't get out until 10:15 p.m. Ran really easy except for 8-10 medium paced, longer pickups and 8 - 10 short, explosive sprints. Maybe a little too fast on the short ones. Legs felt good when done, though.

Middle Fork Rd + Valley High - 1:00

A nice evening run from the cabin. 15 minutes steady on the road, then did 21 minutes easy with Emily followed by 23 minutes steady on the Valley High loop and fire roads. Cruised pretty fast down the fire roads and the downhill sections of the subdivision on the way home. Seemed a little more fatigued then I should have when I finished.

Neighborhoods - 31:47

I did a progression run this evening, with splits of 7:47, 7:15, 6:45, and 6:18. On the last half mile I ran easy with 4 x 10 second fast strides. A bit windy and drizzly out this evening - a big shift from this weekend.

Here is a little pre-marathon analysis for the truly anal person (just me, probably). I compared the 17 weeks (I excluded the last taper week) leading up to each of my previous marathons and before this Sunday's Portland Marathon.

            Ave MPW  High  MP miles Tempo miles VO2 miles 15+ mile runs weight Time

New York  53.7    60        41            36              30             12       177   2:50

Newport     54.5    70        41            75              28             12        173   2:43

Portland      52.4    61        68             71             13               8         171  ????

Where does that put my predicted time for Portland? My guess is the 2:45-2:46 range. My mileage was a bit lower (bit not significantly) and my number of long runs was down as well. Having only one run over 18 miles is a bit worrisome! But my mileage in the marathon pace and threshold range is higher, so that has to help. The travel should be easier than New York, but probably not as smooth as Newport. My health is excellent. No injuries to speak of. All that's left to do is hit the taper correctly, get sleep and good nutrition this week and hope for the best.

Treadmill - 30:42

Easy pace with 6 x 30 second pickups to turn the legs over a bit.

Canal banks + neighborhoods - 41:22

I ran 3 miles in the 7:20's range on the canals, then changed shoes and did a short effort at marathon pace. Times ended up a little quicker than I planned with 6:02, 6:00 and 2:51 for the last half mile. It felt really easy this afternoon, which was nice.

Tubbs Hill - 20+

In CD'A for a conference. Ran from the resort right onto the trail for a nice easy 20 minute run before heading to Emry's house for dinner.

Treadmill - 22+

At the resort's workout room. Meetings all day, then an evening cruise, so I did a few miles before meeting up with some folks for a beverage. Ran easy and felt great. Did 4 x 30 second pickups at marathon pace.

Tubbs Hill - 22+

Ran around the hill on a beautiful trail. I wanted to run a few more loops, but with the marathon in 2 days, I abstained. Did 3 x 20 second pickups when I was done.

From Danny's house - 20+

Easy jog with Danny on some nearby roads and trails. Felt really good. 2 x 20 second pickups at the end. Great carb loading all day.

Portland Marathon - 2:44 - 13th place

I'm still feeling pretty good about things two days after the race is over. Although it wasn't a PR, it was my best effort in a marathon, and my best relative placing.

The rain started early in the morning and didn't stop much throughout the race. A total of 0.8" fell during the morning. It was a factor, but I'm not sure how big. I don't think a lot of people PR'ed this year. I was shooting for a top 25 finish and that's probably where I should have been. Judging by how many people I passed, a lot of people fell off the pace and crashed.

I got to the starting line just a few minutes before the race (thanks Dan, you saved me!). There looked like a lot of fast dudes, but you can never tell. One thing I knew for sure was that I wasn't going to get in oxygen debt because I haven't trained for that. I wanted 6:15-6:20s. The first mile was a stampede and I hit 6:16. Miles 2 and 3 are gradually uphill (gain of 125 feet) and I ran a 6:20 and 6:26. At this point, I was in approximately 50th-60th place and behind the female leader. I used a nice downhill back into downtown to run a 5:47 4th mile. I was feeling pretty strong and feeling confident that my rhythm was solid. Mile 5 was a flat one in 6:07 and I found myself in no-man's land this early in the race as we began a four-plus mile out and back stretch.

I (stupidly?) braved a headwind and tried to catch up to a pack and did miles 6, 7 and 8 in 6:11, 6:05 and 6:11. I passed a lot of people trying to get with a group that was moving well. Most of them weren't. We hit a turnaround and I packed up with some guys for about a mile which made things really easy. Mile 9 was 6:13, and when 2 guys passed us and moved on, I latched in with them. We rolled through miles 10 and 11 in 6:08 apiece, and then I got dropped by one of them (Yasim) and didn't get him until mile 25. At mile 9, I was in 26th place.

Mile 12 climbed up into a little trendy neighborhood. I scaled it back on the hill with a 6:19 12th mile but used a short, steep downhill onto St. Helen's Drive to hit mile 13 in 5:59. I hit 13.1 at 1:20:54 on the Garmin, but 1:21:30 on the course marking. (The Garmin had it at 26.44 miles when all was said and done).

The next 4 miles were kind of lonely along the industrial looking highway. My calves started to get tight and some doubt was entering my mind. Luckily I had great support from my family and a couple of opportunities for tonic water from them. The random strip club in between the blue collar oil plants and trucking companies also made me chuckle. Miles 14 - 16 in 6:11, 6:11 and 6:16. The big climb up to St. John's bridge wasn't all that bad - I backed off the effort and kept my breathing in control. A pack of 7 or 8 had formed in front of me at the top of the hill. Mile 17 in 6:45 up the hill. I tried to get my legs back and by mile 18 (6:05) and 19 (6:09) I was passing people who had splintered off the pack. Mile 20 took us by University of Portland and I felt great about my 20 mile split of 2:04 (my 10 mile split was 1:02, so I was keeping it even still).

Mile 20 is halfway in the marathon, they say, and my calves began to really feel like the end was near. I knew that if they cramped, it would be 7 - 8 minute miles the whole way in, even though I felt fine otherwise. Thus began the internal battle of whether to take a chance to push the pace and have the calves seize up or keep in a rhythm that enabled me to keep passing people but not blow out the calves. Every attempt to pick it up sent tingles of warning that they were about to go, so I had to keep things in check.

Despite this, I passed people all the way into the finish. The last few miles did drag on, but I managed to stay on pace and average 6:18's for the last 5 miles of the race. I had a lot of half marathoners to weave through, but they were mostly cool and moved to the side. The crowd support was great through here and really kept me going.

I crossed the finish line and felt pretty emotional. It was great to be supported by family and to tough out a good performance on a less than ideal day. It's not easy to work full time, have a family and train for a marathon. Crossing the line makes it all worth it, though. Within a minute or two of finishing, I had reunited with everyone and was thinking about how I could shave four minutes off my time and run sub-2:40. The first start will probably be increasing my 50 miles per week up to 60 or 65.

Headed to the Oregon coast in the afternoon and enjoyed the rest of the day.

Rockaway Beach - 20+

Nice jog from the beach house onto the beautiful beach. It was a gorgeous sunny day - so much different than yesterday. I even took my shirt off to enjoy the sun. Legs are destroyed, of course, but that's ok. I still was able to shuffle along.

Later hiked about an hour and a half with Emily, Nica and Danny.

Rockaway beach - 20+

A glorious jog at 7 a.m. and a chance to enjoy the sunrise on the beach. I pushed Nica in the new BOB stroller and Emily ran with us. Back to reality soon, but vacation is the best.

Legs feel somewhat better than yesterday.

Treadmill - 40:20

Slow pace at 9 p.m. Legs felt pretty good, but I was moving pretty slowly.

Train Depot + Ann Morrison Park - 42:03

Parked at the depot and ran about 25 minutes on the grass in Ann Morrison. Finished up around the depot in the neighborhoods. Overall pace was 7:37/mile. Legs are not quite as recovered as I thought they were yesterday. Left calf and hamstring are both a little sore and tight.

Greenbelt - 20:03

I went to the BSU stadium to meet a buddy and watch the Barber to Boise finish this morning. I ran with Nica in the stroller for 20 minutes before the race started. The race has really grown into quite a spectacle - stadium finish with jumbo-tron views of runners crossing the line and a nice post-race party. The word was that 1800 runners finished between the 5k adn 10k. Good winning times of 15-low/mid for the 5k and really fast time of sub-30 for the 10k. I'll have to get in on this next year.

Canal banks + neighborhoods - 40:51

Great, warm afternoon. I ran the beginning and end sections on the canals and the middle part with Emily while pushing Nica. Didn't feel great, but did feel OK, which is a moral victory one week after the marathon.

Canal banks + neighborhoods - 40:16

A bit dehydrated today and didn't have much energy. Ran at about 7:30/mile pace except for a 10 minute stretch in the middle with Emily and Nica.

Canal banks + Cassia Park - 55+

The gorgeous fall continues. Ran at twilight and into the darkness a bit and had a pretty good run. At Cassia, I did the 20 minute fartlek but didn't wear the Garmin so I don't know splits. My calves felt a bit beat up but other than that, it was fine.

Canal banks + BK track - 1:05

A nice warm evening, but kind of a boring run. 30 minutes on the canals, then 30 minutes at the track and a run home. Legs felt absolutely beat. My shoes, which don't have many miles on them, feel dead. Maybe it's just the marathon still in my legs after 11 days.

Treadmill + neighborhoods - 41:22

Started on the treadmill, but after 11 minutes it seemed kind of pointless so I headed out into the dark and did an enjoyable 30 minutes in the neighborhoods. Shorts and a t-shirt at 9 p.m. on October 22nd...nice.

2.5 mile wo; 5 miles fartlek; 2.5 mile wd

Took the canals to Cassia Park where I did 5 miles (10+ laps) in 30:40. Cooled down the same way back home.

On each lap of the park I did about 2:05-2:10 steady and then about 45-50 seconds of an easy cruise. The steady segments averaged about 5:45/mile pace, which is pretty good for the winding path. It was good to get breathing a little harder and feel like I was pushing a bit.

2 mile wo; 4 x hill, 5 x 2:00, 4 x hill; 2 mile wd

Cold and windy out. Not feeling top notch. Hill repeats up Phillippi Hill and the 5 x 2:00 on/off around the neighborhoods.

Treadmill at Gold's - 45:30

Ran with the incline up for about 25 minutes, then did 20 minutes of easy fartlek. Finished off with the hot tub and sauna.

Terrace Lakes+ - 43:35

Run from the cabin that was way harder than it should have been. Ran a little bit on the golf course then up Castle Mountain for a few minutes. Breathing still off and sinuses and lungs not back to normal either. Weak body in general.