26.2

After 6 months of training, the day arrived. It was bittersweet as my running partner, Rochelle, was unable to run due to a stress fracture on her patella. So I made the drive down to Portland on Sat morning alone-well, me and Moose made the drive.

Moose all bucked up for the drive

Got to the hotel and checked in, I purposely picked my hotel for it's proximity to the expo and race start. About 4 blocks down was the hotel with the expo, made my way in, was pretty orderly, picked up my bib and browsed the expo. Bought a fleece with Portland Marathon on it, and picked up goodie bag, and then had to buy a new sticker for my truck...can take off my 13.1 and replace it with my 26.2 now! After that, I went back to my hotel to drop my stuff off and went off in search of the Harley store. Had dinner after that at Cheesecake Factory and then came back to my hotel for the evening. I got all my race stuff together, bib pinned on shirt, double checked that I had everything(socks, sports bra, rubberbands, barrets, etc).

I set my clock for 5, and requested wake up calls at 515 and 530-was paranoid about oversleeping...lol. Went to bed and managed to fall asleep fairly easily, briefly woke up once or twice(I tend to sleep like crap when Bill is gone), and woke up no problem. I had breakfast, got dressed and headed out.

The start was about 4 blocks over and 3 blocks down. It was the first race I was in that had the start area blocked off, you had to show your bib for entry. I made my way to the back and lined up behind the 6 hr pace group. And then the waiting game began. I helped an older woman start her MP3 player-she said her husband was usually there and did it for her(she was the one that I took a picture of the back of her shirt that said brain tumor, blood clot, knee surgery and 5 marathons). I found someone else who was there alone(her running partner bailed on her about halfway through training) and asked her to take my picture. Then we were off, they did a wave start so I started at about 710. We started off through downtown Portland and within the first quarter mile, there was a drum line who was just thumping...and I about cried there! The emotion hit me of O-M-G I'm running a marathon! But I kept it together...lol. Early on, I was doing my run 8 mins, walk 2 mins and it seemed to serve me well as my pace was pretty consistent the first half of the race.

People like this just AMAZE me!

My pace started to drop after 17.5 miles and kept slowing down. Around mile 16 my hip started to bother me, and I started doing more walking around mile 18. I met up with the girl who took my picture again, it was also her first marathon and we walked and talked quite a bit-her knee was bothering her. There was a gnarly bridge at about mile 17 or so, I don't like bridges(really should have rethought my marathons as they all have bridges...lol) About mile 20 my knee started to hurt, it was the one I had surgery on 5 years ago-I'm also pretty sure someone was smoking pot around mile 20...lol. My new buddy finally pulled ahead as I was slowing my walking down quite a bit because I hurt. I also ended up taking potty breaks quite a bit the last half, I made it to the halfway mark before my first break-I figure I don't normally go during a half so I was good till that point. I started to worry a little as I barely went(sorry for TMI...lol) and was afraid of getting dehydrated. So I was really drinking at all the water stops from that point on(I'd been doing water mostly till then, but after that, would grab a cup of ultima and water at each stop). Needless to say, it was like when you're drinking beer and 'break the seal'...I stopped 4 more times the 2nd half of the race...lol. The last 4 or so miles, I just wanted to cry so many times-and started a few times. My hip and knee hurt and I just wanted to be done(ok, like I admitted to Bill, I wanted to quit). I wanted to cry when I was leaving the portapotties-it meant I had to stand back up and move again. I managed a few more bursts of running here and there. I hit 26 miles and couldn't hold the tears back anymore, I started running and just crying, people were cheering and it was wonderful. I heard my name as I crossed the line and knew I was DONE! I got my medal, walked to the recovery area where blissfully the first thing there was people handing out chocolate milk! Once I got my milk, I put my stuff down and pulled out my blackberry to email Bill, wanted to tell him first since he made my training possible. I walked around the recovery area getting some munchies-the volunteers were great there(as they were all through the course). I headed down to pick up my finisher shirt and then made my way out of the area for the trek back to my hotel-it sure felt a lot longer walking back than it did that morning...lol. Got a few 'congrats' on the way back-kinda obvious since I had my medal and a space blanket...lol. I came to my room and just wanted to lay down and not move. I seriously contemplated that for a while...lol. I knew I'd feel better after an ice bath and shower so I did that. At that point, I was planning to just order room service, but when I got out of the shower had an email from Bill telling me to 'take my ice bath and go to Hooters'...lol, so I did just that. I had a beer, some wings and shrimp-and because I was thinking of my Joy of Running buddies, cheesecake! Got my picture taken with a couple of Hooters' girls-twins no less...lol, to send to the man(and for the Half Fanatics website...them and MM have a thing about going to Hooters, which is right up my alley). After that, I came back and relaxed.

Portland Marathon Finisher with the Hooters Twins

Had to hit Voodoo Donuts on the way out(need to pick up some inappropriate donuts...rofl), and then head home(with another stop at Harley store in southern WA). I was feeling pretty good the next morning, all things considered. I was to the point in the last few miles of the race and that night that I was second guessing running my other marathons I have scheduled-it was mostly my knee that worried me. Massage and chiro appt really helped my recovery.

The Voodoo Donuts shop

Box full of voodoo dolls, a Triple Chocolate Penetration and the triple cream filled cock and balls!

On the drive home, I was thinking, what a difference a year makes. 1 year and 1 week ago, I ran my first half marathon. I was so sore by the time I got home from it, I put ice on immediately, hobbled around for several days, wore Crocs(didn't even want to look at my running shoes), and wound up on crutches for 10 days. Fast forward to now and a few days post race and I'm pretty much back to normal

I am a marathoner!!!