Wednesday, May 23, 2012

#RnRPDX: Race Recap

I woke up bright and early at 5 am ready to rock it at the Inaugural Portland Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon.  I think that my choice in race outfit was perfect for the occasion:

I made the skirt, got tons of compliments AND it didn't fall apart! #Winning

#SweatPink

Cass and I decided to ride the Max downtown PDX to avoid a cluster of trying to find parking. We got to the station and were the only ones waiting- kind of odd? We thought so. We took the opportunity to stretch and take some funny pictures:


We got off super close to the race start and had a full hour to relax, use the honey bucket, stretch/warm up, take pictures, and drop off our gear bags. I was really excited to see Amanda from Runninghood for the second weekend in a row. She actually noticed me first. It must have been the skirt? :-)


After I caught up with Amanda, Cass and I headed over to corral #5 so I could meet up with Holly from Leaps of Faith who is running on the Nuun Ragnar team with me in July. Time for more photo ops of course. After I met up with them I took off to warm up. As I was warming up, I was texting Kim from (Just) Trying is for Little Girls. I really wanted to see her at the race. We met at the Girlfriend's 1/2 marathon last October and I have been following her blog ever since. I don't know how Kim and I found each other, but we did! Our photo is the bottom center one. Kim is currently in the process of running a 1/2 marathon in every state. She recently did a double 1/2 marathon weekend. How cool is that?! 


With less than 10 minutes to race start I got into corral 1. I shimmied my way over to where there was room. I started to talk to the gal standing next to me who was super sweet. Her name was Angie (she blogs at Angie Blogs) and she had just run Boston and is going to be running the Vancouver Marathon in a couple of weeks. Next thing I know I also spot Amanda standing a couple feet in front of me. She came over and the three us chatted which took my mind off of the 13.1 miles I was about to embark on. I was planning on racing it, but knew in my heart if my leg/butt was bothering me I would have to back off. I was really hoping it wouldn't bother me, but it was still sore so I wasn't sure what to expect. 

Once the race started I took off and was running about a 7:15 pace. I was feeling pretty good for the most part. Then the first hill hit, OYE. It seemed to take forever to reach the top. I was expecting it, but it seriously killed me, knocked the wind outta my sails. I don't know if I was running "funny" or what, but as soon as I hit the downside of the first hill, my leg started to bother me. Not good. I slowed down, a lot. Was running about a 7:30-7:40 pace. I actually had to stop and stretch it out multiple times when my foot started to feel numb. Then there were more hills, and more, and more. Seriously. Insane. I was actually beginning to wonder if I was in Seattle and not PDX!!!! About mile 7 I started to lose track of the miles because I really didn't care. I changed my game plan to finish the race at my easy pace of 8:00-8:30 miles. I felt that was realistic at that point in the race. I think it was around mile 10 that Amanda went by me. She asked if  I was okay and if my leg was bothering me. She is so sweet, seriously love her. I hit the last bridge with about a mile left to go and my entire left foot was completely numb, but I REFUSED to stop with less than a mile to go. It definitely makes for an odd stride with 1 numb foot! I finished in 1:44:38 a 7:59 pace. Slow for me, but given the circumstances of my injury and still trying to recover from the Eugene Marathon I will take it and be proud. I have zero complaints about how I ran. Now I just need to focus on getting HEALTHY


The picture in the top right corner (me looking down) is the annoying "heavy breather" guy who thought I was his pacer!!! I stopped 3 times at water stations just with the intent of losing him, but he still stopped right behind me. So ANNOYING!!!! I even ran to the other side of the road and he followed me. Finally when I stopped to stretch my leg he went by me and I didn't have to listen to him breathing down my back!

I forgot to mention that it rained for more than half of the race. No biggie really until I got to the end and was FREEZING cold. I had checked weather bug multiple times and it forecasted rain, but not until that afternoon. Go figure. I was not prepared for the rain. I had ONE long sleeve shirt and that was it. No pants, rain coat, or even sweatshirt. They had tons of snacks and treats for us once we got into the finish area which was great. However, since I am experimenting with eliminating gluten from diet to see if it helps my tummy issues there wasn't a lot I could eat. I was hungry and cold. They gave us a space blanket which was also great, but hard to juggle with all of the treats in my hand. The gear pick up area was the big EPIC FAIL for this race. It was a LONG ways (I heard EVERYONE complaining about this also) away from the actual finish area. No joke, I want to say it was over 1/2 mile walk from the finish to where our gear was. I actually thought I had missed it! As I was wondering aimlessly trying to find my gear I ran back into Amanda who had finished a couple of minutes in front of me. We were bleeping a few curse words because we were so irritated about where our gear was. Once we finally got our gear we went and sat under a tree where the ground was dry so she could ice her leg. I was thrilled for her that she ran a smart and awesome race. She is so talented and has so many great things going for her. I am so lucky and thankful to be able to call her a good friend. I can't wait to see what the future holds for her!

I hung with Amanda for a bit and then I went over to the beer garden to meet up with Jeremy aka "Hurl". He used to work with Cassie and is a VERY talented runner. He had just ran a 50K the weekend before and still ran a 1:30:xx at PDX. Totally incredible. Hurl and I hung out in the beer garden area and waited for Cass to finish. I felt bad for Cass her knee was really bothering her. I was so proud of her for sticking it out and finishing. 



1/2 marathon #14 is in the books!

When Cass finished we had a mad dash to get back on the max so we could get ready for her bridal shower. I was a little bummed to miss the blogger meet up at Voodoo, but there just wasn't time and I was so cold. Cass and I were both freezing and craving SBUX....BAD. We went to SBUX and got some treats to take back to her house. We made Mr. Hoffert take pictures of us before we got ready for her shower. Poor guy...not really. I think that he secretly loves it. :-)

SBUX & our sweet finisher's shirts #HappyChicas

Goofing off in our Brooks t-shirts we won at the expo

Overall I give the inaugural PDX rock n roll 1/2 marathon 4 stars out of 5. I thought that expo was great, the course was great, the finisher's shirt & medal (the medal has to weigh over 1 lb!!!!) were awesome, the crowds & volunteers were fantastic, there was tons of photographers, & lots of snacks at the end. I got to meet up with some friends I hadn't seen in a long time, saw Amanda for the 2nd weekend in a row, got to meet Holly and even Angie. I had a blast!

What I thought was the HUGE EPIC FAIL was the gear check. That needs to be addressed for next year.  The rain? Can't complain about that, it is Oregon after all. 

Questions for you:

What is the big epic fail in a race you have ran? Did you address those issues with the race committee?
Have you ran a rock n roll 1/2 or marathon? What did you think? 

--Tasha





41 comments:

  1. Congratulations on yet another great race! You are amazing and super duper fast. I admire you and hope I can run as speedy as you :)

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  2. Wow! It sounds like you had a great time!

    I was having TONS of stomach problems for about a year and a half. Doctors were no help...they just said it was IBS. I finally did an elimination diet, and found out I seem to have a gluten sensitivity...or something...it could be some specific gluten-y grain, but I don't know which one so I just try to avoid gluten. Doing that has significantly improved the problem. Good luck!

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    1. Stomach problems are the worst! I am finding that there are just certain foods I can't eat anymore which I am fine with. The process of elimination has been interesting to say the least. I think it might take a while to figure this all out, but I am working on it.

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  3. Awesome job despite your leg. I hope you get better soon! What's on the docket for recovery? And I LOVE THAT SKIRT!! It is so so cute. Too bad we couldn't meet up - glad you got to meet lots of others!

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    1. I am super bummed we couldn't meet up! By the time my friend finished we barely had time to make it back to her house to get ready for her bridal shower. It was such a busy weekend, I still feel like I am in recovery mode! Right now since the doctor thinks I might have compartment syndrome I am doing light running every other day with elliptical and spin. At first he said no running, but then made a compromise with me. Thank goodness!

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  4. Way to go! Good job listening to your body:) I ran the Leavenworth half and the epic fail was the horrible traffic after the race. It took us almost an hour and a half to drive back to our hotel less than 2 miles away! Also, the See Jane Run half last year had too few port a potties. Maybe 20 for thousands of women. Total fail. I had to pee by the lake before the race! I ran the San Diego RNR marathon in 2004. Barely heard the bands. Glad you had a fun time and sorry about the bag check. Wow! I sound like a big complainer:( I love most of the races I have done:)

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    1. Haha, you are not a big complainer at all! I got my race survey yesterday and made the mention twice in it about the epic bag check fail. I hope that other people complained too!

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  5. Heck yes for sweating pink! Nothing like post-run starbucks :)

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    1. SBUX post run is the best...especially when you are wet and cold.

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  6. Great job!

    I just stumbled upon your blog, I'm from Portland and I am a Sweat Pink Ambassador too! Let's be blog friends!

    Roya
    www.royaghorbani.wordpress.com

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    1. Very cool! I will check out your blog when I get the chance Roya. :-)

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  7. Congrats!! I love love love the skirt! I even remember thinking "what an awesome skirt" when I saw it flash by-- where I was spectating just past mile 7.

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  8. What a great skirt, very appropriate for Portland :). Sounds like a great run, despite heavy breather dude. Hate those guys. Way to go knocking off another half marathon, woohoo!

    I'm not a huge fan of the Rock and Rolls, but I do Denver because it's convenient. I know a lot of people will never run Vegas again!!!

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    1. I think I know a lot of people who won't be running Vegas either Jill. I don't think I will sign up for that one....ever. Talk about an EPIC FAIL. :-)

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  9. I am laughing about that guy in the orange because I remember him asking you about your goal time at the start. He was going with you whether you liked it or not! Lol. He was running in my vicinity at one point. You did great! It was a surprisingly hilly course. Much hillier than I thought. I'm glad you happened to start talking to me at the start! :) hope your little injury/annoyance resolves itself soon.

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    1. LOL, oh my gosh Angie, I seriously could not believe him. I mean seriously. He was right on my shoulder!!!! The course was way hillier then I had expected too. I kept telling myself that "hills are for heroes", but it wasn't working.
      Glad I got to meet you and glad that I found your blog!

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  10. I ran RnR PDX this weekend too. Even though we scouted the course, I didn't realize just how hilly it was going to be. Love your skirt, and great finish!

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    1. Thanks Lily- the hills were a little insane. Oye!

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  11. Love all the great pictures! So sorry your leg was bothering you, hope that gets better soon.

    I have never done a Rock and Roll marathon but am looking at doing one hopefully soon.

    Great job despite your leg issues!

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    1. Thanks Christy! I hope that someday you can do a rock n roll ( I think you just said on your blog that you are going to sign up for one?) because they are a blast!

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  12. How's your butt/leg/foot doing? I have to be honest and tell you I totally cracked up when you said you ran your slow pace at 8:30...you are so AWESOME you don't even realize it!

    Love ya

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    1. Oh Marnee, thank you. You are so sweet. Butt/leg/foot still a disaster, but a work in progress. :-)

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  13. BIG congratulations! I love all the pics! Your are fassssst !

    I've participated in many RnR events. Most of them successful except for 2011 RnR Las Vegas. It was a complete disaster, a logistical nightmare. They ran out of water, medals, myriad blankets ... lot of issues :-0

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    1. I don't think I would ever sign up for Vegas after what happened to you and all of the runners last year. What an epic fail on their part!

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  14. omg in love with your skirt! it looks like you had a blast! rock n roll seattle will be my first rnr race. Can't wait!

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    1. I can't wait to see you in Seattle Megan, it will be so much fun!

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  15. Definitely looks like a perfect outfit for the race :) Sounds like you had fun!

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    1. Thanks Kari, it was a ton of fun. I highly recommend. :-)

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  16. Love the outfit. Hope you get things figured out with your foot, etc soon! I'd prob freak out if my foot went numb...

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    1. Meggie my doctor thinks that I have compartment syndrome. I have to get the test done to confirm if that is the case. I heard that it hurts and that there are big needles. Boo :-(

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  17. Great race! That skirt is SO cute, i can't believe you made it - you should be selling these on etsy! So crafty :)

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    1. Thanks! I am waaaaay to busy to make them to sell, but they are fun!

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  18. OMG congratulations! I definitely give you SO much credit for running a marathon like that. Especially one with hills :O. But, your skirt is SO awesome. I'd wear that to check my mail :p

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    1. Haha, Cara. I got a lot of compliments on the skirt. If I can run Seattle at the end of June I am going to wear it again. :D

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  19. Congrats on still finishing with a good time--I know how it feels to be drastically off pace! You still had a good time, and sometimes that's what's important.

    I have yet to have a really big race management blunder, but I'm sure it's a matter of time. I will say, however, that for the most part I tend toward the smaller events, where there is likely less to go wrong!

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    1. I like smaller races too! Most of the races I run in Spokane are small which is nice. Now that I think of it any race blunders have been at the bigger races. I can't think of anything that has happened that has been awful bad, most of them have been well organized.

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  20. Great race report! I keep seeing your name, commenting on the same blogs I comment on, so I'm glad I finally clicked through to say hello! :) You're speedy- still a great time for an "easier" run. And yay for all the bloggy meet ups, those are so fun!

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