I took another early flight out of LAX with Southwest. It's a good thing that I'm a morning person. It always sounds like a good idea when I'm booking the flight... it's cheaper and there's no traffic to the airport. Too bad the sun doesn't come up until you're boarding the plane! The flight had two legs with a stop at Oakland before landing in PDX. I finally remembered to bring my free booze tickets for being a frequent flyer. I had some coffee with Bailey's Irish Creme. It sure makes the flight a lot more enjoyable.
Coffee with Bailey's Irish Creme compliments of Southwest Airlines
When we landed in PDX, I grabbed my bag and headed for the light rail train. It was pretty easy to use. You pay $2.40 to ride into Downtown. But once you're in the Downtown area, it's a free-ride zone. I rode into Downtown and got off near the hotel where the expo was held. Before going in, a lady was handing out a coupon for a pair of free socks at a nearby running & walking store called Foot Traffic. The hotel was packed! The expo was on multiple levels. They might need to find another place for the expo. But the organization was very good. There was plenty of people wearing bright yellow jackets directing people where to go.
TriMet Map
TriMet Red Line
After grabbing my bib and shirt, I went through the expo actually looking for an ankle brace. But there wasn't a single booth selling them. So I hiked over to the Foot Traffic store to pick up some free socks and see if I can find an ankle brace to possibly wear for the marathon. At this point, I wasn't 100% certain of even starting the race.
I got a free pair of black Asics socks. I bought a Pro-Tec Neoprene Ankle Wrap and wore it right there on the spot. I walked over to the light rail station and hopped on the train headed for my hotel. There's a station pretty much right in front of the hotel. I checked into my room and they gave me the usual DoubleTree cookie. :) This hotel uses soft water which was pretty nice.
DoubleTree
Room view#1
Room view#2
I ate the cookie and laid out the stuff that I picked up at the expo. Then I headed out to eat lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant, Koji Osakaya. I ordered the geso tempura and tonkotsu chashu ramen. Both were decent, but nothing special. I've had better elsewhere.
Participant Shirt
Koji Osakaya - Geso Tempura
Koji Osakaya - Tonkotsu Chasu Ramen
On my way back to the hotel, I stopped by the DollarTree to pick up some drinks and water. After relaxing, taking a nap, and watching TV, I headed back out to eat an early dinner at McMenamins. My friend recommended that I go here for a Hammerhead. Yes, indeed it was good! I guess I love pub food as well. The burger was good and I love tater tots. My second beer was the Terminator stout. I love a good stout!
McMenamins - Hammerhead
McMenamins - flame grilled burger with tater tots
McMenamins - Terminator (I'll be back!)
Before going to sleep, I mixed my Cytomax for my handheld bottle. The official race drink was Ultima and I hate Ultima. It tastes really really bad.
Race Day
I decided not to wear the ankle wrap since I knew my issue was a tendon issue, so I went with only calf sleeves. I took the light rail to the starting area. Each car was very packed. I took a seat next to a transient. There was a reason that that seat was open... he was pretty stinky. I was assigned to the B corral, but there's no way I could start in that fast of a corral in my current condition. I first checked out the C corral and asked a runner his goal time. It was still too fast, so I made my way to the D corral. D corral was for people running mid 4 hr marathons. I thought I would see if my legs could handle a couple of 9 min miles. I hindsight, I should've started in the F or W (walking) corral.
While waiting in the corral, I heard a funny comment. There was a guy with sunglasses on his head. Another runner saw and said, "wow, sunglasses?! You're optimistic!" :)
Goal A: finish in 6 hrs
Goal B: finish in 6.5 hrs
Goal C: don't set a new personal worst (7:35:37) :)
The race
Well, from the very first step on the bad leg pretty much put a kibosh on running any part of this race. I still tried to jog during the first mile, but it was too painful. By mile 2 I was in full walking mode. There was still discomfort, but at least it wasn't painful. There was a couple of runners that thanked me for running for Autism. It was drizzling off and on for what seemed like the entire race. We were under cloud cover the entire time. I think by the halfway point, I was passed by all of the runners. I got there just under 3 hours. It was now just me and the race-walkers. Prior to the race I was warned about the hills at mile 17-18, so I was somewhat ready for it. But I didn't realize just how badly I would bonk while walking a marathon. I was having a lot of problems at mile 19. I had to just stop a few times. I even found a few places to sit down. I had to take in more salt and food for the extended hike. After which I recovered a little bit and tried to take it slower. But it happened again at mile 25. The legs just did not want to move. I managed to revive the legs for 1 final mile.
1: 11:59
2: 12:50
3: 13:55
4: 13:43
5: 12:59
6: 13:11
7: 13:25
8-9: 27:23 (13:42)
10: 14:15
11: 14:08
12: 15:20
13: 14:54
14: 15:11
15: 15:41
16: 16:11
17: 16:23
18: 18:58
19: 22:45
20: 16:50
21: 16:43
22: 16:27
23: 16:59
24: 18:29
25: 20:01
26: 16:56
26.2: 3:00
Finish: 6:48:35
Post race
I was so relieved to finish this race in one piece. Oregon brings my total to 16 states and 63 marathons overall. The finishing chute was very well organized even for a back of the packer. I was actually a little overwhelmed with everything being handed out. A finisher's medal, water, oranges, bananas, bagels, finisher's long sleeve shirt, finisher's coin, finisher's pendant, pomegranate juice, mylar blanket, a seedling, and a rose. I ran out of hands to hold everything. I gave the seedling away since I have no place to plant it and I didn't want any potential trouble with the TSA. Out of all the races that I've ran, the finishing chute for this race was the best. This race was definitely one of my favorites. I love the Pacific northwest. I carried a disposable rain poncho just in case there was heavy rain. But never once did I need to use it.
Finisher loot, front side: long sleeve shirt, coin, medal, pendant, rose
Finisher loot, back side: long sleeve shirt, coin, medal, pendant, rose
I took the light rail back to my hotel. I got some looks on the train as I was still wearing the mylar blanket like a cape. Somehow that post race runner look is normal to us runners, but I'm sure we look like clowns to the non-runners.
I relaxed a bit, hit the shower, and relaxed some more before heading out later for an early dinner back at McMenamins. I could've tried some other place, but I'm such a creature of habit and there were other beers that I wanted to try. I had their Thundercone fresh hop ale which was a fall seasonal beer. It was nice and refreshing. I ordered a Stormin' Norman sandwich. It had grilled Canadian bacon and some secret sauce on a French roll. I don't know what sauce they used, but it was a very good sandwich and of course I had tater tots with it. I love tater tots! I also love a good porter. The nitro porter was very good.
McMenamins - Thundercone fresh hop ale
McMenamins - Stormin' Norman with tater tots
McMenamins - nitro porter
The next day, I hung out in my room until it was time to check out. The right leg was extra gimpy and it was pretty uncomfortable to even shuffle around. There was also a light rain. But I walked all the way back to the same Japanese restaurant to try something different on their menu. I ordered their spicy chicken katsu curry. It came with a small salad. The curry was pretty good. I would prefer their curry over their ramen.
Koji Osakaya - salad
Koji Osakaya - spicy chicken katsu curry
I then hobbled over to the Lloyd Center Cinema 10 a few blocks over. I bought a ticket for Ides of March, but had to wait about 2 hours for the movie. But I had an evening flight home so that wasn't a problem.
Footloose - I want to see this new remake
Well if you weren't already cynical towards politics, you would be after Ides of March. This was my kind of a movie, one that engages the brain. But if you're an ultra-conservative right wing Republican then you probably won't like this movie. Also if you're looking for a blow 'em up shoot 'em up movie, this one will probably bore you to tears.
After the movie, I hobbled over to the train station to catch a train to the airport. Along the way, it mostly drizzled. I bought a ticket and waited for my train. I must appear to know what I was doing since a couple of people asked me how to get to their destination. Little do they know that this was my first time in Portland.
At the airport, the screen showed that my flight was going to be delayed for 30 minutes, so I headed over to the other terminal to eat dinner at the Rogue Ales Public House. I've heard a lot of good things about their beer and they were indeed very good. The Shakespeare Stout nitro was very good. I also had the Dead Guy Ale because it's their most popular beer. Good stuff. I ordered their 1/2 pound Kobe burger with Oregon Bleu Cheese. The wasabi mayonnaise was really good and it was good with the fries as well.
Rogue - Shakespeare Stout Nitro
Rogue - 1/2 pound Kobe burger with Oregon bleu cheese
Rogue - Dead Guy Ale
Well, that's it for walking, eating, and drinking my way through Portland! Now I have to see if I can recover enough to tackle the St. Louis Rock n' Roll Marathon. My plan still remains the same. The number of marathons will significantly dropped by mid 2012. Then in 2013, if everything goes well I will train for a BQ. Nothing has changed.
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