And coming in first place in the John Wayne Impression Contest, It's the CilleyGirl!

I have to say, I really do not recommend just deciding to run a half marathon after two months of nearly complete inactivity.  Because it leaves you with tight hip flexors and quads and a sore achilles and a helluva impression of John Wayne. 

"Well hey there Pilgrim..."

Yes, I lurch just a tad to the right at the moment.  I foresee a foam roller and maybe a hot tub and some tequila in my future. 

So, Portland Rock 'n Roll Half! 

Saturday was the expo with my friend Fly and her newlywed hubby.  Sadly, less vendors this year and way less in the way of samples and schwag.  Remember last year when we picked that place clean?

Last year's haul.

Nothing like that this year, nothing at all, unless they handed it all out on Friday.  This year, out of what I had last year I got the lei, the Rock 'n Roll bumper 13.1 sticker, a sample of Perform, a peanut butter Gu (came with the swag bag), and a Boston bracelet.  I could've gotten the Cascadia cereal, a couple of Larabars (two please!  only two!), and a pair of sunglasses.  That's it!  The swag for this year was a lot smaller.  I got a mini Stridebox since I had just signed up a couple of days earlier, which had the best stuff out of everything else I got (which wasn't much).  In terms of gear, I got this year's official jacket plus one of the official race tech tees which I ended up wearing for the race. 

 

I like this view, gravity is much kinder to me at this angle.

 

 

As for the race, did I mention you really shouldn't wing a half marathon? 

 

I didn't have any race goals until I was standing in my corral waiting for the race to start.  I decided my A goal would be to PR, because really, go big or go home, right?  My B goal was 3:15 or better.  My C goal was just to finish without dying.

 

I made my C goal:  3:20:20.  Yes, turtles in peanut butter run faster.  Bite me.

 

I had gotten a temp tattoo pace band from Jamba Juice at the expo for a three hour finish.  Again, go big or go home.  And for the first three miles I was right on target, even including a two minute bathroom break at three tenths of a mile into the race (I went at 7:45, official race start was 8:00 but by the time my corral started I had to pee again).  But at mile 4 we started going up and, well, let me demonstrate why I slowed down so dramatically.

Sorry, Blogger hates me and won't make this any bigger :P

 

I think by the end I was well into 16 or maybe 18 minute miles.  I developed a hot spot on the ball of my left foot which really started to hurt when I was walking.  It would stop hurting when I ran, but then my left calf would start cramping.  Lady or the tiger running!  So I would walk until I couldn't stand it any more and then run until I couldn't stand it any more, lather, rinse, repeat.  I did run all the downhill no matter what though; I feel obligated to.  Almost nobody else did by that point, which was weird:  It's gravity, people!

 

But I did finish.  See?

 



Can you see my massively puffy hands and arms?  Yep, forgot to take any electrolyte tabs before the race and to carry any with me, and the Gatorade on the course was -- as always -- much too strong.  Flashbacks of the 2011 Portland Marathon, I stopped at one sip.  I was carrying 10 oz of Powerade with me, otherwise I hit every water stop and often had two cups at each.  I really missed the electrolytes; somewhere around mile eight I could barely bend my pinky and ring fingers on my left hand.  Right after this picture I plunged my hands into one of the ice tubs where they had the Gatorade (in bottles, much better!). 

In other news, today was our second weigh in for the office Biggest Loser challenge.  We all owed a dollar to the kitty today.  I was up FOUR POUNDS from last Monday.  This, the day after a half marathon, and a weekend where I ate a lot lighter than normal.  Maybe I didn't get enough calories and my body is hoarding everything?  I still feel a few quarters low on fluids.  But still, CHUBB.  Look, here is last year's finisher's photo from a 3:06:36 finish:

Probably about ten pounds lighter here at least and in a helluva lot better shape...

I haven't even posted the worst photo from yesterday's race.  I'm saving that for a later, self-flagellating post. 

Despite everything I still feel a lot better than I should, all things considered, which to me means that I was definitely not giving it my all when I am in shape.  My 5K split from last year was 43:50, this year just a few seconds slower at 44:06 (and with a two minute potty break).  At 10K, last year 1:29:01, this year 1:30:32.  A full minute's pace slower overall this year.  I've got to work on (a) getting in shape and (b) pushing myself more when I am. 

Did you race this weekend?  How did it go?

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl