Vancouver USA Marathon

Yesterday I ran the Vancouver USA Marathon in Vancouver, Washington.  I signed Mike and I up many months ago because I thought it would be a fun way to spend Father's Day.  He would run the Half Marathon and I would run the full 26.2 miles.  Since the HM starts 2 hours after the marathon, I figured he would "catch up" to me around mile 7 or 8 and then we could finish together, him "pulling me in" since I know from marathon experience that those last miles are a killer for me.


I had just started ramping up mileage and was running really strong when I was involved in a car accident on 4/9.  I knew at that point that my goals for this race needed to be adjusted.  It would be weeks before I could really run again.  I knew several weeks lost in training would require new goals.


Goal one: Get to the starting line.  I had to reclaim my healthy, active life.  I missed me during those weeks immediately following the accident.  I was unhappy, angry, and recovering from injuries sustained in the accident.  My top goal was then decided.  I didn't care if I had to walk the whole 26.2 miles, I wasn't going to change to the HM and I wasn't going to opt out altogether.  At times, people thought I was crazy and rushing my recovery, but I needed it for me.


Goal two: Once I started getting back into training and knew my body was going to be okay, I realized that my Hansons training was going very well.  Maybe due to my strong desire to be at the race?  Paces were spot on.  Distances were covered.  I felt really good.  I wasn't able to do any strength training (and I still haven't done any yet, post-accident), unfortunately, but everything with running was going really well.  Goal two was to run a new personal best. 


Goal three: Run so well that I qualify for Boston.  That would be a 3:45 finish for me.  My previous best was a 3:53:50-something at Eugene.  I knew it would be a stretch to knock almost 9 minutes off my time, but I also knew running was going well and I wanted it more than anything. 


Goal one: check!
Goal two: check!!
Goal three: will have to wait for another day, and that's okay. 


I'm so thrilled to have not only made it back to the starting line but also to run as well as I did.  The last 5 miles were quite painful with bad cramping from my ankles to my butt.  I suspected I might have issues when I began sweating profusely at mile 2.  Mile Two!  Yikes.  I didn't notice anyone else around the 3:45 pace group sweating like I did.  Was it extra humid?  I don't know.  All I know is there was a lot of sweating already happening.  I carried nuun in my hydration bottle and sipped from that the whole race, even filling up again around mile 16.  There were aid stations every two miles so I just made sure I was drinking at those intervals, at a minimum.  Still, the cramping was pretty bad in those last miles.  Down hills were the worst!


Mike dropped me off at the race start.  I had just enough time to use the Hilton's restroom and check my gear.  I found the 3:45 group and was happy to see an old friend from our Portland neighborhood also in the group.  We were both hoping for BQs (note: neither of us got that today -- she ran a 3:45:52 or something).  I ran with the 3:45 group for the first 6 miles.  They were running just under 8:30 to "bank some time" before the hills that start at mile 14.  Around mile 6, they started to slow and I moved slightly ahead of them.  They remained just a few steps behind me for the next 13 miles.  When I hit the hill around mile 19.5 or 20, my pace started to fall.  Splits from my watch:


1-   8:23
2-   8:35
3-   8:18
4-   8:24
5-   8:23
6-   8:32
7-   8:18
8-   8:17
9-   8:23
10- 8:25
11- 8:22
12- 8:28
13- 8:17
14- 8:25
15- 8:38
16- 8:35
17- 8:52
18- 8:23
19- 8:47
20- 10:23*
21- 9:10
22- 8:45
23- 8:50
24- 9:07
25- 11:03*
26- 10:50


Note: First half is pretty flat and straight.  Second half has lots of turns and hills, most noticeably at miles 20 and 25. (*)


Once I hit the hills, I had a hard time maintaining a good pace.  The first hill is pretty long.  My legs were cramping and this part of the race has a lot of turns, some pretty sharp.  If it weren't for the cramping, I probably could have finished a lot stronger and with an even bigger PR.  Mike caught up to me around mile 21.  The 3:45 group had just passed and I was cramping going down a hill.  It was really nice to have him there beside me for the remainder of the race.  I stopped a few times to catch my breath and tray to shake out the cramps, but I know I would have stopped more if he hadn't been there, encouraging me all the way. 


Hansons Training Method: I love this way of training!  I worried a little about the long runs and only running a max of 16 miles in a single run.  However, I repeated to myself many times over the weeks to trust the training.  I really think it made a difference in how I felt on this run.  Until the late cramping, I felt really strong and it felt comfortably hard.  I'm looking forward to training with Hansons again for the next marathon! 




Chip Time: 3:52:16
Pace: 8:52
Age Division: 16 / 61
Place Overall: 226 / 757
Sex Overall: 78 / 364

7.6 mile split: 1:04:04, 8:26 pace

20.7 mile split:
2:58:44, 8:38 pace

May: 261.43

What an amazing month of running!!  Highest mileage ever -- by almost 80 miles!!  Crazy.  I feel good and have been running strong all month.  Can't wait to see what I do at Vancouver in two weeks!!

April: 133.17 miles

I began this month running so strong.  I even estimated early on what my monthly total might be for April and it was looking to be above 200 miles.  Crazy!  However, a major car accident on the 9th changed everything.

I ran the morning of the 9th.  Greta and I went out for an easy 3 miles.  I was stopped halfway through by a phone call from my mom.  My SIL had had surgery the day before (kidney transplant) and I wanted to hear how she was doing.  Overall, not a stellar run.

The afternoon of the 9th, on my way home to Corvallis from Albany, I was involved in a head-on collision.  Although I continued my "one mile every day" steak even after the accident, it would be 2 weeks before I ran again and a full 3 weeks before my run was a "hard effort".  I'm just getting back into running this week.  It's been better than I thought it would be but it's still disappointing.  I was running so strong before the accident.  I'm still being very careful and checking in with myself constantly when I run.  I don't want any lingering soreness from the accident to lead to running injuries.

I'm glad that month is over.  I'm looking forward to a fresh new month!

March: 178.77 miles

It normally kills me to be this close to a new record high month and not go for it, but this month I felt good with what I had run.  I had a solid 6.8 miles in the morning and was happy with that and the month total overall.  It's like a new me!

February: 182.61 miles

Yippity skippity!  Another month done, another high one month total.  It feels especially good knowing this was also the shortest month of the year.  Amazing!


I've been running very well, trying some new things and pushing myself in different ways.  I'm loving the challenge that this sort of training brings.  I'm excited to see what this means for the races I have lined up in the coming months!

January: 181.77 miles

Most miles in one month!  Ever!

Cascade Half Marathon

I knew the Cascade Half Marathon in Turner, Oregon (near Salem) would be a great race for me.  The last time I raced that distance was in October 2012, so well over a year!  It's my favorite distance to train and race so I was super excited to be running it again.  I had also been running strong -- both in terms of pace and overall mileage.  I started a running streak in November (the day after Thanksgiving, the 29th) and I really think that has a lot to do with my improved running.
 
Anyway, lots of strong miles and no injuries gave me the confidence to run Cascade well.  My previous best was at the Foot Traffic Flat HM in 2011.  Finish time there was 1:44:57.  The thing about that race though is that the course measured short on my watch.  So although I had this great new PR for the distance, I didn't really feel like I had earned it.  I don't remember how far short it was, but I know my finish time would have been another minute, at least.

The Cascade HM is an awesome race.  It's the perfect size for me with only 429 HM finishers.  The route is flatter than flat and has very few turns.  The race is in a very rural part of Oregon so nothing but wide open country.  There was considerable fog and the start temperature was 32*.  A little cool, but otherwise perfect running conditions for me.

The first half of the race I paced off two high school aged boys.  They were tall, lanky and easily ran the 7:30-7:40 pace.  They were probably members of the local high school xc team, the group that benefits from this race.  Last year the school was able to purchase several new pieces of gym equipment.  In a town with population 1853, I can see how this race is a huge event and huge fundraiser.  I love that.

The boys (I called them my "show ponies") started to lose me at the turn around point.  At this point I also noticed that my watch was not measuring the course the same as the mile markers.  It appeared to be long.  I've raced enough to know how to run the curves.  I do everything possible to run the shortest distance and in a race with so few people, this was very easy to do.  At the finish line, however, my watch had the course at 13.4 miles.  And I started my watch 5 seconds into the race so I really probably had something just over that.  Crazy.

The second half of the race was run equally strong and consistent but the pace did slow a little here and there.  With just over 1.5 miles to go, Paula Harkin (owner of Portland Running Company) passed me.  I knew she ran a 1:40 last year and was probably on pace to do something similar so that kept me moving along.  I'm not going to lie: that last 1/2 mile was tough.  Throughout the race I repeated to myself:  Be Fearless. Be Confident.  Those words kept me running a "comfortably hard" pace throughout the race.  Yet, you wouldn't know the last bit was tough because I crossed the finish line at a 7:20 pace.  Crazy. 

I know it's almost impossible to race a distance the exact distance they say it is.  It just isn't.  And I've run in races that have been long (Del Mar Iron Girl's 10K showed up as 6.54 miles on my watch -- .34 over!?) and since I run as much as I do, I know during the race when a course is long.

The Cascade HM course was long.  And I find this so frustrating because I had been running so strong and came into this race ready for a new PR.  Yes, it was a PR even with the official time but not the 1:42 I wanted so badly.  According to my watch, I made my goal and ran a under 1:42!  But, not officially.  Boo.

After the race I approached a woman who had out-kicked me in that final stretch to tell her Good Job.  She had passed me right before the turn-around and I saw her in front the remainder of the race.  I could see she was slowing beginning around mile 8 or 9 so I made it my mission to catch up and pass her.  I did just that somewhere late in the race but then her kick at the end was stronger than my kick and she flew past me, finishing just 7 seconds before me.  Later I learned she is in my division.  Oh, that stings!  Especially since that was the second race recently where I've been out-kicked in the final stretch.  At the Corvallis Fall Festival 5K, a woman in my division came flying out of nowhere to beat me by 5 seconds.  Ouch.

Overall, I loved this race.  I love the ease, simplicity, route, seeing a school benefit...  It's very well done and with a cap of 1,000 participants total, I can see word spreading about this fast and flat course and it's popularity increasing.  I think it already has after Runner's World profiled it.  Next year I'll need to be sure to sign up as soon as they open for registration!

Official finish time: 1:44:26
Pace: 7:59
Division Place: 5

However, I'm taking this race off my own watch.  I killed my previous best and am super happy with my efforts, even if the official time doesn't reflect it.  New PR for me! 

Cascade Half Marathon: 1:41:14
Pace: 7:47
Fuel Notes: one GU gel 10 minutes before race start, one ShotBlock around mile 7, no water

December: 165.32 miles

November: 139.60 miles

October: 105.45 miles

Nike Women's Marathon San Francisco

Official Finish Time:  4:14:10
Pace:  9:43
Overall Place:  873 / approximately 32,000
Division Place:  77 / 433

5k-  27:58
10k-  55:21
15k-  1:25:05
21k-  2:00:39
25k-  2:23:29
30k-  2:53:54
35k-  3:26:26
40k-  3:59:55

I went into NWM for the experience.  I knew it would be a race unlike any other -- and it was.  From the race expo (which is nothing like any other race expo I've been to) to the craziness at Niketown to the race itself.  This race was not like the others.  I knew it would be a great experience and fun.

I had no expectations or time goals for NWM.  I remember being asked just one week ago while running with a local woman what my finish goal was.  I had nothing.  I told her I was running for the experience and looking forward to a weekend in San Francisco with my San Diego girlfriends.  It was going to be an awesome weekend, with a marathon thrown in.

NWM was my 3rd marathon in six months.  I knew the course would have hills but I still wanted to run a decent race.  I had incorporated hills on all my training runs but was ill-prepared for the onslaught that is the San Francisco course.  Very little of this course is flat.  You are constantly climbing or descending, both of which were severe at times.  It felt like a roller coaster.

I had imagined how I might run this race.  I was going to start slow (9:10-9:20 pace), pick it up after the course splits around mile 11 and finish strong.  I wanted to enjoy the whole race environment, take in the views, feel the others' energy.  I didn't wear a watch or listen to music.  I wanted to take it all in and a slow start would allow me to do that and still finish strong.  It didn't work like that.

I began the race at a comfortable 9:10 pace.  The weather was a cool but comfortable 50.  For me, this is perfect.  There was heavy fog so not much to look at (this was the case nearly all the course) but I imagine the views are spectacular as we made our way along the marina and around the bay.  The hills along the course were more than I expected so when mile 11 came along I thought I should keep it slow until the halfway point.  Quite honestly, I had to fight the urge to take the right turn with the Half Marathoners.  I would have been perfectly happy finishing.  However, I hadn't pushed the first 11 so I would not have been happy with my HM time.  This thought kept me left and on the path of the marathon.

After the split, we continued to climb into Golden Gate Park.  There were some rollers and I was not recovering well from the hills in the first half of the course.  At mile 13, I decided I need to keep it slow until I hit the Great Highway.  I knew at that point it would be a flat approx. 4 miles out and back.  This was not the case.

Around mile 15.5 for us, we merged with the half marathoners.  This does awful things to a runner when you are knee deep into the miles with a long way to go and the girls beside you are hammering it home because their finish line is around the corner.  For a moment I wish I had known (and taken) this short cut.  Ha!  I could have taken the split and merged back into the marathon and skipped about 4 miles.  Of course, this is not something I would ever do but it's always a thought that runs through my head after 15 miles of running.

Mile 18 began a dark period.  Did you know the bottoms of your feet can cramp?  They can.  And did.  Everything began to hurt.  I hadn't stopped until this but did stop for a minute.  When I did, I considered stopping altogether.  I could barely stand and at that point feared that a medical person would see me and pull me aside.  It was better to keep moving forward, no matter how slow the moving forward became. 

The dark period subsided and I was able to continue at a decent but slow pace.  I'd have to confirm on a map, but around mile 19 began more rolling hills.  Not anything to complain about but they were coming late and that always makes them feel hard.  The turn around at mile 21 was at the bottom of a hill.  It was at this point that I unloaded.  My bottles were empty and I had taken my last GU.  The fuel belt came off, my gloves were thrown into the trash, my handkerchief was left alongside the street. 

After the turn around climb, we began a gradual descent back to the Great Highway straightaway.  I watched the runners I passed who were making their way up that same hill.  Some had stopped to stretch, some looked absolutely miserable.  I felt sorry for them because I figured most had no idea how long that climb is or of the steeper hill at the mile 21 turn around still to come. 

The finish was flat and didn't feel as long as it did on the way out (remember mile 18 was dark?).  There were spectators cheering, surfers crossing to get to the beach and the fog was beginning to lift along the coastline.  I could barely make out the finish line (due to fog) but once I saw that I felt energized again.  The streets were lined with people in those last few blocks, at some points they really narrowed the course.  It made the finish fun to see all the people out cheering us on.  One older man, in particular, stepped out and gave me encouragement.  I don't know if spectators know just how much that means to a runner, esp. in those last miles.  I'll never forget the preppy gentleman in a bright yellow sweater.

Finish line: Very well organized with reusable water bottles handed to you immediately, the firefighter and Tiffany necklace waiting, other firefighters posing for photos, mylar blankets handed out, gift bags with food, and then gear checks beyond that.  Cell service was crappy so I worried I wouldn't find my friends who had all run the half marathon, but eventually service worked for 30 seconds and I was able to call one friend. 

This was a great race experience.  It is not a PR course.  It isn't a typical race.  It's hillier than you're going to imagine.  It's an expensive race.  And a weekend in San Francisco is not cheap.  I don't need to do it again.  It's a bucket list item that has now been checked off.  However, it is (and was) a fabulous girls' weekend -- with a marathon thrown in!  

September: 172.61 miles

Fall Festival 5k

Official Finish Time:  23:15
Pace: 7:29
Division Place:  3/33
Overall Female Place:  10/202

The Fall Festival 5k is a small, local race with a 9:10am start.  The course is run all around the OSU campus.  Stormy weather last night left us with some wet conditions, including rain, for today's race.  Solid race for me but not a PR.  I thought I might be able to pull off a PR today despite having just run my last long run for NWM two days ago (22 miles!) but my legs were tired.  I started much too fast and half a mile into the race I could feel the tiredness in my legs.  I decided a PR was not going to happen today about a mile into it but thought I'd hang on the best I could for something around 23 minutes.  I finished in 23:15.  I was totally out kicked in the last block of the race which was disappointing but I feel good knowing I gave it my all to the end.  Fun and fast!  Love 5k races!!

August: 181.72 miles

Most miles ever.  Ever!  I love months with five Saturdays to run!!

July: 117.88 miles

Foot Traffic Flat Marathon

Finish time:  4:01:20
Pace:  9:12
Age group: 13/33
Women: 79/233
Overall: 198/441

Third time running the Sauvie Island Flat but my first time running the full marathon event.  Great course and fantastic race!  I hadn't been able to train much with the busy months of May and June so I pretty much piggy backed off my Eugene Marathon training (April race).  I definitely was not prepared or well-trained for this race but still felt pretty good and had a great time.  A chunk of miles (9 to 22?) were run alongside another woman.  It was nice to have some company!

I got to the race start late.  I was actually in my car when the race started.  I scrambled to get my stuff together and ran to the start line.  Not an ideal way to start a marathon.  The weather had been hot but race morning wasn't bad.  It did warm up as the morning went on but it wasn't as hot as I was expecting.  Still, I stopped at probably 10 of the (13?) aid stations to drink a cup and pour another water cup on my bandana.  I even carried fluids so it was definitely a warm race for me.

But, I do love this race.  I love starting a long holiday weekend with a great accomplishment like this!  And again, no watch for this race either!

June: 114.49 miles

May: 131.85 miles

April: 125.36

Eugene Marathon

Official time:  3:53:56

Great race, good weather, enough variety in the course to keep it interesting, awesome spectator support, well-organized overall and the parts of the course along the river were beautiful.

I had forgotten my watch at home so I decided to run as I feel.  This translated into classic Cherl: too fast to start and a slow death after mile 22.  I suspected I might be in trouble when the 3:35 pacer came up alongside me at mile 11 (this is way too fast for me to maintain).  I stayed with them until a small hill at mile 16, passing the halfway point around 1:42 (faster than my HM times).  I started to really fall off track around mile 22-23 and basically shuffled my way to the finish.  Running up from the bike path, along Agate and into Hayward Field was incredible.  Great way to finish a marathon!

The Good:  My official finish time was 3:53:56.  That's an ELEVEN minute PR for me.  I'll be over the moon for days!

The Bad:  I ran the first half in about 1:42 and the second half in 2:10.  Oops.  That's ugly.