Corky and I got up, got dressed, had toast (Corky) and oatmeal (me) for breakfast and left Mara with his mom, who had spent the night. We drove out to the Kliever Armory where the race began.
Once we parked, we took some pre-race pictures.
It was COLD!
Nice outfit, right?
I was really excited for this race because of the course. Kliever Armory is next door neighbors, basically, with Portland International Airport (PDX). And you know what THAT means..... AIRPLANES!!!!! :)
The course for the race would take us right along Marine Drive which traces the edge of the Columbia river and borders one of PDX's main runways. So this meant that I got to combine 2 of my favorite pastimes - running and plane watching! I saw a plethora of Alaska Airlines planes (737s and Q-400s) take off and land, a few Southwest 737s and some Delta Airbuses made appearances too.
We started off at 8:00am sharp. I was listening to my iPod this time, in hopes of keeping my mind off the torture I was putting my body through. (Note: it worked!) I actually enjoyed it. I was listening to Zumba music, of course, and would speed up my pace during the choruses of the songs and slow down during the verses. It kept my pace between 8:30 and 9:00 per mile for the first 4 or 5 miles.
Unfortunately, it appears that I am one of the unlucky runners who suffers from GI problems during long races or training runs. I had the same issue during the Holiday Half back in December, but I had thought it was just due to coming off the stomach flu a week prior. I noticed it a few times during my long training runs (5+ miles) but thought nothing of it. It wasn't until it occurred again during and after this race that I realized that this is actually an issue for me. I Googled it and apparently it's not entirely uncommon. Anyway, I'll spare you the gross details but let's just say, again, thank goodness for strategically placed port-a-potties!
I would have placed higher, I'm sure, if I hadn't had to use the bathroom twice during the race. UGH! I was near the front of the pack, too. Oh well.
In the end, I placed 178th out of 591, and shaved 5 minutes off my time from December, finishing at 1:55:24. Not bad, not bad. My next race is July 4th, another half marathon. Maybe I can do even better next time!
A post-race celebration picture...
Despite feeling very proud of myself, I had stomach issues for the rest of the day and half of the next day. I'm going to have to do some research and see if there is any way I can try to be proactive about this and keep it from becoming such an issue for the next race. Or maybe I'm just doomed to be close to a bathroom for 24 hours every time I run a race. We'll see.
Corky had to go to to work after the race, as it was on a Saturday and his days off are Sunday and Monday. Which meant that I had the task of looking after Mara the rest of the day. Wouldn't you know it, she refused to nap. So I called my dad and asked him to come over and help me chase the kid around because I could barely move I was so tired. Lol!
We played dress-up (yes, even my dad, although I failed to get a picture) and went to the park. It was a pretty great day!
Princess Mara in her Snow White tutu. It's funny, I told her
"say Princess!" and she said, "Poop-cess!" I almost died.
Mara and BaPa at the park!
A girl and her doggie. <3
Bahahaha, I love Corky's outfit. Congrats on shaving those 5 mins off.
ReplyDeletePoop-cess! Omg. That'll have to get an honorable mention at her 21st ;)
Love the pic of her and her pup. It looks like they're holding hands.
xx