This marks our third year making this trek.....so why blog about it this time around? Well because I'm running this year too. The Portland Rock'n'Roll half marathon added a 10k race this year and so I figured why not run in another inaugural run? I suppose I could have continued being the support team, but that way I wouldn't get a medal (which doubles as a bottle opener) and a nice souvenir technical shirt....ummm I mean that way I'm not getting exercise.
The drive down was good and we made it in good time. There is always a stop at the Nike clearance outlet in Centralia because prices are better there even with tax than in tax-free Portland. The deals were quite good, selection a little more limited, but still was able to pick up some good stuff. We met Z in Portland because he had a last minute work trip take him to Asia the week leading up to this so he flew "home" through Portland.
The weather was good the first two days....we spent Saturday shopping around downtown Portland and then at the Woodburn outlets. Some really good deals at the outlets this year, like the Columbia store which had everything marked down 25% and we had a further 10% off coupon. I ended up buying a nice jacket for $34 (originally priced at $120) which had been marked down to $50 before the additional discounts.
Race day weather forecast called for showers....I was not too terribly excited about that!! But Sunday morning came along and the weather was overcast with misty rain.....and by the time the race started it stopped altogether. The rain held off until after we all finished, but as we were out and about after lunch it was coming down like a monsoon at times. It helped force me to spend some time resting and recovering instead of walking around town. The only draw back was that I didn't get to use my camera much but my knees benefitted instead.
The course was quite wet as it had rained overnight and early on I stepped in a puddle soaking my right foot. The course was a good route and they had live bands or music playing at frequent intervals all along, plenty of hydration stations, and people cheering on the runners. It was well organized in my opinion; the start was a wave but we didn't stand around forever either. I started in corral 13 and started about 10 mins after Z who was in 4. This course was harder than my last 10k as there were more hills this time and I'm happy to say I beat my last time by a good 7 minutes finishing at 1:11:53. Not bad at all considering my training consisted of only 2 runs per week for the last few months, I've been battling knee pain too, and I haven't run longer than 8k. I'll say though those last 1.2 miles and in particular the last .2 miles (we were in the States after all) were horrible....I didn't think I could go on. Leading up to the 6 mile marker was all up hill and it was a long up hill followed by a down hill. As I came around the second to last corner there was one lady in particular who was cheering extra hard for each runner and that gave me the boost I needed to finish. Overall I'm very pleased with my run.
Z and our friends all ran the half marathon which to me is an impressive feat, particularly for Z considering he was in Asia two days prior for a week, so he had to adjust time zones quickly and fight off jet lag.
Other than the shopping and runs, we had some great meals at various restaurants. Our favourite place is probably Originals which is located at the hotel we have always stayed at.
This running thing isn't so bad after all and particularly when the race is located out of town!! Combining my favourite pass time, travelling, with running may work out just fine!!
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