Friday, May 25, 2012

Portland Rock and Roll Half Marathon

A couple months ago, I was asked if I wanted to do a half marathon and I said, sure, what the heck. Its only 13.1 miles, how hard could it be? I mean, I'm an Ironman, twice over, I should be able to knock out a few less miles, right? Unfortunately, I had been training for sprint distance triathlons so my run volume was a little lacking. I managed to slip in a few longer runs during my training week but the longest was 8 miles and that included many potty stops for my dog; he has a big bladder. Race day came up quicker than I anticipated and before I knew it, I was picking up my race packet. I met with the folks from Team Refuel they gave me my running shirt....."What's your after?" was on the front. The first thing that comes to mind for after a race is a burger. My body craves protein after a hard effort and all the latest research has shown that chocolate milk is one of the best recovery foods out there and that is what Team Refuel is all about. I learned a little more about the combination of protein and carbohydrates that chocolate mile offers and how it helps to replenish the glycogen your body uses for energy. Sounds easy, its tasty and refreshing, so from my view point, its a slam dunk. During my trek through the expo, I met another athlete wearing a similar brace to mine. I recognized her from the home page of my brace manufacturer, Allard USA. She has foot drop like I do but she runs a lot faster. Anyway, she was very excited to meet me as she is on a US tour of 20 Rock'n Roll Half Marathons to raise awareness for people with our disability. I immediately identified with her and her plight and offered to help in any way I can. Here is a link to her blog: http://getbackuptoday.blogspot.com/p/about-beth.html Sunday at oh-dark-thirty, I was up and at 'em, ready to rock (and roll). I parked at Lloyd Center (joking I could always bail in the last two miles and drive to the finish) then rode the Max with a bunch of other athletes. I was wearing my Challenged Athletes Foundation sweatshirt and hat and with my massive blue brace, I had a few people looking at me. One guy asked what the brace was for and being the smart ass I am, I said it was a shin guard because people always kick me...... I did tell him the truth after the look on his face said he actually believed my answer. Sometimes explaining my injury gets old so I will just say I have an ankle injury or something simple. At the 9 mile mark, a guy asked if I had "bad shin splints" and I said, no, I'm disabled and the brace helps me from falling on my face. He said "you don't look disabled" to which I replied, "yeah, I get that a lot", then I upped my pace so I didn't have to answer more questions. At that point in the race, around the 2 hour mark, I had no desire to explain anymore. Its not that I was trying to be a jerk to him but sometimes I get emotional when I talk about it, particularly when I'm two hours into a race with a ways to go. Things went very well. I was pacing myself to run at least 10K before I walked at all, however, the long, gradual hill on Hawthorne was a little much so I walked sooner than I wanted. I had a salt packet and foolishly (oxygen debt?) I ingested some before I got to the next water station. I won't do that again. I probably didn't need it but I did not want to cramp as I had a goal to meet. The bands along the way were great, although the DJ at the top of Hawthorne probably didn't need to have his music that loud, my ears still hurt. It was a great course and running along the Hawthorne and Steel Bridges was very cool. The finishing straight was LONG. I walked for a minute or so after getting off the bridge because I wanted to save some energy for running the final 1K. I looked at my watch and figured I had time to make my goal but I think the world starting spinning faster because before I knew it, my goal time was there. I upped my pace, ignoring the pain in my big toe and my shin (my AFO brace rubs on it), and crossed the line. I forgot to stop my watch right away but when I did, it read 2:47. My goal for the race was 2:45. I was with the pace guy for the 2:30 group for 6 miles but with the long trek up Hawthorne, I lost him. I came in at 2:46.10 but I am going to say I had 2:44 and change due to the fact that I was stopped twice by the PD while they let some cars go across the course and the minute or so I talked to the paramedics, trying to get some Vaseline for my sensitive, chafed non-runner nipples. Either way, my time was a PR for me. Although I had never done the distance as a stand alone run, but I had done 3 half iron distance events in the past, the fastest 13.1 being 3:10, the slowest was 4:06 which was 2 years to the day after my injury, so I was very happy with the time.

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