When I moved to Portland 3 years ago the only running I'd ever done was on the treadmill at the gym...and I hated it! Thanks to my best friend and fellow runner Bekka and the beautiful weather and scenery in PDX I started running regularly. Within six months of being here I had conquered a 15K and Half Marathon - I was hooked!Nothing about training to run 26.2 miles is easy. I was running 3x a week, logging upwards of 30 miles weekly near the end (and that was the lenient schedule!). Luckily there are beautiful places to run here, and Forest Park is less than 2 miles from my front door - just over the scenic St. Johns Bridge.
Cam and I drove to Newport, OR the night before the race and got settled into our hotel and scoped out the scene. We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant, but I think the butter I ate on my pasta didn't agree with me because I found myself puking my guts out at 4 in the morning. My stomach was still uneasy when I woke up and I wasn't able to eat or drink exactly as I had planned, but I muscled through it. The start line was less than I mile from our hotel room so we headed out together and the fresh air did me well. The race was smaller than any other race I have ever run, and there was a nice group of spectators supporting the runners. Running through the tiny town of Newport was fun, and once we were through it was 10 miles out and 10 miles back! I hadn't planned on being without cell reception so was unable to listen to any music for the entire time..which wasn't as bad as it sounds. Cam met me at the turn around point and snapped some photos which was a big help to me because I was starting to feel some aches and pains! As hard as the last 10 miles seemed to be, the last 3 seemed easy. It's funny what goes through your mind - like after running 23 miles thinking "I only have a 5k left!". The road was quiet and at 25.5 I still couldn't see (or hear) the finish line. But a little jog up hill left us at 26 miles and the rest was .2 down to the finish line! I saw Cam from the top and ran as fast as I could (which was probably not much quicker than a walk!) and flexed my muscles! I got my medal, got some water, then got a print out of my time....4:37:38! Not bad for my first marathon :)
I'm not sure if I'll ever run another one. During training I thought "absolutely not!" but a tiny part of me wants to run one in 4 hours. What I do know is that if I train for another it'll be a larger race like the Rock n' Roll. I really enjoy entertainment and cheering and the vibe that you get from a larger race. Who knows what the future holds...but I gotta say it again - I RAN A MARATHON!!
Check out my husband's website noremaCStudios for more pictures!!
