Helvetia Half Marathon June 13th 2009

Addy and I had signed up for this run months ago and now that the day was here, we were excited, but nervous. This would be the longest we had run (13.1mi), the next longest being the Pear Blossom (10mi). It is really not that much longer, but the words, half marathon, make it sound so much harder. We left with what we thought was plenty of time to get to the start, but hit race traffic 2mi from the actual exit. I was having a stubborn, high and mighty day, apparently, because I refused to cut into the left lane and cut back to bypass all the traffic. It drove Addy crazy because it was getting closer and closer to the start time, but we were still sitting still in traffic. The race started at 8am and we didn't get parked until 8:15!!! From there, we had to walk to the start and still check-in. As we walked past the starting line to the packet pick-up, we heard the announcer say that they were going to start taking down the timing apparatus in 2 minutes. I felt pretty bad about getting us there late. We got our packets and put on our bibs and got to the line just as they were taking the timing strip away. We swallowed our disappointment, stretched, and got started.

The weather was great and the course was as beautiful as they advertised. It is 13min through the "countryside" outside of Hillsboro. It was basically a course of gently rolling hills and had some nice pastoral vistas. I felt great during the race. One thing that I'm learning about my race habits, is that I like starting at the back of the pack and passing everyone that I can. Having started 30 minutes late, I got many opportunities to pass other runners. Just before the turn around point, I saw Faith and got excited that I was catching up to runners who were running at a good pace.

At the end of the race, I was ready to be finished. I was tired, thirsty, and famished. I got some water and a banana and went back to watch for Addy to run into the finishing chute. I never saw her finish through a fluke of the universe. But we met up and grabbed some grub and sat on the lawn for a while cooling down and easing our appetites.

We both did great and set PB (personal bests). We don't have official times (since we didn't get to cross the start line when the timing apparatus was up), but Addy was wearing the Garmin and I was able to use the finishing clock to get a fairly accurate time.

Brett 1:45

Addy 2:07

We got pretty nice "technical tees" with the Helvetia Half logo on it and medals to say that we completed it. I don't know how I feel about the medal, I don't feel like I necessarily deserve a medal just for finishing, but its a nice gesture.

All in all, it was a fun, challenging experience and we did it together!! Next race, Hood to Coast!

Pear Blossom Run 09

Easter weekend, Addy and I went down to Grant's Pass (GP) to see her family and to participate in the 33rd annual Pear Blossom Run.  This is something we had planned on doing since we started doing registered runs.  Addy's dad, Mark, was on the cross country team in high school and ran the race in one of its first 10 years, when it used to be 13 miles (half marathon) instead of the 10 miles it is now.  He runs now and is on our Hood to Coast team, so he thought it would be fun for us all to run the Pear Blossom together.  That was months ago, by the time of the actual race, there were many more family and friends involved, which made it even more fun.  

We drove down to GP on Friday night after work.  We were going to get in late, so we stopped for dinner in Eugene at the Eugene City Brewery.  We hadn't been there before and when we arrived, we discovered that it is actually owned by Rogue Brewing.  Which was great, because one of Addy's favorite Rogue beers is actually one that is brewed there.  It is the Honey Orange Wheat by Track City Ales.  It is a great wheat beer: fresh, a little citrusy with a great balance that you could drink all day.  I had their seasonal IPA which was great as well.  We finally got into GP and hung out with her mom and dad for a while before we all hit the sack to be rested for the run in the morning.

We got up early, since we had to meet people and the race was actually 45 minutes south in Medford.  We met up with the rest of our group at the race.  The people running the 10 mile run were: Me, Addy, Mark (her dad), Jessica (her sister), and Andrew (her cousin from LA).  Several others had decided participate and do the 2 mile walk: Kim (her mom), Kacie (her aunt and Andrew's mom), Jeremy (Jessica's boyfriend), Brittany (her cousin from Bend), Diana (her aunt and Brittany's mom), Deanne and Aaron (Jessica's friends since high school).  I was meeting several of them for the first time and it was everyone's first time meeting Jeremy.  Everyone was in good spirits and excited to be out doing something good for themselves together.  The weather was perfect for a run.  It was in the low 60's and partly cloudy, with low humidity.  The course was supposed to be flat and fast, and the participants are mostly from Southern Oregon, which I now believe should be called Runner's Home.  There is a history of great runners from here, the most famous being Steve Prefontaine.  The University of Oregon is in Eugene and has a serious track and field team, several of who come to run this race.  

Back to our race, we got lined up, the muskets fired, and we were off.  I felt great for the first 4 miles, pushed myself through the next couple of miles, then found a pace setter that I stayed with for several miles, eventually passed them, and at the end was pushed to my limits by a friendly competitor.  It was my best race to date.  I found my pace setter and thanked her and congratulated her, then walked back to cheer Addy on to finish.  She had a great race too, as did her sister and cousin.  Her dad unfortunately strained his calf, but finished strong, with his daughters running with him through the finish line.  

Results: 

Brett         1:10:35     7:03 min/mile pace    123/1270 overall place

Addy        1:26:52     8:41 min/mile pace     604/1270 overall place

Andrew    1:29:46     8:59 min/mile pace     717/1270 overall place

Jessica    1:42:50    10:17 min/mile pace   1039/1270 overall place

Mark         1:50:02    11:00 min/mile pace   1136/1270 overall place

The winner was a 29 year old guy, who finished in 49:21 (4:56 pace)!  He is a crazy distance runner who 2 weeks ago ran and won an ultra marathon (50 marathon).  After the run, we all went to eat at the local pizza joint that Addy grew up on, Abby's Legendary Pizza.  There were 15 of us there and we all got our fill of pizza and beer and had a good time talking and relaxing.  From there, a small group of us adults went to a local place with good beer and hung out there talking some more.  Then we decided we wanted to head back to addy's parents' place and grill out.  We had carne asada, kim's awesome "chopped-upped", and margaritas.  It was a fun afternoon in the sun with family and some crass humor.  A great way to kick off the spring.

The next day, we did what we always do in the morning at addy's parents' house.  Get up late, drink a pot of coffee, hang out in our pajamas, and talk about whatever comes to mind.  Its so great and relaxing to just be there enjoying each other's company with no agenda and no pressure to do anything else.  Eventually we did get going, since we had plans to go to addy's great grandma's back in Medford.  It was a full house with us, addy's aunt and her family, and jessica and jeremy.  We had a great meal with her grandma's famous spiral cut ham as the main dish.  After we ate, her grandma wanted to play give-away games.  She finds treasures at the local thrift store and wanted to give away some as gifts.  She would have a guess a number closest to the one she was thinking of, or guess how many macaroni's are in a jar, or pick a card our of the deck and the high card won.  The gifts were anything from fake flowers to books to nice quilts.  Everyone won something and then some wheeling and dealing ensued.  The were many alliances that were formed and just as quickly broken.  It was a lot of fun and had some hilarious moments.  Unfortunately we had to leave earlier than we would have liked since I had to work in the morning.  It was a great weekend and it was really fun getting to meet some more of Addy's family and I always enjoy hanging out with her folks.  I can't wait till the next time we all get together.

short run 4/20/09

Man, I do not like taking a break from running!  Its always twice as hard to get started again.  Well, today I said enuf was enuf and went right after work (it helps that it was absolutely f-ing gorgeous in Portland today).  Just decided to see how far I could get on the Springwater from our house in 30 min, then turn around and come back.  I made it to Utmalia and 17th (in Sellwood), which is about 4 miles.  I took a little breather there and stretched, then headed back.  I did a total of about 8 miles in less than 90 minutes.  Not bad, but my pace was all over the place.  If I'm going to run the 1/2 marathon like I want to, I've got to get out there and put in some solid 10 mi runs and a few 15 milers to get comfortable with 13.  Well, I've got till June 13th (Helvetia Half) to get in the groove.  Wish me luck.

Portland Shamrock Run 2009

This past weekend (March 14th, 15th), Addy's parents came up to Portland to visit.  The is the first time her parents have seen the house.  It was nice to have them up, I always enjoy hanging out with them.  The occasion was the Shamrock run on the waterfront on Sunday.  Addy, me, her dad, her aunt and uncle were all registered to run.  

Saturday I had to work, but Addy and her folks got to go thrifting together at a few goodwills before I was off.  Addy made out (she always does) with a couple pair of jeans and hand-bags.  When I got home, we sat around for a while and talked until we got hungry and decided it was time to get some food.  Last time we were in Grant's Pass, they took us out to a new pizza joint called Circle J.  They had some great pizza and good beer on tap.  So we decided to return the favor and get them some good pizza and, of course, some portland microbrew.  So, we went to HUB (Hopworks Urban Brewery).  If you haven't had the Cascade Mountain Range, it is AMAZING!  

Sunday Morning!  Time to race.  The weather was absolutely crummy.  40 degrees, overcast, and raining.  Man, it was cold!  We got there almost 2 hours before the race started.  It was dark and cold and I parked too far away.  The volunteers were still setting up the tents when we got there.  We went to pick up our t-shirts and of course, they were already out of small T-shirts for Addy.  The cool thing is we all got free tees from last year, because they had a bunch left.  After we got our race bibs, we went to find a warm, dry place to spend the next hour.  Unfortunately, Addy and I still don't know downtown that well.  So, the only place we could find was a Starbucks.  Also unfortunately, it was tiny and also full of people already.  So, we ended up standing outside in a doorway for most of the time.  This did nothing to help our warm-up for the race.  Addy's dad and aunt and uncle were all running the 5K so they started 30 minutes before us.  It was so windy out that the finish line actually blew down before the start of their race.  Addy's mom was awesome and stood at the finish line, holding our stuff.  She was a sport for standing in the rain the whole time.  Thank you, Kim!  

Soon it was time for Addy and I to line up.  There were SO MANY people!  The announcer said that there were a total of 20,000 people running in the different races!  The line went as far as I could see in both directions.  The horn blew and we were off!  Our first 15K race.  The first 2 miles or so were through downtown and it was pretty cool to run through downtown with so many people and the streets blocked off for us.  We ran south past PSU and up the hill toward OSHU.  This was the beginning of the 2.5 mile climb up Terwilliger.  Addy's uncle had run the 15K before in past years and said that the view was great on the run.  I believe that if the weather was nice, it would have been gorgeous.  But it was terrible out, so I was really just focused on getting through it.  As we climbed, the rain actually turned into freezing rain because of the altitude change.  That's right, we ran through freezing rain and up a f-ing hill for 9 miles, for fun.  Anyway, the top of the climb was at the half way mark and I had to stop the portalet.  Five minutes later and five pounds lighter, I felt much better and started on the decline.  I knew I had to make up some time because of my pit stop, so I tried to lengthen my stride and focus on passing people while keeping my pace steady.  The view of the Willamette while running down Barbur with 8,000 other runners was pretty cool and made up for the crappy weather a little bit.  According to the Garmin, I run the last couple of miles at a pace closer to 6 min/mile instead of the 7:30 min/mile I was aiming for.  I was glad to finish and found a place to wait for Addy, so I could see her finish.  I didn't have to wait long and saw her finish strong and ran over to give her a kiss.  

As we were making our way back to where Addy's family was waiting, we ran into our friends and teammates for Hood to Coast, Faith and Krista (Donald was with them for encouragement). They had run the 8K and finished with good times.  We introduced them to Addy's dad since he is running Hood to Coast with us as well.  It was awesome to see them and get part of the team to meet before we all run together in August.   

After the run, we went to get a big breakfast at Macadam's in John's Landing.  We had a good time talking with the Vials and hanging out.  We played Tripoley the rest of the day back at our place and bbq'd a big dinner.  Mark and I kept checking the time till we could check our times on the race website.  Finally, halfway through Amazing Race (best show, ever), they finally posted the times.  Mark and Addy did great, but I was not able to make up the time I lost in the portopotty on the second half of the race.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to post good numbers at the Pear Blossom in a month.  

All in all, it was great to have Addy's parents up and I'm glad we ran, even in the terrible weather.  

10K with Torkelson(s) and lunch with "the boys"

Saturday morning Addy and I got up early and went for a run.  Nothing to blog about, right?  But then I say that we were on vacation in Indiana and it was a 10K (6.2 miles) that people ran to train for the 500 mini-marathon and there were 1,778 running with us and it gets a little more interesting, right?  So, now your probably asking, "why?".  Well this was the best opportunity we had to run with our friend Torkelson.  He is a good friend of mine from high school and one of our teammates for the Hood to Coast relay this fall and we don't get to run together often, since he lives in Wisconsin (just north of Chicago).  Torkelson just started running this past fall, but has taken to it like a duck to water.  We have always been competitive and this is a great outlet for our long-distance shit-talk.  We are constantly pushing each other to run faster and further.  Torkelson's youngest brother, Tim, also came up to run from Bloomington.  

The weather could not have been much more perfect: cool, little windy, and sunny.  The course did a figure 8 around the canal and by IUPUI campus.  Pretty flat, too (duh, it was in Indiana).  Addy and I started at the back of the pack and passed people the whole race.  All of us had great personal times.

Brett           time 46:56  avg mile 7:33  overall finish 193rd  division finish 35th

Addy          time 54:45  avg mile 8:48  overall finish 565th  division finish 40th

Torkelson  time 1:01:08  avg mile 9:50  overall finish 950th  division finish 110th

Tim            time 1:11:29  avg mile 11:30  overall finish 1343  division finish 31st

The race was fun and it was great to see Tim.  After we cooled-off and took some pics, Tim left to head back south and Torkelson, Addy, and I headed north to pick up my brother, Zane, on the way to my parents' house.  We met up with Zane and his friends ("the boys") for brunch at Lincoln Square.  I've seen these guys grow up since they've been friends since grade school and then lived together in college.  They crack me up constantly and are way too entertaining.  This time it was Mike, Colin, and Garret.  Suffice it to say that the company was better than the food and I'm so glad that I got to see them on this trip.