With Cara Esau, Bill Rodger and Frank Shorter to the left. With Cara and Rich Benyo above and of course finishing my fifth Portland marathon!
October 9, 2011 4:42:22
Porland was a life saver for me this year and one fantastic time too! The last four years I have had a 4:49, 4:43, 4:39 and now a 4:42. This tells me I was still in good consistent marathon shape for four years running and such a relief to me after two very bad marathons where I had to visit the ER after their finishes. I wondered if I still had it in me. A marathon runner judges himself by his last run and not as a whole which is stupid and obsessive, but hey I am what I am! :-)
I had a very consistent run. I think if I had it to do over I'd have been in a different corral so I wasn't slowed too much at first, but that is it. I had reserves at the end and only potasium cramp problems but I stopped and stretched and was able to run the last mile without cramps and my average mile was 10:47 and that is the pace I started in the crowd the first seven miles, so overall I was extremely happy with the run. Portland is my very favorite marathon each year and their medal was the best of their 40 thus far in my eyes!
Being invited to the VIP reception by Les Smith was quite an honor. Power of the pen I guess with my yearly articles with Marathon and Beyond and it was great being able to speak with my editor Rich Benyo at the reception. I was able to visit Cara Esau, who is a friend and fellow writer for RaceCenter this October and will also be writing the article series with me for Marathon and Beyond. Oh did I mention I was able to talk with Bill Rodgers (4 time Boston and 4 time New York City marathon winner and Frank Shorter, the 1972 Gold Medalist for the marathon? Someone pinch me. What a GREAT time I had, no doubt and I hope to attend this function more often. No one puts on a better show then Les and the Portland marathon and everyone should emulate the way they do things for the runner.
