A new PR

4:10:55.  That was my time at the Portland Marathon.  That is a new personal best for me.  Approximately 16 minutes better than my previous best time.  My original goal for this race was to just enjoy it and not be too concerned about my time.  I didn't really train that hard for this race.  I did one 2o mile run back in August.  Other then that my weekly training had been modest.  This was a great marathon, and if you like to run marathon's, you should put this one on your list.  The weather was perfect for running.  Race time starting in the low 50's.  It was overcast but it never rained.  The crowd at this event was awesome.  I have to say that they got me through some tough goings in the race.   

I started off on a comfortable pace.  About 9:30 per mile.  I took walk breaks every 10 minutes.  I felt pretty good after the 13th mile, and my goal was to at least stay under 10 minute miles heading into the higher miles.  At mile 16 was a pretty steep hill.  I took the hill at a good pace, and I was still feeling pretty strong.  What really started me going even stronger was when I paced the pace setter for 4:15 runners.  I start thinking to myself that I might even have a slight chance of breaking 4 hours.  That thought went away at mile 20.  Even though my pace was still under 10 minutes, I realized at this point that I didn't have another gear to kick in.  So my goal now was for 4:10.  My legs where really starting to burn at mile 23, and at mile 24 was a very steep down hill.  That down hill really made my thighs burn.  I was trying to fight gravity, so that my thighs wouldn't take such a pounding.

I want to thank the group that was giving out beer shots at mile 25.  Having that shot of beer was a nice motivator to make one final kick towards the finish.