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.  

Marathon Day!

It's 5:37 am and I'm getting ready for the Portland Marathon.  It's a nice 55 degrees outside.  It's suppose to rain today, but according to the forecast not until noon.  I should be back in my hotel room by than.  I'm getting excited about this.  Race time is about 1 hour and 15 minutes away.

I did my last training run today before the Portland Marathon.  I fly out tomorrow.   I'll go to the Race Expo to pick up my bib and timing chip, then run on Sunday.  I've very excited about this.

I ran a total of 15 miles this week.  Tapering my running before the Portland marathon.  I've been feeling pretty good about my training.  I hoping to break my personal best of 4 hours and 27 minutes.  But if i don't that's ok.  I really just want to enjoy this race, so if i don't get a PR that will be fine with me.

Here it is

Well I finally decided to do it.  I've created a blog.  A little about me.  I am a 41 year old male living in La Mirada, California.  For those of you that don't know where that is, it's about 20 miles south of Los Angeles and 10 miles north of Disneyland.  I am married to the most wonderful woman, Linda.  We have been married for 16 years and we have a beautiful 15 year old daughter Sara.

My passion is running.  I've been running off and on again since high school.  I took it up seriously about 4 years ago.  I was in Colorado for my grandmother's funeral.  I was feeling really depressed at the time.  For some reason I felt compelled to start running as a way to get over the sadness I was feeling when my grandmother died.  I've been running ever since.

Since then i've run numerous races.  Several 5 and 10 k's.  6 half marathons and 2 marathons.  I am currently training for the Portland, Oregon Marathon which is on October 7th.  This is the 1st marathon i've done out of state, so i am very excited.  

Besides running I also play ice hockey.  I've been playing for about 11 years and I love it.  I will keep playing as long as I can, but i am starting to notice that age is starting to effect my play.  It's getting tougher to keep up with all the 20 and 30 year olds that are skating around me.