So when I registered for this race, I knew these would be challenges, but I figured I'd go for it anyway. If only to have a good mileage base for when it was time to start training for the New York Marathon. Sometime in April, I think, I found out that my oldest daughter had choir concerts on the 29th and 30th of May. That's the night before, and the night of the marathon. And Newport is about 3.5 hours from Portland. I considered bailing on the race, but I hate wasting money and training. I asked my daughter if I could just come to Saturday's concert and miss Friday's, but she said she really wanted me there both nights. So I did it all. I left Portland at 9:00 Friday night, got to Newport around midnight, and checked into the hotel. Got to sleep around 1:00, and woke up at 4:00 - race time was 7:00, and I wanted time to digest.
My goal during training was 3:33. I knew by race day that I wouldn't likely PR on so little sleep, but I figured maybe I would be able to slide in under 3:35. It was a beautiful day, and the course had a few rolling hills, but was mostly flat (at least in elevation - more on that later).
After the gun, I spent about the first mile warming up and finding my legs. I settled into an 8:03-8:05 pace, which I maintained with reasonable effort through mile 15. Around then, I started to feel really heavy and sluggish. I slowed to 8:15ish, and held on for another 3 miles. Mile 18 came in around 8:35, and BAM! The wall. Miles 19-26 were hell. At 21, I almost walked. At mile 22 I figured I may as well cruise at whatever I could pull off, and brought it back up to sub-9:00 for a few miles. The last mile had a slight elevation gain, and I fought for every step. I didn't walk, but didn't get anywhere near my revised goal. I ended up with a 3:47:21. I felt like a total failure for a couple of hours. Then I realized that 1) it wasn't that bad, especially for 3 hours of sleep, 2) my results don't matter to anyone else but me - it's not like my job depends on it, 3) I'd gotten PRs in my last 3 marathons - at some point I was due an off race. Finally, when checking the results, I realized that even if I'd gotten my original goal of 3:33, it would have only moved me up to 4th in my age group, instead of the 7th place I got. That helped a bit.
And you know? I do have a good mileage base for New York.
As for the race itself, it is a nice one. It's small - 1000 registered, 727 finished. It's very friendly. And while I'm not a big fan of out-and-backs, it is scenic. Newport is lovely: the course touched on the Cute Beach Town area, but spent most of its distance on an out-and-back along the Yaquina Bay. The biggest down-side of the race for me was that the roads are noticeably canted for run-off (it used to rain a lot here in Oregon). I felt like I was constantly looking for a flat place to run. The calf fatigue from running on a diagonal was distracting, and I'm sure I ran a little extra distance in lateral movement while I decided whether it was better to run on the middle stripe or in the margin next to the road. I could have done without the oyster shooter smell at around mile 10 (and back again around mile 20), but I get it. Quirky local flavor. The upsides of this race are definitely the casual ease of the small field, the friendly directors, the smell of the sea (oysters notwithstanding), and room to move. The race swag was nice, too. The medal was made of swirly glass, which is very pretty. The t-shirt was dri-fit and of good color and quality. There was plenty of recovery food and Rogue beer at the finish, as well as a nice, big finishers area in which to hang out.
All in all, it was a good experience, if humbling. I look forward to kicking my own butt back in gear for my next race.
