I survived Helvetia

What is Helvetia you ask? Well, it is the Helvetia 1/2 Marathon in Hillsboro, OR. It was on Saturday and the next phase in my training for the Portland Marathon in Oct. This is the first race event that I have done, although my race was only with myself--I certainly wasn't in it to win--just finish. It actually was a great day for me. I was nervous and had lots of butterflies the night before and morning of, but I got a good breakfast and got myself going. My friend, Heather, and I got to Hillsboro Stadium where it started around 7:00 AM, got into a big photo of the Portland/Vancouver Fit running group--not that you will be able to see us, waited in the long line of women to go to the bathroom, checked our bags with stuff we didn't need during the race and made it over to the crazy starting line where we just happened to run right into some other friends and off we went on our 13.1 mile journey through the countryside in Hillsboro. I was worried because I kept hearing about how hilly it was, but the hills were not that bad. There was one pretty good one, but after 6 miles, we were pretty much done with the hills. It was a beautiful sunny day but not too hot until toward the end when it got a little warm. We started off at a nice easy pace, which was pretty much the pace another friend, Rachel, and I maintained the whole time while Heather took off after a couple miles. She had a little more ambitious goals than we did. I had hoped to finish under a 10 minute/mile pace which would be 2 hours and 10 minutes, but for some reason thought it would take me more like 2-1/2 hours to finish. I guess I just wanted to keep my expectations low, but I felt really good the whole race. My hip really started to hurt toward the end, but I kept it going and even sprinted it to the end into the stadium where Rachel and I crossed the finish at 2:07:19, which is a 9:43 pace. Dale and the kids were there waiting for me along with my friend Heather, who finished at 1:5006 (You Go Girl!), and her husband and kids. They were all surprised that we had gotten there so soon. Dale didn't get any very good pics of me coming in because I caught him off guard. I was glad that it was over but very happy to have that first big event under my belt and to feel so good. I was sore and tired afterward. I discovered chafing in places that I didn't think would chafe. My back even felt sore and still does 2 days later from the packet of gel blocks (for refueling) that I had in the back pocket of my running tights. I am still dealing with some issues with my foot hurting, but it didn't feel bad during the race, and my knees have been tons better. Dale asked if I could've kept going for another 13.1 miles like I will have to for the marathon, and the answer on Saturday was, "No," but there is still a lot of training left to do, and I am more confident now that I can do it.

Me running into the stadium with Rachel.

Me happy to be done.

Two victorious Heathers.

Happy belated Father's Day to all fathers out there. It was a very lazy Father's Day here. After getting up and actually being able to go to church with the family (usually I am running and Dale gets the kids ready and I meet them there--although he does better getting there on time than when I'm with him--I'm not much help with the kids and just take longer I'm afraid), I was extremely tired and dozed on the couch. We watched Tiger make a putt to force another day of golf for the US Open and Dale watched the NBA Finals, hoping the Celtics would close it, but they couldn't. We are not Laker fans here. Well, I've got water boiling to cook pasta, so I better go.


TTFN, Ta Ta For Now