Running Down the Dream....whoo-hoo!

I ran the Shamrock Run in downtown Portland this morning and had a great time. A couple friends and I chose to do the 15k (9.3 mi.). Fortunately, C -- aka Stripes -- wore knee high green striped socks, which helped me keep track of her up the approximately 4 mile long hill. Hills are my hardest part of a run and C is incredibly strong and steady on hills which was a huge help. Funny enough, on her blog she wrote how I helped her through the final portion!



I've only been running once or twice a week so I was delighted to finish in about 1 hour and 23 minutes...somewhere around 9 minute miles. It felt really good to wake up early, get a great run in, celebrate with some chowder and beer after, and enjoy the excitement of a race. Definately inspiration for the Portland Marathon in October. When it comes to marathons, though, I'm somewhat of a commitment-phobe. One of my goals in life was to run a marathon; the subsequent goal is to run a marathon and qualify for the Boston Marathon. I'm not even sure that I want to run the Boston Marathon, it's the idea of qualifying that cements, in my mind, that I'm a decent runner. I did run the Flying Pig Marathon in 1999, which is based in Cincinnati, but missed the qualifying time for Boston although making my secondary goal of coming in under 4 hrs. Truth is, it's the training that keeps me from signing up for the Portland Marathon. J helped me train for the Flying Pig, so the schedule was somewhat rigorous, to say the least (i.e., double runs, 50-60 mi. per week, intense speedwork, etc...).

I think I can commit myself to it if I have people with whom I can train. Fortunately, Portland is the optimal place for that! So, despite being a little sore and tired from this morning, I think I can do the Portland Marathon and enjoy it!

Portland Marathon