Helvetia Half Marathon Race Report

The Helvetia Half Marathon, in only its tenth year of existence, has become the largest half marathon in the state. This is most likely due to the Helvetia Tavern, the likeness of which adorns both the race shirts and finisher medals. We Oregonians are pretty much a sucker for anything beer related, even if it means we have to run 13.1 miles on a blasted hilly course to get one. The associated 10K race, which Mrs. Labduck did, is named after a locally brewed pale ale, the Drop Top 10K. Promise us both a beer and a world famous Helvetia burger for breakfast, and we’ll show up in droves. About 5000 participants did just that. The day dawned sunny and about 55°F; the nicest morning of the year. I’m not sure how the race organizers pulled that one off, given the four months of February we just endured, but there was a definite sense of joviality at the start. It was nice to not have to run in the rain. Again. As an offering to the sun, I wore my brand new Mizuno singlet for the first time (white with lime green accents!), black Nike shorts, and my #2 pair of Mizuno Wave Precision 10’s, the ones that are silver and sky blue with black shoelaces. I matched the race’s color motif for this year: black, lime green, and sky blue. Tim Gunn would have been proud how well I accessorized. <img alt="" src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/labduck/061210001-1.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"> As some of you know, the last half marathon I ran was in Victoria last October, after which the torn meniscus in my left knee finally had enough of me ignoring it and decided it was going to teach me a lesson by blowing up around Mile 10. After surgery in early November, when about 60% of the medial meniscus was removed, I was not able to resume running until the first part of January, and I was on limited mileage (~ 15 mpw) until April. I was able to get up to 30 mpw before this race, but with only a 6-week training base, I was not expecting too much. Based on two earlier 10K’s, my predicted finish time was around 1:37:00. That seemed slow to me, so I was thinking I could run it between 1:35:00 and 1:36:00. Or maybe I was just in denial. For whatever reason, I determined what splits I would need to hit for the 5 and 10 mile marks in order to have a shot at 1:35:00. Just in case. The course is described as “13.1 miles of country roads”. Read this as hilly and narrow, with some gravel. And cows. The route starts and finishes at a football stadium, but then quickly heads out to the farming region adjoining Portland’s urban growth boundary. It’s a pretty course, and surprisingly well supported by the locals. Miles 3 through 10 are a series of hills and valleys that rise and fall around 200 – 250 feet. Mostly steep but short. Mile 5 is on top of the highest hill, where there is an old church and cemetery. This seems appropriate since some runners thank God that they made it up, and others just wish they were dead. The race started on time at 8:00 am with a helicopter flying low filming the start. That was kind of cool. I ran the first 3 miles, which are basically flat, at 7:01, 7:07, and 7:11, keeping an eye on my pace with my Garmin to make sure I didn’t go out too fast. After mile 3, I switched the Garmin back to distance and time mode since the upcoming hills were going to cause wild variations in my pace. Plus, not knowing my pace really allowed me to just enjoy the scenery and chat with some other runners. I never did turn it back to pace mode. Smartest move I made during the race. I climbed the hill to mile 5, let out a little ‘woohoo’ as I crested, and looked at my elapsed race time: 36:44. I was hoping for 36:30, but I wasn’t too far off, so I just kept running up and down hills. I remember hitting mile 8 with a group exactly at 58 minutes, and someone said “Congratulations everyone, we just ran 8 miles in under an hour!” I thought “Sheesh, that’s what I usually do in my training runs”, but quickly remembered where I’ve come from since knee surgery and stopped being hard on myself. So I just kept chugging along. Between mile 8 and 10, something strange started to happen. I started passing runners. I wasn’t sure if I was speeding up, or they were slowing down, but it was happening. So when I hit mile 10, it was with a little bit of trepidation, and a lot of curiosity, that I looked at my watch: 1:12:34. My target split was 1:12:30. Only 4 seconds off. I let out a “yes!” under my breath with a fist pump. All I had to do was run a 22 minute 5K. 7:00 minute miles. No problem… Okay, problem. I felt fine at mile 11. When I hit mile 12, I was spent. I looked at my elapsed time, and I knew if I ran the last 1.1 miles in 8 minutes, I would break 1:35:00. But I was hurting, and my right glute was in periodic spasms. I got passed by a friend who has never beaten me before. Grrrrr. I am running with my hand massaging the spasm in my glute, hoping it would not totally cramp. But I’m getting closer to the finish. We enter the parking lot of the stadium. We go through the gate to the stadium floor. We run on to the football field. I’m worried that the change of surfaces from asphalt to springy artificial turf might exacerbate my spasms, but I’m still going. I run the 100 yards to the finish: 1:34:43. Then I cramp up. Ugh. Mrs. Labduck saw me run into the stadium, and she said I looked worse then she has ever seen me before. I definitely have not felt this bad at a finish in sometime. But it’s over. The final results: 86/3447 overall; 6/165 age group. 7:14/mile. Normally I would jog a mile or so after a half marathon, but not today. After 15 minutes of electrolyte replenishment and stretching, I am able to resume something resembling mobility. I am able to cheer in my niece and sister who finished the race about 25 seconds apart around 1:52:00. So with our badelynge of Ducks intact, we waddle off to the beer garden for our 10 am beer and Helvetia burger. Bliss. Pure bliss. Epilog: Though this is one of my slowest half marathons, it is still one of my most satisfying. It was a fairly successful comeback from knee surgery that included five months of frustrating physical therapy rehab. As I write this the day after the race, my knee feels better right now than it has in two years. I was able to run a race time that was the best I could do given my current training. That’s all we can ever truly ask of ourselves. I spent time with my wife and family on a beautiful day in a beautiful setting sharing laughs and love. And there was beer. I have no races planned for the rest of the year other than Hood to Coast. I’ve pondered trying to train for a fast 10K this fall, but I just don’t feel up to doing speed work in the heat of the summer. What appeals most to me is being a social runner and doing more group runs. Run whatever pace I feel like and meet more runners. So for the first time in over five years, I’m not going to have a three-month training schedule. I’ll schedule running days, but they won’t be predetermined workouts. Mindful that I do need to stay in shape for Hood to Coast, I won’t go totally to seed. I just need a change from my usual. With an eye on a 5K PR in February 2011… <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink">

Helvetia Half Marathon Race Report

gin79

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