My Portland Marathon - Close but missed the mark

Having trained for the ½ ironman this year, I had a good endurance base going into the summer. I figured a go at the Portland Marathon would be fun. I ran a 3:34:41 back in 2004 to my frustration. I went out too fast and fell apart at the end. That was my second try at Portland and I didn’t improve much after all that training. Motivated to put in a decent time, I headed up to Seattle a month later and put in a 3:29:04 time on that course. I was pretty happy with this since I ran even splits and finished strong on a hilly course.
This year, I figured, why not try to qualify for Boston. I have always wanted to go and my time of 1:29 at last year’s run like hell ½ marathon gave me some hope that I could do it. So with a lot of biking but not much else, me and my best girl suz started training. Since we were late and had other things going on, we ended up missing all the organized 20 milers with the local training group. We threw together a self supported 22 mile training run in Forest Park. It was a fun run but I ended up injuring my knee and spend the next couple weeks nursing that.
Last Sunday, we showed up at the start of the Portland course. The forecast was for rain but it turned out quite nice with just a sprinkle or two. The temperature was perfect in the high 50s topping out in the low 60s. This year they had pace groups every 5 mins or so. This was perfect. I mentally told myself, you just gotta stick on that 3:10 leader and you will get there. The first 13 miles or so where perfect. I stuck around the group, just going ahead for aid stations and a quick porti-potty stop. The pace did start to feel really fast. As the St. Johns bridge approached, I knew I was not going to stick on the back. The group did slow down for the approach ramp but not enough. I slowed way down and fell behind the group. I am glad I did. The one thing I think I have learned is to listen to your body on these things. Push a little past that tipping point and you end up walking 5 miles at the end. From 20 miles on, I ran my own race. We had quite a head wind so I tried to sneak in behind clumps of the big guys. I think it was a big help; mentally if nothing else. Having given up on my 3:10 finishing time, I just focused on keeping up a good rhythm. I recognized a number of runners that were formally in the 3:10 pace group walking as I went past. I definitely felt good about slowing down for the bridge. Pretty soon I was crossing the steel bridge and back into downtown. I heard them call out the time of 3:06 at 25 miles. Damn, know way to run a 4 minutes mile plus. I pushed on the end got 3:13:34. About 2 ½ minutes off the Boston cut off. I felt good that I left all my game on the course and ran the whole distance. There is not much more I could ask for. 16 minutes off my PR is a big accomplishment but I could not help but thinking that I really want that Boston time.
Looks like I am going to be chalking Portland up to a training run and heading down to Sacramento for the California International Marathon. A downhill point to point race in another city sounds perfect. I love Portland but I hate the Portland Marathon. With a dull course and a bad personal history, it is not a fun event. I figure I should have not problem shaving 3 minutes off my time. We will see on December 2nd.