Rock N Roll Portland 2012 [a photo heavy race recap]

WARNING: I took a million pictures, and actually did narrow down the lot by a ton in order to create this blog post.  You probably disagree since your computer, phone or tablet is freaking out at the moment due to all of the images, but trust me when I say....I did not use ALL of the pictures I snapped.  And yes, I ran with a camera in my hand for 13.1 miles. lol  It was not the first time, and it probably won't be the last.  :)

I had a wonderful friend from Sacramento coming to Portland for the race. I "met" Sabrina years ago through my Weight Watchers blog.  Years ago, after my first half marathon, she gave me a call & let me cry on her shoulder over the phone.  She is an amazing person, and I'm so glad to finally meet her in person.  Her son, Logan, hit it off with my daughter right away.  I'm pretty sure they played every video game known to man during their short time together.  Jeff, Bre's husband, showed off his new Camelbak Marathoner Hydration Vest .  I ordered one the second they left my house. He should be a sales person for CamelBak!  Anyway, I literally opened the front door with camera in hand & snapped a picture real quick.  Seriously.  Check out the picture....

Surprise!  Sabrina the Running Fairy stayed with me during race weekend!

After everyone was settled in a bit, we headed to the race expo.  It was "OK".  I still compare all expos to Disney, and that's really not fair of me to do so.  Nobody puts on an expo like Disney.  What can I say, they spoiled me.

After they unloaded their car, we headed to the expo.

Welcome to Portland!

We went out to dinner with our families.  I enjoyed meeting up with fellow running blogger, Jennifer (Runner...Maybe).  Made sure to not get carried away with gluten free beer.

I'm resorting to image thievery.  All in the name of blogging.  :)

The next thing I knew, it was race morning.  Our alarm went off at 4:30.  I hopped out of bed to make coffee for everyone.  Busted out the toaster for English muffins, bagels and toast.  There was peanut butter, almond butter, jam, fruit, nuts, and Greek yogurt.  It was an energy filled morning...even though it wasn't even 5am yet.  Everyone loaded up into their cars & headed across the river.

Race morning, it was a bit cloudy....but warm.

I was already seeking a porta potty.  (That became a theme for me that day.)

I'm part of an amazing running group.  About 225 ladies with all different paces & skills!

I ran a bit before the race...trying to make it to the 18 mile mark for marathon training.  I made it to 15.5.

After searching and searching....I found Sabrina waiting in the corral.

We were ready to ROCK!

And then I found Jennifer. 

And we were off!

John Bingham was giving us a pep talk as we ran across the start line.  

Not far into it, I found Chanda.  :)

This gal's name is Sandy.  It was her birthday. (Love the cupcake hat!)

Portland has amazing bridges, and it was so cool to cross over some of them.

Band #1 pumping up the crowd.  It started to sprinkle.

There were tons of "little rockers" on the course.  It was fabulous!

One of the bummers of running races in Portland....stopping for the buses and trains.   By now, it was full on raining.

One of the fun parts of running in Portland......smelling all the yummies from the food carts!

A little kid moshing his fool head off.  I bet he had a migraine by the end of the race. lol

The band that mosher was moshing to.

This explains all of the kid rockers. 

A hippie Tru-Value.  Only in Portland.  Raining harder now.

We finally caught up with Jennifer.  Check out the hill behind her.  

ProActive Physical Therapy?  Hey, that's the place I go to for PT.  They're great.

Cane Lady was CRACKING ME UP.  She didn't even need the cane.  She hauls ass without it.

Run, run.  It's so much FUN!  It was really raining hard.

I stopped to snap a pic of their "half way up the hill sign"....

.....and they brought me a mimosa!!!!!! It as mighty tasty.  :)

I was in my own little world when I heard my running peeps yelling my name.

It was Shelly!

And Rose!

And Margaret!

Not long after that, I found Robin running down the road.

It kept getting darker and raining harder.

I love checking out old houses while running.

I busted out laughing when I saw this house had unusual window decor. lol

This gal's shirt made me wish my Dallas running friends were with me.  :(

And then I saw a friendly face & got over my Dallas pity party.  :)

Then I saw the friendliest face of all waiting for me at the finish line!

I was showing off my skilz by running backward to the finish line.

Before I knew it, someone was placing this around my neck. 

During this race, I talked non-stop for 9 miles.  I only stopped talking because I lost track of Jennifer & Val, my running buddies for the day, when I stopped to walk and chat with Robin around the 8.5 mile mark! lol  I searched and searched for them, and then finally realized they were looooong gone.  This was the first half marathon where I smiled like a goon the entire time, don't remember any of the horrible/hilly parts of the course, and could have kept on running had there not been a finish line.  I stopped to pee five times during the race, saw numerous friends, hugged at least 12 different running buddies, and drank a mimosa handed to me on the street by a stranger.  What an amazing day!  This was my favorite race ever.  Was it my best finish time?  No way.  This is about 36 minutes slower than my last PR.  I made a vow a while back to stop running races alone.  To stop pushing myself to that point of being absolutely miserable.  It's not worth it to me.  New and better finish times no longer motivate me to run.

PS....I want to send a HUGE thank you to the "chicks" who were out there cheering us on.  It was so nice to grab a handful of wet, melted Skittles & a hug before finishing the last half of the race.  You guys rock for being there in the rain all morning. xoxo

The End.

2:57:17 official finish time
13:32 pace