I LOVE OREGON

As I wrote in my Pac Crest Marathon Race Report, we vacationed in Oregon this year. One of my loyal readers (yo Padre!) commented that he loves the fact that we ran a race AND vacationed at the same time as a family. We’ve been doing that for as long as I can remember, definitely since the Peanut has been born.

Our first ever trip to Oregon was to Portland in October of 2009. Vans and I flew up there with the Peanut who was about 18 months old. I ran the Run Like Hell Half Marathon and he and the Peanut did the 5k race in the jogger.

We went back to Oregon in 2010 to run the Pac Crest Half and 10k and then again in 2012 to run the Pac Crest full marathon and Vans did the Duathlon.

2015 it was decided that we needed a return trip to Oregon. It had been too long.

Car packed and ready to go!
Car packed and ready to go!

We left on a Thursday afternoon with the intentions of driving straight to Ashland. I have wanted to stop in Ashland on our way but we never managed to make it work, this year we did and both Vans and I are glad that we stopped.

I hate stopping at rest-stops as they have crazy pigeons and seagulls that attack you
I hate stopping at rest-stops as they have crazy pigeons and seagulls that attack you

Ashland reminded me very much like downtown Berkley in California but with a more mountain-ish look and feel.

Window shopping in Ashland
Window shopping in Ashland

Our first item of business was to stop at the Rogue Valley Runner’s store which is owned and operated by Hal Koerner. I’ve been a “fan” of Hal’s for a long time and was super excited to see his store. I knew he wouldn’t be there as Western States was happening this same weekend and I knew he would be down helping with that race.

Me geeking out in front of the store
Me geeking out in front of the store

Thanks to social media, Hal recommended that when we come to Ashland, that we check out Standing Stone Brewing Company. Vans is always down with checking out a brewery so we headed there for dinner.

Taste Testing
Taste Testing

The girls loved it because Standing Stone provided cool little chalk boards with colored chalk for them play with at the table.

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I had a blackberry cider which was really good and an amazing gluten free vegan tempeh skewer dinner. Another highlight was that I spotted Jenn Shelton having a beer at the bar. That was pretty cool. I can’t recognize celebrities to save my life, but ultra runners? Sure can!

After Ashland, we drove to Medford where our hotel was located. Medford was interesting. We would have preferred to have stayed in Ashland and explored more but unfortunately there was a softball camp and a Shakespeare Festival happening all at the same time and so there were no hotels available.

Friday morning we woke up and drove the remaining 3.5 hours to Sunriver. We decided to pass Sunriver and head to Bend to stop at Trader Joes and grab the food we’d need for the next few days. Be-Well-Run and her family were not expected to arrive until later in the day.

When everyone had arrive and unpacked we hit the race expo to pick up packets. Be-Well-Run signed herself up for the 10k and her kids for the kids fun run. Their races would be on Sunday morning. Pac Crest does a great job spreading out all the events so that almost everyone in the family can do something while being available to watch other family members race as well.

The kids also hit the hot tub.
The kids also hit the hot tub.

Saturday morning I ran the marathon. You can read that race report and see photos here. While I was running the kids were having breakfast …..

Outside table for four?
Outside table for four?

AND getting into mischief….

Bubbles!
Bubbles

When the marathon was over, we had lunch and then went for a bike ride all around Sunriver in search of a pool to swim in. Yes. I ran a marathon and then went biking. I figured it would help the legs (ha ha).

Squeaker had a cool ride
Squeaker had a cool ride

We couldn’t find a pool and instead found a spot where the kids could dunk their feet and jump into the Deschutes River. It was cold.

During our trip, we also took some time to visit Bend a few times which is absolutely gorgeous.

What we call the Rainbow Bridge ...
What we call the Rainbow Bridge …
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Watching paddle boards and tubing

While in Bend, Squeaker had her first ever “real” ice cream cone. The kind where you have to lick and turn, lick and turn to ensure you don’t have a huge mess. She did great but man was she in heaven with that cone! Her facial expressions had us laughing so hard.

Yum Ice Cream!
Yum Ice Cream!

We also went to downtown Bend and wandered around a bit … stopping at a few breweries of course.

Bend Brewing Company
Bend Brewing Company

Amazing sunsets in Bend
Amazing sunsets in Bend

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We also had a lot of fun just hanging out at the house too in the evenings. The dads went on a night mountain biking ride one night to check out the trail situation.

Night Riders!
Night Riders!

The house was equipped with a bunch of board games so the kids loved playing those.

Twister anyone?
Twister anyone?

The adults found other games to entertain ourselves with …

Ping!
Ping!
Pong!
Pong!

Be-Well-Run and family brought their slack line which was a lot of fun but also caused a few tears.

Slack Lining
Slack Lining
Broom Sticks to help balance
Broom Sticks to help balance

I cooked up a storm as I brought my instant pot so I was content in the kitchen all weekend making everyone try my random dishes.

Sunday was a big day as Vans and Be-Well-Run had their 10k race. So we all loaded into one car (four adults four kids) and drove to the start of the race. JD and I would be in charge of the kids while the other two raced.

Racers are Ready!
Racers are Ready!

It was another incredibly hot day. Muggy and hot actually. Vans hasn’t been running much and Be-Well-Run said she hasn’t really either. Both were just going out there to have some fun and give it a shot.

While they were off running, JD and I tried to entertain the kids with bounce houses and rock climbing.

Peanut loved it
Peanut loved it
Monkey did too
Monkey did too

But the excitement of waiting for them was slowly starting to wear off …

Are they here yet?
Are they here yet?

Finally Vans came running into the finish line area, about the time I suspected he would (49-50 minutes). The first words out of his mouth where, “You are freaking crazy! That was SO hard. You are crazy. How did you run 26 miles?!”

He was happy to be done
He was happy to be done

Be-Well-Run came in shortly after that and was joined by her two girls as they crossed the finish line.

Finish!
Finish!

Immediately upon finishing, everyone headed over to the recovery tent and experimented with the compression boots!

Be-Well-Run was a fan
Be-Well-Run was a fan
Vans was a little unsure
Vans was a little unsure
Even I gave it a shot the day after my race
Even I gave it a shot the day after my race

Of course post recovery, everyone had to enjoy their free Deschutes beer in the Bier Garten.

Free!
Free!
Woo Hoo!
Woo Hoo!
Thank you Deschutes!
Thank you Deschutes!

So Saturday and Sunday of our trip was clearly jam packed with all things active and fun. I am going to cut this post off now and leave you in suspense for just one more that will be filled with amazing photos, a cool surprise and the conclusion of our vacation.

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Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

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PACIFIC CREST MARATHON RACE REPORT (VACATION IN OREGON)

Have you ever said something along the lines of, “If I say I want to do this next time, remind me that I said I would never do it again.” Those were the thoughts that were going through my head the first few miles of the Pacific Crest Marathon last Saturday.

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I ran this same marathon in 2012. You can read that race report here. I even re-read my race report before we left on vacation and recalled that it was a tough race mentally because it is two loops of a half-marathon course. You basically run right past the finish line and back out for another 13.1 miles. Also, because this race is in Oregon, specifically Sunriver, Oregon, one has no idea what the weather will be like. In 2012 when I ran the full marathon, it was 40 degrees at the start and it hailed. In 2010 when I ran the half, it was warm but not miserable.

This year the weather would be a force to be reckoned with and the nemesis in every runner’s side. I knew this when we left California as the temps were slowly rising towards 100 degrees. The weather in Sunriver was predicted to be in the high 90s or low 100s.

Mt. Shasta
Mt. Shasta

We stopped in Ashland, Oregon on Thursday. I have always wanted to visit Ashland as I hear it is an ultra runner’s dream. We stopped at Hal Koerner’s store, Rogue Valley Runners and did a little shopping and photo op’ing.

RVR Store!
RVR Store!

We also stopped and had dinner at Standing Stone Brewing Company, a recommendation from Hal himself (thank you social media) and I saw Jenn Shelton sitting at the bar having a beer.

Pre-race hydrating
Pre-race hydrating

We spent the night in Medford (interesting) and then drove to Sunriver on Friday morning. In the past, I felt that if I didn’t have enough time to acclimate to the elevation, then it was better to get there and just run the race right away. Sunriver is at 4200 ft above sea level. That’s a significant difference compared to my usual 768 ft.

We were vacationing with Be-Well-Run and her family again. In years past, we all participated in some kind of event since Sunriver hosts the Pacific Crest Sports Weekend Festival. This year however, only Vans and I had signed up for events (the marathon for myself and the 10k for Vans). Be-Well-Run signed up for the 10k at packet pick-up which was a nice surprise.

Expo Shopping
Expo Shopping

Walking around the expo I wasn’t really nervous. I kept telling Vans that I was more disappointed because I really wanted to do well and try and break my previous time at this race, but based on the way I was feeling … I just knew it wasn’t in the cards. I was tired, my legs were toast and I had a bunch of internal things going on that proved to be just really bad timing on my body’s part. Finishing became my goal. Or perhaps, this is just a “training run” for my pacing duties at Tahoe Rim Trail in two weeks? That is what I kept telling myself anyway.

Race morning I woke up and got myself dressed. It was warm already. Luckily, in preparation I made sure to bring a bandanna with me. This bandanna has saved me at many an ultra so I figured I would carry it with me (more on this later).

I had a Picky Bar breakfast and then sat with my legs up a wall trying to move the circulation around a bit. My legs just felt stiff and tired and sluggish. Riding in a car for hours on end will do that I suppose. I tried to just relax. I tried foam rolling too. My right hamstring has been bugging me for a while. I can’t quite pinpoint what triggers it or what caused it, but I know when I think about it, it tightens up.

Soon it was time to head to the start. The thing about this marathon is that even though it is a Boston qualifying race, there is never that many people running it (in fact, I just looked, there were 73 people who ran). I think I finally understand why now.

The race started on time and we were off and running. It goes up hill at first and we were to expect aid-stations and porta potties every mile (not necessarily at each mile marker). I decided not to carry any water with me based on there being water so frequently.

Within the first few miles I just knew my legs were not working. They didn’t seem connected to my body at all. My pace was hovering around 8:50 which was surprising to me since I felt like I was a slug on the sidewalk.

After I passed mile 2 I saw some friendly faces. I put on my best smile and waved.

The kid posse
The kid posse

I just assumed that I would slowly begin to bounce back to normal and eventually get into a groove. Somewhere around mile 6 or 7 though, my paced started slowing and the heat started coming on strong. My 8:50s started hovering around 9 and then 9:10 … and then 9:15.

The last time I ran this, I only allowed myself walking breaks on the second loop and only when I was going through an aid-station. This year, the walking started early. “Oh, is that an aid-station I see way up there? Okay, that means I can walk now.”

That’s kinda how it went for a while. Part of the course goes past the Sunriver Airport where there is absolutely positively zero shade cover. Not that there was a ton on the other parts of the course but at least there we had some cloud cover … the airport seemed to make the clouds disappear.

The aid-stations were great. They had water and I was enjoying the mental break of knowing they were coming every mile. There was a bit of a mind game for a while as they were not at the mile markers but in-between.

Somewhere around mile 9 or so I started thinking, “There is no way in hell I am going to finish this race. Forget this. If the family is at the half-way point, I am stopping. Who cares if my first ever DNF is on a road marathon!? This is insane!”

Mile 10: “You can’t quit. You can’t! You’ve run 8 other marathons before this. You’ve run ultras for goodness sake! How can you possibly quit!?”

Mile 11: “Yup, you can quit. This is the pits. Can you feel this heat? It has to be 100 degrees outside!” (it was 97).

Mile 12: “Ugh, more rolling hills? What the hell? Why? This is ridiculous. Look! Those people are walking. You can walk too. Almost to the half way point. Almost to the point where you are going to quit!”

Mile 13: “Why the heck do they have to add a .1 to a freaking half marathon?! Why can’t it just stop at 13?! Okay, there is the finish shoot, where is my family?”

Course marshal: “Half marathoner’s go right, marathoner’s go left for your second loop!”

Me (in my head): “But, but …. I don’t WANT to do a second loop! Where are they? Where is my family? They have to be here. Sure they didn’t say they would be here but they have to know I am dying right?”

Off I go … on my second loop. They had no water at the finish area. The last water station was at mile 12. The next one wouldn’t be until almost mile 15 or 16 … in 97 degrees and in my completely fragile emotional state, that seemed like 115 miles to me. I think I started hallucinating.
As far as low price levitra the race is concerned, that is ultimately our call. Hence it is strictly next rx generic viagra recommended to get a physician’s prescription. Moreover, their volatility enhances the chance of an active digestive system viagra 20mg for slowing down its absorption in the body. Never combine these medicines with smoking, levitra 10mg alcohol, caffeinated drinks, grapefruit or grape as it may hamper their effectiveness.

Save me!
Save me!

I had been running with a salt tab in my hand since mile 13. All I wanted was a cup of water so that I could take my salt tab. I saw my family ahead of me. I started walking and blabbering about “no water, where is the water?” and “if you were at the half way point, I’d be done. I can’t do this. This is so hard.” I stole my 7 year old’s water bottle and I took my salt tab.

Be-Well-Run rode her bike up ahead to the aid-station and I think informed them that I was coming and desperately needed water. A nice volunteer ran up to me, “Are you Pam?” Me: “Yes, I am.” Nice volunteer: “Okay, you can do this, you can make this. Here is some water. Is this your first marathon?” Me (oh dear lord, it looks like I am dying doing my first marathon): “Um, no, more like my 9th.”

Vans told me how hot it was (gee, I hadn’t noticed) and informed me that I was moving pretty slow (ya think?). He said, “See you at the finish?” and I think I said, “Sure, but we’re looking at a 5 hour marathon here. I see a lot of walking in my future.” He assured me that I only had about 6 miles to go. I don’t know if he was trying to mess with my math challenged dehydrated brain or what, but I kind of believed him until I got a little further and realized I had like 10 more miles, not 6. Thanks honey. 🙂

I am not sure when, but they had run out of ICE on the course so all the water we had to drink was WARM. Ugh.  Around mile 10 however, they had buckets of cold water (guess that is where all the ice went) and I started using my bandanna. I’d soak it in a nice ice-cold bucket and then wipe my face and wrap it around my neck. My saving grace. That bandanna makes the world a better place.

The rest of the course was a ghost town. There were one or two guys who I had been playing leap-frog with. I had to use a porta potty twice so they’d get ahead of me but I’d eventually catch up and pass. At about mile 18, I started feeling way better.

When I reached the airport (mile 20) there was a kid manning the aid-station. I asked where his water bucket went and he said it was gone but that he had ice. ICE? What?! I had him fill my bandanna (sorry other runners). I carried that bandanna full of ice the rest of the race cooling my neck and face.

Where is she? This is taking a really long time Dad.
Where is she? This is taking a really long time Dad.

I wasn’t running 100% of the time, but I was running more than I had before. I had passed those two guys for good and a girl (who didn’t enjoy that). When I saw the 21 mile marker, I knew I could finish. Walk run walk run. Run run run run. Walk. Run.

Here I come! Told ya it was a ghost town of a race.
Here I come! Told ya it was a ghost town of a race.

When I saw the finish shoot, I tried so hard to gather up enough energy to just keep running. I saw and heard my family cheering my name. That gave me a nice boost.

Smile and it doesn't hurt right?
Smile and it doesn’t hurt right?
In my head I am thinking "oh thank goodness!"
In my head I am thinking “oh thank goodness!”
My girls joining me for the final few steps.
My girls joining me for the final few steps.

When I crossed that finish line I was filled with a bunch of emotions. There was a lot of “Oh thank goodness you are done,” but there was also the, “Holy crap, you did it!? You stuck it out!”

This is me telling Be-Well-Run "holy crap that was hot"
This is me telling Be-Well-Run “holy crap that was hot”
This is, "NEVER LET ME DO THIS RACE AGAIN!"
This is, “NEVER LET ME DO THIS RACE AGAIN!”

I was stoked that I had finished, shocked at my terrible time (4 hrs 40 minutes) and desperately searching for one thing ….

Yes! This is so nice in so many ways.
Yes! This is so nice in so many ways.

Post race massage by this guy … he was blown away by my right hamstring. I was too to be honest. It didn’t feel great but after he dug his elbow in it a few million times, it felt a lot better.

Upon completion of your race (any races in Sunriver), you get a free Deschutes Beer. Of course, being gluten free, I cannot drink beer but Vans was not about to let this opportunity pass so he rushed me over to the Bier Garten.

Free Beer!
Free Beer!

We hung around the race for a little bit but the kids were toast. My long marathon had taken up most of the day and everyone wanted to get moving on our vacation. So we left.

So bored that balancing rocks on her head was more exciting than waiting for me.
So bored that balancing rocks on her head was more exciting than waiting for me.

Overall, I wasn’t too sore from the race. My quads were pretty tight the following day but I didn’t stretch nor did I foam roll or anything (I know, I know, bad!).

In the end, I am proud of myself for sticking it out and not quitting. On the other hand, this is fueling me towards some serious marathon training for CIM in December. I am due. I want to get back to my sub 4 hour marathon time.

I say it all the time, but for me, road running is harder than trail running. They are both very different in so many ways. I am faster on the road but the endurance for running continuously isn’t there. I’ve been so mentally trained to be conservative on the trail because usually, you are out there for the long haul. You have fuel. You have aid-stations that are like a giant smorgasbord of everything you can imagine. When I passed my first aid-station in Sunriver my heart sank a little bit. Water?! Just water?? 🙂

I know that no matter what, I can manage the distance but I am getting tired of just “managing” … I want to do better. So, we shall see. I have some pacing duties to attend to in a few weeks and then, who knows, maybe I will start migrating to the pavement again. CIM training IS just right around the corner. 😉

Just because. :)
Just because. 🙂

Stay tuned for another post. I have a million photos and a few more stories to share about our vacation that involve more running but since this post is already almost as long as my last marathon time (har har), I figure I should end it here. 🙂

Happy Pavement Trails!

~Trailmomma

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