July 08

Now that I could put my DNF in the 1/2 ironman behind me the fun training began. Coach Andy and I were both happy to get down to business and work just on running. 3 months until Portland Marathon and a good base under me but now its time to build some mileage.

First race in July was the Sunrise Classic 15k at Smith Rock in Terrebonne, OR. I had never done this race and what is unique about it is that you start at 6 am because the day heats up fast and in July it gets HOT. Not a big race as it is fairly new but I need to get a race in so I thought I would give it a try. It was a beautiful morning and nice drive in the morning at dawn. I got to the Parking lot to catch the shuttle and realized it would be a nice 1.5 mile warm up to jog to the start line. Once the gun went off it was go time as the course starts out a little downhill. There wasn't a lot of specifics to how Coach Andy wanted me to run. We were shooting for a PR however it would come. I sat in behind a guy that after mile 2 he had his shirt off and was pounding the pavement like it was mile 20 of a Marathon but he had a nice pace going. At about mile 8 there was a slight hill and my body didn't take too well to it. My heart started to race and I had to slow down. I had to say goodbye to the guy with no shirt that looked like he was going to fall over. I did not finish fast but it was an decent time. No PR but I did finish in 1:02:55 good enough for 9th place.

At the end of the month I chose to run a 1/2 marathon in Camas, WA to see where I was at. I had run the course before when it was a 10 miler. Nice course around Lacamas Lake. One killer hill at the end, literally from 11.75-12.25, that you basically power walk. The new suprise was another steep hill on the part they added to make it a 1/2 marathon. I don't like hills, probably because I am not that good at them. Coach Andy said go out at 6:45 pace and hold it as long as you can. I went out really fast for the first 2 miles as they are big downhills. Settled into my pace and held on through the first big hill. It wasn't Until about mile 9 that I started to feel tired. By mile 11 I knew I wasn't going to PR and my right shoulder started to tighten up. I have had problems with my right shoulder since I separated it 4 years ago. Between the pain, no PR, the big hill at the end and my lack of desire miles 11-13 were slow. I finished in a respectful 1:35:02 for 27th place.

Logged approx. 145 miles