It's Tuesday & this morning I was greeted by balloons and streamers. The marathon was this weekend and this was my first day back to work. It was a delightful reception & fun day all around. Work beckons, tons to do, feeling like the decline at the 23rd mile. That there is a marathon metaphor. Which is a handy segue…

I want the indulgence of description here & may not reach a point in this ramble. For those interested in numbers, the following details will get you mostly there:

10k: 1:33:55
10 mile: 2:18:17
Half marathon: 3:22:05
20 mile: 5:26:02
Finish: 7:18

To find out more, there's a map here: http://www.portlandmarathon.org/

My bib # was 558

Here's a description of the course:

The first five miles of the course are downtown. The start is a gradual l mile downhill with the next 2 + miles over a gradual elevation gain of 140 feet followed by an immediate 2 mile easy downhill returning to the waterfront. The next section of the course from the 5 + mile mark is flat and flows through the northwest section of town. The course makes another gradual downhill and heads along the flat border road of the Forest Park area through mile 17. The principal elevation gain of approximately 150 feet occurs over the next mile as runners go up to and over the beautiful St. John's Bridge. Thereafter it is a spectacular run along Portland's east bluff that faces the Willamette River from approximately mile 18 through mile 24.
There is an elevation loss of approximately 140 feet from mile 22 to 24 + with a slight rise as runners go over Portland's Steel Bridge. Then it is back down to Marathon Avenue and onto Naito Parkway along the waterfront to the finish.

Pasted from http://www.portlandmarathon.org/info/

Photo album: http://groups.msn.com/obliquedeck/oct04.msnw?Page=1

Now, for the ramblers (this here is part one):

I came home Friday night & dawdled just enough to imply that I didn't actually want to go to Portland at all. After some time, Jason asked if I would maybe pack & get ready to go. I think we left at 8pm. We drove to Portland, calling Matt on the way down. He asked what shape we'd be in when we got down there. We offered to meet him at the bar of the hotel Mallory, but ended up getting drinks all on our own to take up to our room when we finally arrived at 11:30ish.

There was tv, of course. We watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind & walked through plans for Saturday. Which were: picking up the marathon packets, driving the course & then meeting up with Matt, Bart & Lisa to head out to Cannon Beach - to take our minds of the marathon (Lisa ran too). They would enjoy adult beverages and Lisa & I would be healthy. After sunset, we would adjourn & make it an early night.

We carried out that plan & Saturday was wonderful, a great way to get ready for the run. Sunday was what anyone getting up at 6:30am on a Sunday would expect. Dark, raw feeling, all dewy & calm, the way cities can be when they're off the clock. We walked down to the race. At first, there was only one other guy from our hotel heading purposefully in the same direction, but soon there were groups of twos and threes walking toward the same destination. Some folks had coffee. I had a cliff bar and all my running gear (nutrition, hydration, radio, sunglasses, first aid stuff Jason stuffed into my bag.

I checked in and they were attaching little chips to running shoes for everyone, so that they could track their time. So I got that too & then went up into the lobby. Jason & I walked to the start of the race - I got behind the 11-14 min split folks & felt like I do when the Olympics are on - sentimental, expectant & happy. We sang the National Anthem & listened to the mayor. She counted down the racers in wheelchairs first, then us "5, 4, 3, 2, pow!" I think she had a gun or something to make the pow noise.

Then, 20 minutes later, my part of the crowd was off!