Portlands newest running store

So, Road Runner Sports has openned a store in Tualatin. I happened to notice this the other day when I went to lunch with a collegue in Tualatin. It caught my eye because Kristin has ordered from their catalog, and I loved their catalog.
Saturday, Kristin and I decided to go check out the store and see what it was like, and it is closer than Fit Right Northwest for us.
So, we get there, and it is completely different than the other running stores. The first thing we noticed, this store has a huge selection from a very wide range of companies. What impressed me the most is they had clothing from Zoot, those clothes look so comfortable, and they are definately high end.

Kristin was excited because her shoes were $40 less than they are at Fit Right Northwest.

So, we were just wandering around, and this really nice lady who worked there came up to us and started talking to us. I am not sure how it all happened, but I started talking about some of my running issues, but not expecting to actually buy shoes, I didn't bring my running shoes. I was talking about how I am pushing off during my stride and how it doesn't feel right and maybe my shoes are worn out. Wendi, the lady helping us, informed me that I should never feel that I have to force my foot in to a certain position while running. She then asked if we had time to do a fit analysis. Okay, this story is getting long, sorry.

So, we had some time and decided to see if their system could see if maybe I was in the wrong shoe. So, we went through this really cool process that included me walking on this analysis machine to figure out the pressure points in my feet, arch type, roll off, etc. then them doing a slow motion analysis of my run on the treadmill, and analyzing the way my ankle rolled.

We found that my ankle was rolling out, and my Brooks Beasts also are designed to force this, so it was a double whammy. I had been fitted by another, very reputable store, and it looks like they were wrong and they need this high tech stuff too. Wendi probably spent 30 to 40 minutes just analyzing my feet and stride.

So, they determined I need to be in a neutral shoe. Holy cow, they now have me trying on shoes, I wasn't expecting this.... So, Wendi, who Kristin and I have absolutely fell in love with by this point, went in the back room to find me some shoes. She comes out with four pairs to start with, and that was all the more she could fit in one load. I probably had her running all over getting shoes of different sizes, etc. and she never acted like we were causing her any problem. She seemed very happy to help! Absolutely great service! After trying on a countless number of shoes, and trying to avoid the Nike's cause their old stuff sucked. Well, turns out, Nike has done a complete revamp of how they build running shoes, and they are really good. I ended up thinking I needing a 12.5 and they only had a 12 and 13. So, Wendi ordered me a pair of shoes from another store and they showed up 3 biz days later, which I was happy with, considering the shipping was free.

So, I get the shoes, and it turns out the 12.5's don't fit me quite right either and the 13's are too big.
So, I took the shoes back, and another gentleman, Greg, helped me find another pair of shoes that fit me, but we had to do a lot of digging and it ended up being in an unlikely shoe, the Mizuno. Greg, was also just as kind and cool as Wendi, and I think I have a new running store.

So, I finally get my first run in this neutral shoe, which is a complete swing from Motion Control. All I can say is Road Runner Sport has it right, so it seems anyways. Look out Portland Running Stores! We have a chain (which usually means crappy service) that has figured out how to hire great people, train the right fitting techniques (technology helps a lot I am sure, but I only care about the result) and gives me a great price. Now only if Performance Bikes could figure this out!

Okay, this post turned out extremely long, but I had an experiance with a company that I felt was far above anything I had ever experianced, so I thought I would pass it along.

Happy Spring everyone

Believe it or not, today is officially the first day of spring!!!

Okay, it doesn't really feel like it today. It is still the same weather we have had for the past six months, gray and gloomy. But, I had to do something outside!

I went to Road Runner Sports down by my work and went on a group run, and I am really happy I did. This running store (SOOO COOOL) is new, so the group was really small. So, we started out on the run. The guy who was leading the group was definately out for a recovery run (easy, light pace, just have fun). I started talking with the guy and it turns out he is doing an ultra marathon April 9th that is a 60k! So, he was definately out for a light run. I asked him how many miles he is running a week and he said he is running 80 miles this week, still building his mileage! So, this short little run was nothing for him.

It turned out being the perfect run for me as I had just bought a brand new pair of shoes and they needed to be broke in, so a nice conversation paced 5k was great for me.

I hope all of you had a great day today, and I hope everyone has a great spring!

Shamrock Run race report

It felt good knowing that I wasn't the only crazy person out today. I had over 16,000 crazies to run with. Between the 5, 8 and 15k runs and the 5k walk, there was an attendance of over 16,000 people. This may help to show how big the event was

Kristin and I were able to meet up with Tony and Ernie before the race. I was also planning to meet up with one of my co-workers husbands, Darin who was also running the 15k, but I couldn't find him.

As I was warming up for the start, my bladder decided I had to go. I went to the porto-john's and the lines were huge, and I didn't think I would have time to hit them and start the race on time. The lines were about a block long for each grouping of porto-johns. I figured I would have to hit the first or second set of john's along the way.

Meeting up with Tony and Ernie before the race was really cool, and it was nice to be around other people who were doing the race and you knew. For some reason I couldn't find Darin at our pre-defined meeting spot. Amazingly, when we were lining up for the run, we saw each other!

Tony and Ernie were hoping to hit the 15k in less than an hour, so they were staged much further up than I was. Darin and I have never ran together, so I told him to drop me if he ever felt like I was holding him up. Darin has ran a marathon and he has done several triathlon's, I think one was a half or a full IronMan. Plus, he was in the Army for 10+ years and he now is a fireman, so he is in damn good shape, although he is rather modest with his own assessment of where he is at.

So, Darin and I started middle of the pack. Since my times are usually at the middle of the pack, that is usually a good place for me to start. With so many people, this was maybe a bad place to start. I was constantly boxed in surrounded by much slower runners and I was spending too much time and energy getting around these people. My problem is that I don't want to start too far up, because I don't want to hold up people who are far faster than me. I forgot to ask Tony, but I wonder if they had 10 min/mile pacers at the front, where they do not belong as far as race etiquette goes. 

After we were started Darin told me he really needed to use the porto-john as well. At about the 1 mile mark, there was a porto-john with a short line, maybe 4 or 5 people, so we both stopped and hoped the line would run quick. there were 3 women in front of us, and well, we all know women take longer than men to do anything restroom related. I guess if they are in a race, they can go damn quick! It was awesome. It did take us a couple minutes, plus add on the couple minutes it took us to cross the start line, so every time they called out the time, we were about 7 minutes behind the race clock, compared to our actual running time.

While we were waiting for the porto-john, the trailing cars passed us. How embarrassing was that? All I could think was I better catch up to those cars, otherwise I will be embarrassed. I mean, these are all people who are running a 15k, so they aren't slouches, right? Anyway, we get out and we immediately started running again. We were pacing pretty good, around a 8:30 pace, and very quickly we caught the back marker pace cars and passed them. This happened just as we turned on broadway and the road gradually goes up. But we were a long way away from the pack. By the next mile, we had caught up to the tail end of the main pack, before the main climb up Terwilliger Blvd started. One of the strangest things I have seen in a race, and it must have something to do with the longer distance. Just before the start of the main climb a bunch of women started peeling off on to this trail. I am sitting here thinking, what the hell, they are going to take the shortcut? Nope, they were all peeling off for the bushes to take care of "business". It made me chuckle a little. Not often you see women running for the bushes.

So, then the climb starts in earnest, and almost immediately my IT band started flaring up and hurting. I shortened my stride a bit and was able to get it to become a dull pain. The climb was just a three mile grind. Nothing was crazy steep, but it was just a grind. Darin and I were constantly passing people on the climb, which made me feel good, since I am a horrible climber.

At the top of the main climb, there was a bag pipe "band" in true Irish fashion. Well, I thought this meant it was all downhill from this time on. My legs had a really hard time going quicker on the downhill and they felt worse than when I was climbing, and my IT was really hurting me on the descent causing me to slow down. At the bottom of this fairly long downhill, it turned out there was more climbing. It was a short climb, in comparison, but my legs felt like they were chunks of wood that I was trying to maneuver, rather than being fluid like I am used to. I finally got my cadence back to feeling right, but the downhill came again, and I was in pain again.

Darin was great though, he hung with me the entire time and we talked quite a bit of the run. It was great having someone to pace with on the run and to take your mind off of things.

So, the downhill was under way, and I tried to find something that would work with my IT band. I could have gone faster, not much but some, and I didn't want to injure myself, so I tried to keep it on that fine line.

with about 300 meters left, I saw Tony, who I figured had finished 30 minutes ago. Tony decided to run with me for the last little bit. Tony was pretty sore as his muscles had definitely cooled down and it is harder for the muscles to run again. It was great to have Tony pace me for the last little bit to push me. Every time I would talk, or try to talk, he would say shut up and run harder!!! Then we saw Darin's wife and one of my coworkers on the side where I went to say hi, as I ran by, and Tony yelled again, shut up and RUN!!! I have never really trained all out and this is my first year of really racing, and I was thinking about it while he was telling me to shut up and run faster. He is right, if you can talk, smile, whatever, you aren't pushing yourself hard enough! It was great to have him there telling me to kick it in gear. So, I really did push it. I have always been about endurance, not max effort, which I definitely need to improve on. So, for me, it will be a great queue when I need to push, shut up and RUN!!! 

Okay, so here go the stats.

As my previous post said, I would be happy to finish in under 10:15/mile average pace. I finished with my running pace averaged at 9:35 per mile! I was very happy about that.

I am pretty sore, but I stretched out, used the foam roller and really dug in to my muscles and I am feeling better.

Shamrock Run - my first 15k

Tomorrow morning is my first 15k race. It is a 9.3 mile race that is pretty hilly. If I recall correctly, it is about 1,200 feet of elevation gain, which is a pretty hilly course for a road race.

I have been struggling with sickness and injuries over the past week or so. I know my body is well rested, but I am still having some issues with a tight IT band, and my outside knee is not feeling great either. So, I won't be able to run all out tomorrow, because I do not want to injure myself. I will be able to run at probably 80% or more of my full race effort. I am completely okay with this. I am here to finish my first 15k and have a great time. If I average less than a 10:15/mile pace, I will be happy with my speed.

The problem I am seeing is that I am not sure what to wear. It is going to be in the low 40's, but I am going to be going fairly hard. So what should a guy wear??? I am definitely wearing shorts, but I want to wear a short sleeve shirt. Although I think I really probably should wear a long sleeve shirt with a zipper. This will let me unzip on the climb over Terwilliger, but on the way down, I will have the long sleeve to keep me warm. 

I am meeting a ton of people I know down at the race. Several people that I work with (maybe 20 or so?) are going to do the 5, 8 or 15k races. Plus a few friends I know will be running the 15k. Overall, there will be over 14,000 people doing the Shamrock Run this year!

I am looking forward to tomorrow!!!