Helvetia Half Marathon 2009

Location: Hillsboro, Oregon, USA
Date: 13 June 2009
Time: 8.00 A.M.
Distance: 13 miles 192.5 yards

This year I am lucky enough to be in Oregon to run the Helvetia Half Marathon. This being my second half marathon, I spent more time preparing and training for it. The training part is mainly enrolling myself in Portland Fit 27-week marathon training program where this race is part of the program for participants to benchmark themselves in preparation for running a full marathon this fall. So far I have been able to follow most of the training runs albeit my IT Band acting up in my long runs due to my bio mechanical inefficiencies. More of that in another blog entry.

Preparation was key in this race as I was badly prepared for my first half marathon which was the Penang Bridge Half Marathon in 2008. In preparation, I mean all the things other than training. My ill-prepared run on Penang Bridge ended up being one of the most embarrassing and ahem... dirty experience in my life. Maybe one day I will be brave enough to share it on a post on this blog but for now, lets just say that it is related to a runners syndrome called "GI irritation" or "Gastro Intestinal-tract irritation". Determined on not letting myself falter again, I trained using the same energy gel which is GU gel for all my long runs. I also figured out (due to another GI incident on a 9 mile run) that I cannot consume any dairy for breakfast before running. Upon switching to just plain dry Corn Flakes for breakfast and consuming on GU gel, the GI problems have vanished. Well, at least for now.

Following the mantra of nothing new for the race, I laid out the items I will be bringing for the run. Tech-T with bib number pinned, checked. Compression tights that will make me look silly, checked. Hey, nothing new so I gotta stick to them compression tights. Running socks, checked. BodyGlide, checked. 3 GU gels, checked. 4 bottles from hydration belt, checked. Set my alarm clock for 5.30 A.M. and went to sleep at 11.00 P.M. I kept telling my wife that I cannot sleep because I was excited but I guess I fell asleep 15 minutes after that.

Bib and timing chip

I woke up on time and proceeded to stuff a bowl of dry Corn Flakes into my mouth. Having done everything, I was out of the door by 6.30 A.M. The Helvetia Half starts at Hillsboro Stadium so I walked there as a warm up. It took me 30 minutes to reach the stadium and not a minute too early for Portland Fit group photo. We were a big group filling up a portion of the stadium field and it was funny seeing Coach Eric giving us hand and body signs for the photos. Right after that, a light drizzle happened and most of us scrambled for shelter at the seats. It's Oregon alright. That soon cleared before the start time and we moved towards the starting point. Knowing how eager most runners are and how some will dash out at the beginning only to walk the remaining 12 miles, I stood quite far away from the start line. This race is definitely the best organized race I have ran in but the only strange thing is I never heard the starting horn/ gun. In fact most of us didn't and just followed the crowd to move along towards the timing mat. Given the fact that there are 3000+ participants this year, the sound of the gun or horn probably got drowned out.

Started out the race with Carmi who is also from Portland Fit. The first mile was pretty easygoing and I took the time to get into a steady pace and let the muscles warm up. By the time we reached the first mile marker, it was 12 minutes 30 seconds. Feeling good and ready to pick up speed, I started to move into my usual 10:30 pace. Soon I was moving along away from Hillsboro Stadium and up the bridge to cross Highway 26 towards Helvetia Road. In to mile 3 of the course, we were greeted by a hill. I have always been nervous about hills not because of going up but rather using up everything I have going up that I have nothing else to run with after that. So I started to shorten my stride and slowly chug up the hill. As I pulled myself over the top of the hill I felt great and kept a steady stride going downhill to take the chance to recover. Miles 3 to 10 of the course were mostly rolling hills. One important thing I realized when it comes to tackling rolling hills over a long course is to never tell yourself that this is the last hill. In fact, I found that by telling myself that this is just another hill and balancing it with recovery on the way down, I was able to handle them hills fairly well.

50 minutes into the race, I stopped to refuel and stretch. Helvetia is a rural area with farms and it's really beautiful. Taking in the view and my yummy chocolate GU gel, I felt refreshed and continued strong. The rest of the run until Mile 10 was consistent and lots of nice random conversations with other runners and cheers from the wonderful volunteers. Starting Mile 10, I start to feel my ITB acting up. Over every 1/2 mile or so, it would deliver a jolt of sharp pain to my right leg that makes it temporarily limp for a second. I had to slow down and alter my gait a little to counter the discomfort. Another refuel and stretch break at 1 hour 50 minutes really helped with the right leg. Slow and steady across Highway 26 again until I see the 12 Mile mark. The band which played when we passed them at Mile 1 is still there playing tunes of encouragement for us.

I always felt the last mile of the race to be the toughest and this one is no different. Everything felt so heavy and it really came down to the mind forcing the protesting body to keep running into the stadium. Once in there, it was smooth sailing all the way past the finish line. I was only focused on 2 things: press the button on my watch for my time and find my wife who is waiting for me. She managed to snap photos of my finish and how I was "racing" with the dude next to me. Did all the post-race stuff: collect finished medal and t-shirt, drink some Jamba Juice, popped some Clif Shots, stretch, got the Helvetia Burger. After that we headed back home by foot. This time it took 45 minutes. :P

Time on course: 2 hours 24 minutes 35 seconds

Dude in blue beat me in the last couple of yards!

Finisher's T-shirt & Medal

Finisher's Medal