Portland to Coast - New New
Everything I’ve done athletically in the last decade plus has been to see new places, do new things, and experience new stuff. Whether it be paragliding, paramotoring, ultra running, big wall climbing, skate skiing, etc… I’ve been continually in the pursuit of new experiences. So it should come at no surprise that watching the olympic racewalking sparked a level of curiosity that I needed to experience. I did some research, watched some YouTube videos, and began on a journey to self teach myself racewalking. It was as challenging as it looked on TV and I felt so silly that I refused to do it anywhere that anyone might see me. Through my research though I discovered Reshod Walking Shoes. And the owner Carmen did virtual coaching. So after a few weeks of attempting I decided to sign up for some virtual coaching.
I sent Carmen a few self tapes of me walking and then we got on a phone call. She gave me a bunch of critiques on form and as winter was setting in I invested in a treadmill to have some privacy while I worked on the feedback. In between skate skiing I would racewalk in my basement on the treadmill video recording and discussing tips with Carmen. I was getting faster and I was excited to give it a try outside. Carmen suggested I come up to Portland and do a race so she could give me critique in person. It was April and I was planning to make the journey but then my whole world upended. My soul dog, my best friend, my whole world unexpectedly passed away. I was destroyed. I did nothing for a whole month. And when I re-emerged to the world in May I had lost a lot of fitness, a lot of joy, and a lot of time. But Carmen was understanding and empathetic and was still encouraging me to not give up racewalking for good. She had suggested I do the Portland to Coast relay race in August with a team of lovely humans but to be considered for the team I need to be able to walk a 10k at a 11 minute per mile pace. I hadn’t walked in a month nor had I done anything but cry. But I needed to get back on my feet so I flew to Portland the first week of June to meet the team and tryout.
I had never racewalked outside. Nor had I done any racewalking in the last month. I wasn’t even sure if I could walk a single mile at 11 minutes. I had booked a round trip to Portland for 1 day. Flying in early in the morning and out in the afternoon. A fellow racewalker was picking me up for the track workout and then she would drop me off before my flight in the evening. I brought a small bag with just enough clothing to work out in and fly comfortably home in. When I got to the airport Becky picked me up. She was a super fit woman in her 60s who looked like she was in her 40s. She had been racewalking for 30 years and was one of the fastest walkers on the team. I was so inspired!
We got to the track and began our warmup 1 mile of casual walking. I tried to warm up with Becky but was already feeling like I was redlining. How could this be a casual pace I thought. After the warmup Becky and the rest of the team doing Portland to Coast started there workout while I joined coach Carmen and the others learning how to racewalk. We learned warmup drills, strides, proper technique, and stretching. And after an hour and a half it was time for me to do my time trial. 12 laps around the track. 3 miles and I had to go sub 11 minute miles. Already feeling fatigued from the exercises, I locked in and gave it my all. With each lap I got faster and once I got to the final few laps Carmen kept shouting technique critiques elbows in, open your stride, more rotation. And I ended in 33 minutes exactly. I collapsed on the track. Not only was this the first time I had ever racewalked outside, it was also the first time I had racewalked in over a month, and it was the first time I had done a track workout since high school! I couldn’t believe I actually did it. They congratulated me on making the team. And I flew back home to Tahoe.
Naturally my legs felt like jello and hurt to walk the next few days. But I felt a new found confidence and began training entirely outside. Still embarrassed to be seen I picked a nearby dirt road and made my workouts in the morning. Following the training plan for the Portland to Coast that Carmen had given me. I incorporated intervals, sprints, tempo, and easy walks. With each walk I got stronger and more confident. When we made the transition to Wyoming I kept my routine. And even made sure not to miss a workout when I went to Madrid for work. Doing all my racewalks on the treadmill in the hotel. By this point I didn’t care if anyone saw me racewalking. By the time August came around and it was time to taper I had executed one of the best training blocks I had done in years! I felt strong and confident and wouldn’t have to rely entirely on my own stubbornness to get me through the race. I had a team of people depending on me and I didn’t want to let them down. I didn’t want to be the weak link. It was a new mentality I wasn’t use to. I wasn’t training for me. I was training for them.
Around this time I also quit my job of 3 years. It was a high stress startup where I was managing a team of engineers and partners across a lot of high pressure releases. I was working 80 hours a week if not more and was barely finding time to hangout with Corbin. The company and I were butting heads over decisions and I was loosing the stamina to keep up the work load. It was in my best interest and the companies for me to move on. I quit my job about 2 weeks before the race and got to coast in my taper with the utmost relaxation that I had felt in a decade. The first time I had been unemployed with no plan in sight. My goal was to find a new job by November and no later than March but I was in no rush. For the time being I was focusing on Portland to Coast and now with all the extra time Corbin was going to join and we would be making the drive to Portland from Wyoming.
The drive was close to 18hrs. We loaded up and decided to break the drive up with a stop in SLC to see Nikki on the way. We ate some good Indian food and spent a night where Eigen tried to force his way through a small doggie door… successfully but with damage. Then hit the road for the long push to Portland. We stayed in a hotel the night before the race and got up early to meet up with the crew. I was in van 2 so I didn’t need to be ready to go till 9am. But my start time was going to be closer to noon. Which was a nice relaxed pace.
It was my first time ever doing a relay race so was happy to be on a team of experienced walkers where all the logistics were already ironed out. We had 2 vans 4 people in van 1 and 4 people in van 2. We each walked 3 legs in the same rotation. I was in position 7 so I would be the 7th walker to walk on each rotation. The running race starts at Hood and is called Hood to Coast. The walkers just do the second half from Portland to the Coast. We all start around the same time expecting that the runners will catch the walkers and everyone will finish around the same time. As a fast walking team we were in the latest walking wave meaning we didn’t start till 6:30am. While many other slower walking teams had started in waves as early as 2am. To win the walking race we would need to pace every single person on the course. A task we were capable of doing. There was only 1 other seriously competitive team on the course and we had beat them last year. But they had come back ready to win with a team of 12 which means each walker only has to walk 2 legs instead of 3 and a lot of younger walkers. I was a sponge soaking up all the energy and rules ready to have a bunch of new new experiences.
We met at 9am outside the hotel and loaded up the van which would be our home for the next 24hrs. I had a pillow and sleeping bag along with a bag of clothing, socks, and shoes like a traveling aid station. The race doesn’t have any aid stations like normal races. Instead you drive along your walker and stop at different intervals to provide them with water yourself. And you need to have all the food you need to eat for the entire race in the vehicle with you. Everything goes really quickly and there is no time to stop and buy anything. It was projected to be a massive heat wave in Portland temperatures rising into the 105 degree temperatures. As someone who lives in the mountains that is a temperature I never hangout in. And I was worried about the prospect of having to exercise in it. Needless to say though I felt prepared for whatever the day would bring.
Our van did the transition with van 1 in the late morning and by 1 pm I was taking the wrist band for my first leg. The temperatures read above 100 and I was covered head to toe so the sun wouldn’t touch my skin. I carried a hand water bottle and instructed my team to hose me in water every 2 miles. I wanted to be soaked. I went out hard and my calves and shins throbbed. We were in second place and our van was gaining on the other team quickly. I was trying to make up time but it took a whole mile for my legs to warm up to exercise after sitting in a car traveling for so long. By mile 2 I was picking off people and getting into a rhythm. It was such a joy to see the van up ahead and know I’d get some cold water poured over my head and I could keep going. The heat from the asphalt penetrated but the miles went quickly and the uphill felt easy. A man in his front yard with a garden hose soaked me and a stranger with a cooler gave me a bottle to pour over my head. I felt strong. My goal was to average a 11:30 per mile. And I ended up averaging a 11:24 for the 6 miles with 700 feet of gain. My fastest mile being a 10:30! I felt strong and felt like I had a lot in the reserve. I knew I could go faster.
By the time our van was handing back off to van 1 we had caught the other team. The race was neck and neck. We then got a nice little break for the next 4 legs were handled by van 1 and we got to zoom ahead to our next transition. I ate some food and relaxed in the AC of the van. The day was a scorcher and I was hoping by the time I had to walk again it would have cooled off. We made the transition with van 1 right before sunset and by the team I was walking again it was dark. I had my headlamp and vest on and was determined to PR the 6.33 mile section. It only had 323 feet of gain so was mostly flat or downhill. The air was still hot so I opted to get soaked every 2 miles but with the sun gone it was noticeably easier to breath. I went out fast and hard. By mile 4 I felt a rock in the bottom of my shoe but I didn’t want to slow down and fix it. I kept adjusting my shoe and slowed a bit. The rock was positioned right at my heel and it hurt so bad to walk. I pushed through the pain trying not to slow my pace. I was so close to being done I just needed to push through. My form was a little broken and I could feel a blister forming where the rock was. I still had another 7 mile section to do. Was this going to be the worst decision. Did I just ruin the rest of my race by not stopping and getting the rock out sooner. I crossed the line and immediately sat down to get the rock out. But there was no rock. All I had was huge blister the whole size of my heel. I was devastated. How was going to do another 7 miles on it. That blister was nothing compared to what I had walked, run, shuffled 100 miles with. So I got over my pitty party and looked at my splits. I had averaged a 10:27 for the 6.33 miles! Shaving off a whole minute per mile. With my fastest split being a 9:55. This was a huge PR for me and I knew without the rock blister saga I could have gone faster.
We did the transition with Van 1 late and made our way to our final hand off. I was starting to feel the fatigue from the day all over and laid down in the back of the van to nap. When it came time for my final leg I knew I’d be watching the sunrise so I wanted to make sure I got atleast a little bit of sleep. At this point the other team had gained on us substantially and our hopes of winning were slipping away. All we could do now is make sure they didn’t beat us by a huge landslide. I actually slept well in the van but when I woke up I knew something was a miss. I headed to the porta potty and had terrible diarrhea. O no I thought… My period wasn’t supposed to start for a few more days but it felt like the exertion from the morning had triggered it early. The uterus cramps were insufferable and with the blister and the final leg being the most challenging I began to worry. I was sleep deprived a little upset at loosing about to bleed and in pain.
But I couldn’t let the team down. I knew after I got moving I’d feel a little better and so I got ready for my final leg. My final leg is considered one of the harder legs of the course. It’s long at 7 miles, is gradually up hill the entire way, doesn’t allow any support, and is on uneven crushed gravel which is incredibly challenging to racewalk with proper form on tired legs. With my uterus screaming I took off down the road. It was dark still but the sun was threatening to rise. I made fast progress of the first 2 miles before the gravel road began and started to feel better. I had changed into compression socks and couldn’t even feel my blister anymore. But I was not prepared for the beat down the gravel road would provide. My goal was to average a 11:30 per mile. And my watch kept reading out stats as I was going. Mile by mile my pace slowed and slowed. I saw a deer right as the sun rose and the first runners of the race finally caught me. I was pushing so hard to keep that 11:30 pace and as I crawled my way into the hand off my watch read 11:30 exactly. Unfortunately I had add over .1 miles to the course by crossing back and forth across the dirt road repeatedly trying to find the flattest, hardest line. Everyone had warned me that leg would be challenging and it was indeed challenging.
All that was left was to cross the finish line as a team. By this point I was bleeding. But I was also done. I felt so accomplished to have PRed and pushed myself and to have gotten to participate in such a fun adventure that is relay racing. I wasn’t sure if I’d return again. It was a fun experience. I loved the people and the challenge. But there is also something crushing to be dependent on a whole team. You can train all you want and be in the best shape of your life but if one person is having an off day or struggled to train it brings the whole team down and your training is pointless. I wanted to see what I could do on my own. So my sights are set on trying to PR a half marathon racewalking. And maybe I’ll return to Portland to Coast just for the fun of it.
