Another successful trip out of town. Got out of town a little late, but I managed to make it in to Portland before the Daughters started playing. Seriously one of the more violent bands I've seen in a long time, especially the mad man of a drummer. The vocals, as always, left me a little let down with this band, but everything else was so good I was content. Pelican was awesome as usual. Bands like them and Explosions in the Sky need to do more soundtrack work. Explosions did Friday Night Lights and it was amazing....the whole time Pelican was playing all I could think was how they are basically writing modern operas, they just need accompanying visuals. Got to hang out With some Portland friends, although short lived, I had a good time. 2 legit tacos and a overwhelming doughnut later I was in Hillsboro relaxing at Jeff's trying to get my sleep schedule ready for the marathon, but 3:30 am isn't exactly cutting it.

We got up on Saturday and went for a quick jog around the Nike campus with Jeff's girlfriend Tanya. It's a great 2 mile loop that I could easily rock 5 or 6 laps a day on...great run. Went down to the Hilton to get all our marathon what not and check out the expo which mostly consisted of me eating an absurd amount of free yogurt and stew samples. Later in the afternoon we headed out to The Little White Shed Saloon to experience all it's awesomeness.

The whole Cornilius Pass McMenamins is a pretty legit outfit. We squeezed in a quick trip up to Council Crest Park before we rolled onward to The Old Spaghetti Factory for a carb load session. Needless to say, soup and salad were laid waste to.

Marathon morning came early at 5:45, especially since I'm not a early riser by any means. The starting line was a mess of people with 20 min bathroom lines, so I decided to wait for the less crowded bathrooms on the course. At 7am everyone was off....

I started off reasonably well except for a little more than normal foot soreness. I was actually making really good time from about mile 6-13 and had an 8:27 pace. Things got a little more rough after that with my muscles getting tight so I had to stop and stretch out. Ran in to my main man Dean at about mile 17 who I ran and talked with up the hill and over the St John's Bridge. This guy is seriously amazing and inspires the hell out of me...check him out...

Coming down off the bridge my legs got so sore, I though I might even have to stop and walk for a while, but I just pushed on. Everything past there just got even more difficult, especially past 22. The last few miles I just kept moving my legs, but each step was painful. I've never been that exhausted!! The last mile was a whole new level...I had no clue what I'd do if I had to run any further, my legs would probably just stop working. After the finish my legs felt like they just wanted to cramp up and I had to keep walking and stretching. Swooped up on a grip of orange juice, oranges, water, ice cream, basically anything I could get my hands on. Finisher shirts ended up looking really nice too. I wouldn't say the marathon was fun, but it was rewarding. I've been training for so long now and it all paid off. Ended up with a decent time that I'm happy with.

Now I'm more sore than I've ever been and It's not fun to walk, especially up and down stairs. Give it a week and it's time to start training for something else. Here are some random hijacked photo booth pictures....