I found a little run on the coast this weekend called the Tillamook Bay Run, and I went ahead and mailed in a registration form & check for the run. I figured, why not? It'll be refreshingly NOT portland!
The TBR race included a 5 and 10 mile length (10 miles was just running the 5 mile course twice). Since I only was slated for a 6 mile run this weekend, AND I have a major event next weekend, I opted for only the 5 mile distance... altho I did consider running 10 for a moment.
After checking the weather forecast for Tillamook in the morning and trying to call it a night early last night... this morning I was up bright and early (6am?). I got ready to go, had a big helping of oatmeal, stopped by my local Starbuckia on my way out of town, and hit the road. I've never had to drive anywhere for a run before. Google maps predicted a 2 hour drive for me. ugh.
Luckily it didn't take QUITE as long as they predicted to get out there.
I was rolling through Tillamook (if you aren't familiar, Tillamook is home of THE MOST AMAZING CHEESE. I've been a fan of their Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar since I was a kid... I consider Tillamook something akin to the promised land) this morning just before 9am... and noticed a cute little farmer's market set up in their little historical downtown area. The run was located on the Bayocean spit on the far side of the Tillamook bay, so I kept going.
I got to the start line/finish line/race central a tad early it turns out.
Also, I was surprised to find the place was completely surrounded by fog. The forecast the night before hadn't mentioned fog.
But it wasn't TOO terrible. Heck, this weekend is a heat wave in Portland. When I was driving out, the NPR news was all about how temperatures were going to be in the 3-digits today, and there were signs up on the highways warning of high smog levels today, and to keep driving to a minimum. I felt kinda lucky to be getting out of town actually.
I got my race-day packet, and since I had an hour to kill, I brought it back to my car and went through it.
There was some random stuff in it, like a pad of post-it notes, but I was happy to find a sample of Tillamook cheese included. :)
Anyway, after anxiously awaiting the race start for a while, it was time to go to the start line. I was TOTally surprised to find only a handful of people there. Note my race bib number was 301! Well, turns out they're still using the race bibs from the first year they held this race. There were only like 57 people in this race.
They explained to us how the race was going to work (out and back, how hard is that?) and then counted down to the start. I had on my new New Balance flair running skirt (love it), my ultimate frisbee jersey, and, as a last minute addition due to the weather, I decided to keep my polar fleece on... but ended up needing to remove it and tie it around my waist before the turn around.
There was a group of like 10 or so highschool runners, who were clearly being coached, and a group of walkers that were referred to as TLC (who I later found out was a credit union in Tillamook and Lincoln County). Other than that, there were just some random people. We all set off. I tried my best to keep up with the gaggle of highschoolers at the start. Why? I'm not sure actually. Near 1/2 mile I had to slack off a touch tho, and they passed me. However, sticking with them in the first 1/2 mile separated me from the other runners, and I was kinda keeping the rear of the first group of runners. Not a bad spot.
My mile splits were...
Mile 1: 8:34 minutes
Mile 2: 9:44 minutes
Mile 3: 9:38 minutes
Mile 4: 9:51 minutes
Mile 5: 9:35 minutes
Total: 47:49 minutes, a 9:28 minute mile pace.
For a 5 mile race, this is a pretty fricken good time for me. Ok, sure, I beat the pace in the Reach the Bridge run, but that was ALL downhill... this race wasn't. If I can keep that pace up for an additional 1.2 miles or so, I think that would meet my under-an-hour 10K goal.
The course was dirt, gravel, bigger rocks, sand... nothing good lets just say. Luckily I had worn my trail running shoes which has greater stability. I also worked hard to find the hardest packed, least rocky line along the access road that the out and back was along. I was pre-occupied in this race watching the ground trying to plot the least dangerous route along the road. I enjoyed the view less often than I would have liked... however that's fine, since the fog never burnt off. On occasion we could see a sea kayaker or a sailboat in the fog, but for the most part there was nothing to see. More often there was the smell of fish and seaweed. Definitely not in Portland. :)
The course was along the bay-side of the Bayocean spit.
Funny, apparently my garmin doesn't have the spit on its maps... according to my gamin my run was on water this morning...
Cool.
I was, at first, trying to keep track of the ladies in front of me who looked approximately 30-39 years old... since I knew there were age-group/gender awards, and not many people. After a while tho I just was running and not looking at the other people. The weather (cooler, humid) did NOT jive with my bad knee, and with 2 miles left, it started to stiffen up a touch, but I decided to ignore it and just keep going. It loosened up a little after a while, but it was complaining to me the rest of the day. I was kinda glad on the home stretch that I wasn't doing the 10 mile run. My knee was not up for it.
I went ahead and stopped at all of the water stations and stood around while I drank water for a couple of seconds, and then thanked the volunteers for being out there. I told them I was in no hurry... which was only partly true. I had a good enough lead on the people behind me that it didn't hurt me to take those little breathers, and there was NO way I'd catch those in front of me. :)
I got to run alone for most of the race. It wasn't bad!
At 1/4th mile to the turn around, the leaders were headed back. I complimented the lead runners on their effort, but they ignored me. ahh well. They were all kids anyway: no manners. When I was about 1/2 mile to the finish, the lead 10 milers passed me on their second circuit of the course. So, that tells me I was a pretty consistent pace behind the leaders for the entire run. :)
The final mile was deceiving. It was flat and striaght, but I kept THINKING I saw the gate that was the trailhead, and ineffect the finish line... so I kept putting in a little more energy than I woulda if I knew the finish was still .66 miles off. You can't really SEE .66 miles off. Roughly, the furthest you can see at any given time down a relativly straight flat street is 1/4th mile. I kept forgetting that, and kept pushing myself a little, hurt knee and all.
I crossed the finish to a small crowd of clapping strangers and was disappointed to find no water for the runners. booo!
Luckily I had tossed some in my car, so I wandered over there... and then took some pictures. It had warmed up a LITTLE, and you were starting to be able to see through the fog, but not really...
Here is the start/finish trail from the parking lot...
I had about an hour to kill before the awards ceremony, so I stretched a lot, ate a banana and a mini blueberry muffin (complimentary after-run food), and just kinda, hovered nearby... the fogged burned off a touch more... LOOK! you can almost see land on the other side of the bay!!!
Behind me is a typical landscape for the Oregon coast.
I learned while hovering that not only were there NO women doing the 10 mile run, but there were only 5 women in my age group in the 5 mile run, and out of them I was 3rd!!! I've NEVER been a contender for top 3 before!! woo hoo! Ofcourse, if I had done the 10 mile run, I would have been a gold medallist AND the all-around top 10 miler woman. Eh, hind sight is 20/20. My knee wasn't quite up for it anyhow.
I stuck around for the award ceremony shortly after noon, and then the fog started rolling back in some. Some of the local Tillamook runners took interest in me (only person who drove in for this event!), and I had some nice conversations. The Gold winner in my age group and her boyfriend asked what else I was planning to do while I was out there. I admitted I had never been to Tillamook before. I told them I was considering seeing the lighthouse, since it was like, right near us. They suggested before I leave I swing by Oceanside, a little coastal town nearby, and have a meal at Roseanna's Cafe. I said, "cool!"
Driving off of the spit, this was my view...
I followed the Cape loop further away from Tillamook and eventually found Cape Meares. The fog was pretty thick at this point. You could hear the sea, but you just couldn't see it. I was kinda enjoying the fog... made for some special views.
Funny story: when I got out of the car to take that first photo, I hadn't realized I was still wearing my bronze medal that I won in the awards ceremony. I got some funny looks from some other tourists, but didn't much think about it till I was back at my car and was like, "OH! whoops!"
I hobbled on my stiffened knee down to the lighthouse. I know I was walking like a gimp, but I didn't much care. I WAS going to see the lighthouse...
cute little lighthouse!
Altho all you see is fog behind the lighthouse, I SWEAR there is the Pacific Ocean there!
On my way back to the car I spotted a little snake, but wasn't able to get a pic. I did get a picture of this guy hanging out on a thistle tho!
After this, I made my way along the winding coastal 2-lane road to Oceanside, OR.
I love how the houses are stacked up along the hillside like that!
I was happy to see the beach well attended...
I easily found Roeseanna's
The establishment was packed, but the servers were friendly. I went ahead and got the white albacore tuna salad special (as a melt on sourdough bread w/tillamook cheese), with a side cup of vegetarian vegetable soup.
It was AMAZINGLY good! I was eyeing the dessert menu the entire time I was there too... but alas I had no room. I TOTALLY would have been all over that bread pudding otherwise...
I was having fun watching the kites pass the window of Roseanna's while I was eating. As I sat there eating, the fog burnt off some more, and I was shocked to spot some massive Oregon Coast-typical rock formations offshore from Oceanside. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but I just didn't see them earlier, so they kinda came out of nowhere! You can KINDA see em in this pic. Also there is a kite in this picture! :)
Also I got a quick vid of a dragonfly kite I was enjoying from the cafe. As I was filming, a mother dragged her screaming kid by me. Ignore that.
On the way back to my car, I spotted the CUTEST little sea side cabins for rent:
Dog friendly!?!? Oh man, I'm SO coming back here!
While driving home, I tried to snap pics of the fields of dairy cows I passed (without looking) with mixed success. The cows are the black and white blurs...
In Tillamook, while stopping to refill my gas tank for the drive home, I noticed they were closing down the little farmer's market that I had spotted earlier. I snapped some photos of that too!
All in all a GREAT day. I'll leave you with some shots of my brand spanking new bronze medal!!
