Philadelphia Distance Run

I ran a half marathon and was able to walk around at work the next day. My legs were tired, but I wasn't as sore as I'd feared and I didn't even blister any worse than I have on shorter runs.

My parents were in town, staying at Greg's new place. Rachel drove me in, so I had my own fan section of four. Rachel and I made it in in decent time and were lucky enough to get free, easy parking right behind the museum. It was cold out, so I waited in the car and people watched. Runner watched realy. Some were brave enough to be in their tiny shorts and tank tops that early. Others were in sweats and still looked cold. A few were even wearing trash bags. I probably stayed in the car too long, hoping to get in a little extra rest after sleeping only 3-4 hours the night before. But I didn't need too much time - a little to stretch and warm up. Time for a quick pee before it began. There was no quick bathroom line. As the start time crept closer I was getting a little nervous. I didn't think skipping it was a good idea so I waited. By the time I had my shot it was just about start time. I quickly ran through some stretches and then went to look for my start corral. I jogged over, but they had already moved up. I slipped under a fence, I guess that was plenty of warm up.

Maybe I could just take it easier the first mile? I probably should anyway.

That would have been a good plan, but I am terrible at taking it easy. I settled into my pace. Not right away, but within the first mile I was probably up to about 8 minutes / mile. My goal was aupposed to be 8:40, per the online training plan I generated. Margin for later, right?

I saw my fans on the way out, too. Sort of. I heard my name as I ran by about a foot in front of them. I turned into to see them briefly, and for Greg to snap a quick shot.

It was fun to run on the normally bcar-packed city streets. Now it was runner-packed. Some of the groups were slow and hard to get around, but the crowds weren't too bad given the number of runners. There were almost 13,000. We passed a row of port-o-potties after about a mile and I wondered how often those would be available. Water breaks were every 1.5 miles or so. I tried to run and drink but just ended up splashing my water everywhere. Worse, I splashed their sports drink onto m glasses and had nothing to wipe them clean with. My synthetic clothes just smear things, so I had to live with the spots. I decided to walk through the remaining water breaks so I could actually drink. Kimmy later told me how others manage to pinch the cups to drink while running. I guess I'll be ready if I ever go for a marathon.

At one point we passed a place grilling meat and onions. That might normally smell good, but turned my stomach a little while running at 8AM.

We looped back up Benjamin Franklin Parkway so I would get to pass my entourage again. I kept scanning the crowds, eventually seeing my dad's outstretched hand up ahead. A girl in front of me decided she couldn't leave him hanging and jumped (she was short) to high five him. Passed them the course moved to the loop around the Schuylkill. I had run a portion of this, walking ~1.5 miles to warm up and cool down, the week before. It was achievable.

I was still maintaining my pace and felt alright. I was even doing a lot of passing. The crowd was still thick in places so a there were a number of times I had to slow down or speed up to get around. And I did a lot of running out around the side. I get competetive.

Things were going well. I had some gels with me and sucked one down before the 3rd water station. Then I passed the 7 mile mark. From that point on each step was the farthest I'd ever run. And I felt good.

Around 8 miles, though, I started to cramp. My left leg, on the back between my but and knee, was complaining. It protested each time I extended that leg. I had another gel before the next water break. It got better. I don't know if I was getting dehydrated (I normally run with water and drink frequently) or the gel had a placebo effect, but I was happy the pain dropped off.

I crossed the river and was on the home stretch. The miles kept passing and I kept my pace. Before I knew it I was almost back to the museum. The crowds of spectators kept growing and that motivated me. The final stretch was around Eakins Oval and into the parking lot in front of the museum. I was feeling good and picked up my pace. That was harder than I expected so I eased back some. I scanned the crowds, excited to be about to finish. Near the end I heard yelling for me. I turned and stuck out my tongue, but didn't actually see them.

And then I was through the gate and done. My GPS had logged about an extra quarter mile and it is usually short. All of the wandering to get around people? My official time was 1:48:22, putting me at 3153 out of 12366 finishers.

There was a traffic jam after the finish as we followed a fenced in patch past refreshments. I would have preferred a cool down jog to such an abrupt stop. Rachel met me near where it emptied into the crowds and took me back to my family. Karen was there, on the phone, and I got to speak with her. And stretch.

My family took off while Rachel and I waited to see Kurt and Kimmy come in. Kurt bested his prior half marathon time and Kimmy, finishing her first, was not too far behind.

I haven't run since.