Philadelphia Marathon Race Report

I felt like I had been waiting for this weekend, and race, for a long time!  After a last taper week filled with lots of resting and very little running, by Saturday morning I was ready to go.  Beth and I left around 9 and after a few detours and poor navigation on my part, we made it to the expo and met up with lots of fun people.  I was able to pick up my bib and (giant) race shirt quickly (dear race directors - offer XS or women's sizing please) and switch corrals easily.  We wandered around the expo for a bit, but no one was super impressed.  Afterwards we went our separate ways and I headed over to my friend Katie's apartment.  She was running her first marathon and conveniently lives just a few blocks from the start!


I didn't sleep all that well, but when the alarm went off on Sunday morning I was excited to finally run the race.  Fortunately I had no problems meeting up with Katie, Thom, Beth and Jon, and after checking our bags and hitting up the porta potties, we split up and Thom and I headed into the green corral, while Katie and Beth headed up to black to start the half marathon of awesomeness.  We got into the corral just a few minutes before 7:00, so we didn't have too long to wait before our wave walked up to the start.  Then, finally we were off!

Miles 1-3: 9:44, 9:29, 9:12
My plan for this race was to run the first 5 miles around 9:30 pace and then work on picking it up from there.  Thom and I focused on staying relaxed at the beginning and letting everyone around us take off.  I decided to carry a disposable water bottle so I could avoid the crowds at the early water stations and just toss it when I had emptied it.  I wanted to make sure that I drank enough in the first half and the disposable bottle ended up being a great decision.  Our third mile was a bit quick, but it did include a long downhill so I tried not to worry about it.

Miles 4-7: 9:18, 9:18, 9:14, 9:07
I knew the one thing that I didn't want to do was pick up the pace too much early, so I tried to make sure I was running comfortably and not pushing the pace.  Around mile 5 we turned onto Chestnut Street where the crowds started picking up and the support was great.  There was a bit of an incline, but I didn't feel like it was affecting me.  We hit the 10k at 58:02, which was a little faster than planned, but not by much.  In the first mile or two Thom and I discussed breaking the first 20 miles into 5 mile pace segments of 9:30, 9:15, 9:00 and 8:45.  We wanted to hit 20 miles around 3 hours (9 minute mile pace).  These miles were a bit ahead of that, but not by much.

Miles 8-10: 9:21, 9:34, 9:23
This section contained the bulk of the hills found on the course.  I knew that they were coming, but they were definitely bigger than I had expected (in particular the largest one right after mile 9).  The downhills were particularly steep, which I think took a toll on my quads that would come back to haunt me in the later miles.  I tried not to worry too much about pace in this section and just worked on staying controlled and steady.

Miles 11-13: 9:01, 8:45, 8:45
The steepest downhill on the course came after the 10 mile marker and took us back down to the river.  I was glad to know that the rest of the course was pretty flat.  Since Thom and I had discussed being right around 9:00 pace for miles 11-15, I conciously tried to pick up the pace once we were back on flat road.  Before the race I was concerned about getting too focused on my watch, so I avoided paying too much attention in this stretch. I just tried to increase my effort level a bit.  Unfortunately, somewhere around mile 12 Thom told me he needed to back off the pace a bit and we separated.  I had hoped that we would be able to stick together longer, but we each needed to run our own race so I forged ahead.  I figured I might see a number of people I knew around mile 13 so I had that to look forward to in this stretch.  Somehow I missed my friends, but did see George and managed to give him a thumbs up as I went by.  The race splits say I hit halfway at 2:00:08, but the timing mat was actually at the 13 mile marker, not 13.1.  So I imagine I actually hit halfway right at or under 2:01.  It's not that crucial, but it matters to me that I actually ran more or less even (or possibly slightly negative) splits.

Miles 14-17: 8:54, 8:40, 8:50
This was probably my favorite part of the race.  I had just gone through the half right on pace to break 4 hours and I was feeling so strong.  The course was heading out Kelly Drive which was pretty flat and the views were nice.  It reminded me of running on Hains Point, which I love.  My goal in this section was to just get to the turnaround point (right before mile 20) because then all I would have to do was run back.

Miles 18-20: 9:00, 9:08, 9:06
It was around mile 18 that things started to get painful.  Both of my quads started to hurt and I can only guess that the hills (and steep downhills) in miles 9-10 had really taken their toll.  Still, I was able to more or less maintain my pace so I figured I had no reason to be concerned.  I realized that I might not be able to hammer home the last 10k like I had hoped, but I knew that if I could hold pace, I would still be able to meet my sub 4:00 goal.  One of my friends was going to be somewhere in Manayunk and the thought of seeing her kept me going.  She ended up being right by mile 20 and I saw her on the way out to the turnaround and when I came back.

Miles 21-22: 8:49, 9:05
I had decided before the race that I would put in my music after mile 20.  When Thom and I split up earlier than planned, I thought about starting it earlier, but I'm glad I waited.  As you can see from my mile 21 time, initially it really helped me pick up the pace.  Coming out of Manayunk I was really starting to hurt.  I just kept telling myself that I had come to far to give up and to just keeping pushing and holding the same pace.  I knew that the last stretch was going to be really tough.

Miles 23-26.2: 9:30, 9:46, 10:11, 11:28 (for 1.2)
Mile 23 is where I really hit the wall.  I could feel myself slowing but there was nothing I could do about it.  I wanted to cry and I wanted to walk, but I knew I would never forgive myself for walking when I still had a shot at sub 4.  I only had my watch displaying my current lap pace, distance in that lap and overall average pace.  I knew that I was about 6 minutes behind the race clocks, so I had a general idea of my overall time, but I had avoided focusing on it during the race.  I could tell though as I passed miles 23 and 24 that my shot at 3:59 was slowly slipping away.  At mile 23 I calculated that I had roughly 30 minutes for the last 3.2.  Normally that would be reasonable, but I was slowing and didn't have the energy to pick up the pace.  When I passed the 25 mile marker I switched my Garmin display to show my overall time.  I was at 3:50.  I knew that realistically there was no way I was running the final 1.2 miles in 10 minutes.  But I knew I had to try to get as close as I could.  Beth jumped in with me somewhere right before mile 26 (I never saw the marker) and I was so angry and tired that I couldn't say anything.  I just needed to be done.

Since my Garmin distance had been off on most of the miles (and I missed the 26 sign), I couldn't be positive how much I had left until I could finally see the finish line.  Then I really tried to sprint in to the finish, though my legs really didn't have much kick left in them.

Final Time - 4:01:23

A 39 minute PR and I could not be more thrilled!  Yes, it would have been nice to break 4 hours but this race showed me that I have it in me and I have no doubt that I will get there next time.  I ran the smart race that I wanted to run and left it all out there on the course.  To be honest, while I knew that I should be able to run sub 4, I wasn't totally confident that I wouldn't run the first half on pace and then blow up in the second half.  I've never run close to that fast for that long.  I knew that I needed to trust the training and run and I'm so happy that I was able to do just that and not let my brain get in the way.

In some ways it still feels a bit surreal.  As recently as a few months ago this was not a time I thought I would ever get to and now I know that I can go even faster.  I can't wait for the next one!