Philadelphia Distance Run - ING - RunHalf Marathon


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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States
68F / 20C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 2h 30m 36s
Overall Rank = 10606/12247
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Woke up around 4:30 AM. Cracked open a bottle of Jolt and ate a bananna and a oatmeal raisen powerbar. Did Triggerpoint for about 30 minutes. Jumped in the car, drove to Center City, parked around 7:30, got everything in order (forgot my gels and left them on the roof of my car) and then jogged to the Starting Line. Checked my bag and lined up with people in the last corral (18).
Event warmup:

Little more than 1 mile from parking lot to Start Line. Jogged to start and then stretched some while waiting for Corral 18 to reach the Start Line chute.
Run
  • 2h 30m 36s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 30s  min/mile
Comments:

Unlike last year (when I got caught up in the excitement and came out of the Starting Line doing 8:30 or 9's) I decided to go realllllly, really slow (12 or 13 minute miles) to start. By Mile 3 and 4 I was warmed up good and keeping my pace under 10 minutes/mile. I was relatively pain-free up until about Mile 5 or 6 (just past the Art Musuem and Boat House Row) when my Achilles started to get tight. At that point on I moved from the asphalt onto the grass and dirt. It literally saved my day by doing that. I can't believe more people don't do it. By changing surfaces I was able to continue at a 10 min/mile pace until Mile 8. Mile 8 was when I stopped and walked so I could swallow some gel(s), drink some Cytomax and stretch for about 2 or 3 minutes. I think that helped a lot because I was able to push myself pretty good and not take any walk breaks. My turnover and cadence was decent until I hit a wall around Mile 12. That is where I started to die and my pace may have been the slowest of the entire race. Still though - I never stopped after Mile 8 and my finish was decent.
What would you do differently?:

lose weight and train more.
Post race
Warm down:

grab some food, get my beer and find a spot to lay out, stretch and do use my runner's stick on my legs.

Event comments:

I love running downtown, along the Parkway and then along the river drives (MLK/West River & Kelly Drive). Not to mention it was practically a picture perfect day with respect to the weather.




Last updated: 2009-05-27 12:00 AM
Running
02:30:36 | 13.1 miles | 11m 30s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/12247
Performance: Good
My Garmin time/distance seems as if it got screwy somewhere along the line - maybe the skyscrapers or maybe some of the trees along the river drives - I don't know. But according to the Garmin my distance was 3.30 miles. Mile 1 – 11:06 Mile 2 – 10:43 Mile 3 – 10:20 Mile 4 – 9:51 Mile 5 – 10:09 Mile 6 – 9:46 Mile 7 – 10:32 Mile 8 – 11:46 Mile 9 – 15:54 (stopped and walked at gel & water tables then stretched) Mile 10 – 11:31 Mile 11 – 11:04 Mile 12 – 12:04 Mile 13 – 12:39
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5