Philadelphia Marathon - RunMarathon

Ran to keep around a 8:45 min/mile pace. Grabbed Gatorade at each station and walked 30 seconds. Felt STRONG through the first 7 miles. Started to drag a smidge. Hit the 18/19 mile mile and the body started getting sore. Never got to the point where I felt like my form was going to pot. Saw Laura, a fellow BTer out there. Kudos to her and the hubs for flipping the bird to their injuries and making a go of it anyway.

I took, what? Three weeks of easy running not long ago to deal with the cramping? So, if I didn't have an injury I would have done more speed work. I was in the pool a lot and I think because I felt strong through 99.9% of the race that the aqua-jogging really did help supplement the running. I think for me, ideally, I would run on land 3 days/week: speed work, mid-distance/tempo, and LSD runs and then two days in the water for about an hour.

Clothing was spot on. Just had my "Stay Positive" shirt on and shorts. Looked for compression socks at the Expo, but post-race I was unsure how they'd help because I felt pretty good. A note on the shirt... the crowd loved it! I would run by the cheer sections and because our bibs had our names on them (BRILLIANT!) and I had a shirt that stood out (BRILLIANT) I got a lot of cheers. It was awesome to have people shout my name instead of my bib #.

Walked to the Z Family meeting area which was NOT crowded at all (wonder why?!) and stretched a little. Kind of bummed about the post-race grub. Searched high and low for Coke or Pepsi but none to be found. Hustled to the car to get my Coke to prevent the post-run nausea from getting worse. Walked back to the car like an old woman and loaded up into the car for the 3 hour trip home (pit stop at Red Robin for bottomless steak fries, HEAVENLY!)


I only had a few long runs, 18+ miles. My last long one, the 20 miler, was a good confident booster. I don't know how much more helpful a 22 miler would have been, but I think for my next marathon I would get in a few more 20-22 mile runs.

I think working on maintaining a faster run over distance would help, too. I hold a 9:45-10 min/mile pace on the LSD runs and I wish I could push it closer to the 9 min/mile pace. Guess that means that the shorter runs HAVE to get faster. The beginning of my training I was pushing my 4 mile runs so I should keep that up. OH! And, strides during my LSD runs would be a good idea...Maybe if I held a 9:45 min/mile pace during those and did a 30 s stride every 5 minutes?? That seems reasonable to me!


Nothing beats Musselman yet...but I liked having my name on my bib, I LOVED being shoulder to shoulder with other runners the whole race (kind of like drafting in the swim in a tri...I just tried to keep up with the flow, but pick of person by person). That first bathroom pit stop within 2 or 3 miles of the start had me lose the 4 hour pace group, but I had it in my head that I would have done it at some point in the race...I guess when I want to try and qualify for Boston then I'll just have to hold it. I did for my HIM so I can do it for a marathon.