Philadelphia Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Having just come off of a pretty major marathon PR, I wasn't looking to do anything big for this race. My best half marathon time was from two years ago at the NYC half. I wasn't planning/trying to break that record. In fact, I figured if my average pace was in the neighborhood of 7:45 min/miles, I'd be satisfied. I had every intention of sticking to that plan (see mile 1) because I didn't want to injure myself by doing a pace I hadn't really trained for. But then...mile two I was going way faster and I thought, hmm, I should probably slow down a little for the next mile. And I did...but only by :05....And then by mile 5, my average was ridiculously low and I thought, this isn't even all that hard. And then, despite my best intentions, I began calculating my pace and trying to figure out my time.

And that was that. My ego had decided I was racing this thing for real. So much for trying to race sensibly.

I settled into a nice hard pace and I pushed through the two annoying hills. I'd caught up with the 3:20 full marathon pace team at around mile 6 and then just tried to stick on their heels -- (they kept me on pace for the brutal miles along the river, which felt windy and tough...). They slipped away briefly at mile 12, but I dug in and caught up again in the last mile. It was fun watching them veer off to the left to do the full while I went right to finish my half. I can't believe people maintain this pace for a full 26.2. So inspiring.

Dan, who's become an expert spectator (expertator?) yelled my name and caught me just before the 0.1. It gave me such a boost to see him. I waved and pushed as hard as I could. The finish seemed an awfully long way off...

The last .1 was super hard and I definitely had very little left in my legs. Some girl came up behind me. I heard her coming and tried to decide if I had it in me to race her (I didn't). She flew past me the last 25 yards. I just let her go, because she was very obviously hell bent on "beating" me (I later checked her time on the results, since she and her bib number are so prominently featured in my finishing photo -- turns out I beat HER by :30. Ha).

I checked my watch after I crossed and I thought, "Uh, I think I just beat my personal best..." And I had -- by a solid :44! Great way to end my season. :)

Not second guess my weather instincts and wear the damn shorts instead of the tights! I was burning up by mile three. Not sure if I would have run faster, but it at least would have been more comfortable!

Walked through the finishing line, got my medal and mylar blanket, got my picture taken (not a very long line!), grabbed some food and made my way to my bag. Changed into warm clothes (ahhhh) and did some stretching. I felt great!

After I was done, I was able to locate Olivia, who did great for her first ever half. She was so excited and when we hugged, she said, "I want to do another!" :)



Not training for a half marathon, even though apparently that didn't limit me all that much. I was treating this as a post-season race and didn't realize I could have raced it like a regular race. I obviously have no idea what I'm capable of. :) But I'm learning!


Really great race, beautiful, challenging but fair course. Mostly flat with a few rollers and two not so fun hills. The course goes through Philadelphia and along the river. It feels like a big deal (the start is exciting and special for each wave, there's good crowd support and ending at the Museum is always fun) but it's not hugely overwhelming like NYC. I've done both the full and the half, and I think I just prefer the half distance in Philly. Highly recommend this race.