Philadelphia Marathon - RunMarathon


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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States
Philadelphia Marathon
38F / 3C
Precipitation
Total Time = 5h 08m 18s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Flew into Philly Friday night. Went to my parents' house where G8RSAX was already hanging out.

Saturday afternoon, Erik, Wendi and I went to the expo then checked into our hotel. Went to the pasta dinner at 5pm where we got to listen to Bart Yasso talk about his crazy running travels.

Hung out in our hotel room and Erik's brother met up with us also. Then we talked to Trixie who suggested we watch Forrest Gump.

Up at 4am to eat oatmeal and banana, then back to bed. Yep, that's really what I did. Then up at 5:15 to get ready. Out the door in darkness at 6:15 with a bunch of other people dressed in trashbags and off to the race start.

Waited in line for way too long for the port-a-johns and it barely moved and since I feared missing the start, we left with full bladders.
Event warmup:

1.5 mile walk from the hotel to the start. Chatted briefly with JohnnyKay on the way to the start. Even though he told me what he was wearing, there was no way I was going to find him...there were SO many people.

Started the race to the "Rocky" theme since we were at the Art Museum!

Wendi gave me evil looks from the time we woke up about the weather. It totally sucked. It was COLD and rained lightly to moderately through the race. I think it was dry until about mile 8.
Run
  • 5h 08m 18s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 11m 46s  min/mile
Comments:

Oh.My.God. That hurt WAY more than I could have ever imagined. My longest training run was 16 miles. There are number of reasons for that, but mainly a torn soleus that made my bump up in distance for running very slow in the recovery process.

Ran with Wendi for the first 2.5 miles. Then I was on my own until about mile 8 when I found Erik and my brother in law who both ran the half. Ran with them for maybe a half mile then I was on my own until the very painful finish.

Why are there never enough port-a-johns? I had to pee so badly even at the start, but waited until mile 5 and peed in Washington square in the bushes. The lines were so long for the stalls at the aid stations!

This was my first marathon. I've trained for 3. Tore my meniscus before the first one, broke my foot 10 minutes before the start of the 2nd one. I'm glad to have finally toed the line and finished a freakin marathon now.

Enormous mental effort for the last 8 miles I think. I don't know, it's all running together now. All I know is that it hurt. And it still hurts 2 days later (but it's better than yesterday :) )


What would you do differently?:

Train more. Put myself in a lot of pain to practice what a marathon feels like.
Post race
Warm down:

Through the chute, through the food tent, and then started shivering uncontrollably. Couldn't find my family. I ran with my cell phone and tried calling them, but got voice mail for my husband and my mother. My best friend Christine whom I've known since I was 5 then was walking towards me and helped me. IT WAS REALLY COLD.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of distance training. Quad cramping in the last 6 miles that kept me from much running

Event comments:

Who had the BT sign at about mile 5 or 6? I high fived whoever had the sign, but they looked at me like I was crazy.




Last updated: 2007-01-15 12:00 AM
Running
05:08:18 | 26.2 miles | 11m 46s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Below average
HR avg= 155, max = 172 on a hill
Course: From the Art Museum, to Penns Landing, through the streets of Philly, up to Fairmount Park, up Kelly drive and back through Manayunk.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]