Philadelphia Marathon - RunMarathon


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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States
Philadelphia Marathon
38F / 3C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 5h 03m
Overall Rank = 6254/7332
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 410/492
Pre-race routine:

Fell asleep easy enough, woke up to a woman fighting with somebody in the hotel hallway. Tossed and turned for the next 3 hours until 5a. Finally I got up, prepared perpetuem/ heed and got dressed. Went to lobby to find a cab to Abby and Nancy's hotel- Hilton. Of course there were no cabs and a lobby full of marathoners trying to get to the race start. Finally shared a cab with 4 other people directly to race- forget going to the Hilton.
Event warmup:

Stood on line for the porta potty for 45 minutes then went to corral to wait for start. Waited for final wave (mine) shivering- it was really cold but the energy was fantastic. Everyone was very excited, music playing- this is great. I'm thankful to be alive- nervous as hell.
Run
  • 5h 03m
  • 26.2 miles
  • 11m 34s  min/mile
Comments:

Actually a little too cool!
What would you do differently?:

???? Be more prepared- shorten my season??
Post race
Warm down:

Found kids and Dan in family waiting area. I'm am really hungry. Food tent has cups of nasty chicken broth and cold wet pretzels- I'm going to the Diner!
Had to walk to car- several blocks away- Owww!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Limited experience with long distance.

Event comments:

Can't really rate this race because I have nothing to compare it too, The energy was sooo positive. I've never done a marathon before- I have to do this again. I can do better in time now that I know how it goes.




Last updated: 2008-09-01 12:00 AM
Running
05:03:00 | 26.2 miles | 11m 34s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/492
Overall: 0/7332
Performance: Average
I felt strong during the first 6 miles. Mile 6- take a gel- lots of high fives from the crowd- this is great! Starting to feel warmed up, legs a little tired- too soon for this. Slow down- HR 175. Nancy passes me- wow- she's really running strong. Mile 7- Run into Abby- we stay together Mile 12- took an 400 Motrin, feeling more tired- I'm OK- keep plugging along.Abby goes on while I walk to dig my Motrin out of back pocket. Mile 13.1- I'm back in the circle. People cheering, music playing- everyone happy- I've gotta pee! Better go now where there's a ton of porta potty's and no line. Take a drink and gel- get going. Mile 15- getting tired. Mile 17- walk through water stations- icy, slippery. Legs feeling heavy. Keep plugging along. Mile 18- Is that really beer at this water station? No....! Mile 19- enter into little town- people cheering everywhere- Workers from the bakery handing out crumpled pieces of brownie. Come to think of it, my stomach's growling. Gross- but I take a clump of brownie and a gel Oh- bad move! Mile 20- Lower back starting to hurt- pain is getting deep. I can do this. Mile 22- OMG- when does this thing end- My nose and lips are chapped. There goes Thing 1 and Thing 2! Mile 23- Almost there- Oh it's really starting to hurt. Just keep turning legs. You can do this. Mile 24- I'm crying I think- Tears running down my face and breathing wierd like I'm crying. I need to stop- I need my energy! Mile 25- OK- 1 more mile (sort of). Just get to the end. You can do this.Shit- there goes the Cliff 5 hour group- they just freaking passed me! Mile 26- I'm there! I'm there! Just keep moving forward! Finish line- Now I'm crying for real- OMG!!! I did it- I finished this freaking thing! Who would have guessed I ran my first 5k 14 months ago? My time sucks- but I did it!
Course: Mostly flat- some mile hills. Nothing too bad- just long!
Keeping cool Good Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %4lbs
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Bad
Race evaluation [1-5] 3