Philadelphia Marathon : Official Thread (Page 2)

Welcome ... muhahahahahahahahahahah.

Yes, look up phillyrunners.org, that is my running club and there is both a Saturday group run of 8.5 miles as well as a number of smaller groups training for marathons. I'm sure if you posted on the blog you'd have no trouble finding a group, it's pretty normal for out-of-towners to join in.

Normally I'd offer to meet up and run, but I'll be doing Marine Corps that weekend!

Your quick reply and advise is much appreciated!  Good luck on Marine Corps!

Thanks, 22 miler tomorrow and then taper. Let me know if you go running with Philly Runners or not and have fun in Philly.

Looks like the Philadelphia Marathon is officially Sold Out!

35 Days and a wake up to go

I'm doing the half.  Decided on Sunday I should probably start training.  See ya in a month!

Hi Jenn double N. 

Haha yes!!!!!    Hi to you, DC!  I'm back. 

Had an excellent race at Baltimore and ran 3:30:31... 

Now that the muscle soreness is leaving me I am super excited to run Philly.  Given that Baltimore was hilly, windy and warm... and that I didnt feel any pain until mile 23... I am wondering just how much faster I can go...

Love the attitude! With good weather an everything else working for you, it's a faster course so try running at 7:50 pace and see what happens

I was hitting pretty much even 8:00 splits the whole way until mile 24 when I succumbed slightly to cramps in my calves.  Last two miles were about 8:25 instead, hence the 3:30:31 finish instead of 3:29:xx.

IM sure I could do 7:45-7:50 for quite a while so perhaps I'll try that. 

This was only my second marathon.  The first being Philly last year when I finished 4:35, so I was incredibly excited to not just break 4:00 but smash it... and take an hour off my time from my last marathon.

Given Philly is much flatter than Baltimore, and the weather will be much cooler, provided you Recover fine and are able to get another solid block of training in, I would let it fly with a 7:40-ish pace.  For sure

I ran Philly last year, too; but I paced a buddy so I ran around 20 minutes slower than I'm capable of.  But it gave me a good chance to survey the course and devise a plan for this year. 

And my plan is to let it fly on the downhills in the beginning.  Primarily the downhill going down to the water (1.5 to 3).  There was also a wicked tailwind when we ran adjacent to the water, last year so if it's the same this year, I plan to take advantage of it.  On the few climbs in the first half I plan to just hit my target pace.  I also plan to take advantage of the nice downhill coming out of the park (9.5 to 10.5). 

For the back 13.1 miles (which are basically pancake flat) my goal will be just to maintain and dial-in my target pace. 

TIP: Also, I've incorporated stopping and turning-around during some of my longer runs.  This is to simulate the cone turn-arounds at Mile 17.25 and 19.5.  I cannot stress enough (even at an EZ pace) how bad it sucks to come to almost a complete stop.  Circle a cone.  And then start running again that far into the marathon.  Especially since both turns are narrow, and at the bottom of slight decline.  If you practice this in training, it won't suck as bad on Race Day.  It's purely mental, but I believe it will work.  I remember my buddy's remarks when we had to do the turn-around, and the faces on all the other runner's said it all. 

Another TIP:  Last years race was above freezing; however I've been told by friends that many years it's below freezing.  If this is the case, sometimes the ground around the water stops freezes and becomes ice!  If this starts happening, when you approach the water tables stay in the middle of the road and run to the last possible table to grab hydration, thus avoiding the beginning and middle of the tables where the most ice will likely be. 

I hope everyone has a good Build these last few weeks.  I pulled my hamstring on Sunday stupidly lifting a very heavy box, but hope to start running again tomorrow.

Good tips, I had a terrible time last year after the turnaround in Manayunk. Mostly my fault,  but you're right, everything just tightens up and then you have that steady uphill back out towards the Falls Bridge. Also there is a fairly long finish from the time you see the Art Museum to the actual finish line is another .3-.4 miles and the chute is very long.

Weather the past few years has been great. I think it was 2007 or 8 when it turned cold and the water stations became skating rinks.

I think I said it before, but don't let yourself get sucked into the half marathoners making that final push, and make sure you follow the marathon turn! I know several people who were on autopilot and went with the half marathoners by mistake.

I'm in taper frenzy for Marine Corps, I'm actually looking forward to Philly as a no-pressure fun race with no real pace goal. If anyone wants to meet up for a beer after Philly, I'm game!

If I use my 19:46 5k that I ran back in June, the McMillan Calculator says I have the potential to run 3:12 (7:22 pace).  Since thats given ideal training, which I know I havent really gotten simply due to weather and a poorly timed rhinovirus, I decided on 8:00 at Baltimore. 

I averaged around 40-45 miles a week for all of June, July and most of August.  Then the rain started and I missed out on a bunch of long runs at the end of August and September.  I had intended in getting a few 50+ mile weeks in there and it just didnt happen.

I am feeling pretty good already, so hopefully I can get back some decent training in the next 3 weeks before I need to taper again. 

My 5k PR is a 19:57 ; my 13.1 PR 1:29:07 ; and my Marathon PR 3:15:32.  If you're able to get in another small but decent block of consistent training, and your feeling good, I say you shoot for at least a 3:20 -- 7:37 pace. 

Just a short announcement:

This race in in jeopardy for me due to Achilles tendon issues.

Rest Ice Compression Elevation.  Take some anti-inflammatories.   Hang in there man, hopefully it'll go away soon.

Bib numbers/corral assignments are up on active's site  http://www.active.com/uploads_search.cfm?UPM_ID=3749&CHECKSSO=0

Don't know how to make link clickable

Fixed it for you-click here

Pays to be a geek sometimes.

Just found this thread and recognize some of the names on it!

I'm excited for Philly. It will be my 3rd (2nd standalone) marathon and I'm shooting for my first sub 4:00. I did a 1hr 44min standalone half marathon a couple weeks ago so I'm hoping my fitness will hold up at a sub 4hr pace for the full distance since I have a pretty good base going into this. If not, no big deal, I just wanted to do this race for fun but we all know how it gets on race day.

Looking forward to it and good luck everyone through your last bits of training and taper!

Ryan

I'm not sure if I am Bib# 887 or 888.  They gave me two Bib#'s and charged me twice.  Wasn't that nice.   Active.com is correcting it. 

Ryan, a sub 4:00 is in the bag, baby!!  I'll peg you around a 3:40 with that 1/2 mary time.