I had a great race yesterday. I started out a little too fast, and knew it, but it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement and speed of this race. I slowed down some over the course, but kept up a pretty quick pace (for me) the whole way. I really pushed myself to "HTFU" in the later miles, as my mind really wanted to walk a little. My HR was high the whole race, mainly due to the speed in which I was running. Pushing through helped me PR though, beating my old PR (this race last year) of 1:36:39.

I can't really say that I would do anything differently. I'd like to say that I should start a little slower and try to keep even splits, but I know that I just don't run well that way and think it probably would have hurt more than helped.

Grabbed some food, water, and Cytomax. Looped back around to wait for B to finish. Once she finished, we headed back to the car. We got back to the hotel, showered quick (already missed checkout, oops!), and then walked to Gino's to get an authentic Philly cheese steak. Yum! (though I think I like Pat's better).


Not much, really. Just overall training / fitness, I suppose.


Philly is a great race, and I recommend it for those who like half marathons or those looking to do a first half. It's well supported, well staffed, and overall a lot of fun. One gripe, the medals were a lot better last year. They were bigger, and didn't have the stupid ING logo on it. I generally hate medals with the sponsor's logo on it (the Baltimore marathon is an exception, since I just think UA has a cool logo). This is one more of the elite races I've done this year, so I only need San Jose to get the Rockstar medal and San Antonio (registered for both) to get all the medals they offer, including the Super 6! I plan on running San Jose as an easy training run, since I'm racing in the Baltimore marathon 6 days later.