What can I say? It was freezing, freezing cold out. The thing that sucks is - I layered too much b/c I wanted to keep warm in the beginning, and should have bagged my outer layer and my hat. I just got too warm during the run. I wound up taking off my gloves, hat and neck warmer. Wish I could've taken off my jacket, but I had my race # pinned to it (forgot my race belt- apparently it's been a while since I raced).

18,000 people is a lot of runners - the first 3 miles we were kinda like cattle just following each other, then it thinned out a bit - but the whole time I was always surrounded by people. TONS of spectators cheering at all parts of the course, which surprised me, because it was freezing after all.

I even got to high-five the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter. :)

There were 2 or 3 major hills which sucked, but I trained on them, so it wasn't as bad as I thought. The downhills were awesome!

Train more. Do more long runs at a faster pace (aka speedwork!)

Learn to get the layering thing right. Buy more dri-fit Under Armour stuff. My velour jacket from Express didn't really do the trick today.

Got my mylar blanket, medal, took the finisher's photo at the flag, got my gear from the gear check, got food, found Barry and trekked the 10 miles (it seemed) to the car.

As soon as we got to our friend's house that we were staying at, I jumped right in the shower and put the water on boiling hot. I was pretty numb at that point.

Had a granola bar, some water and passed out on the couch. My feet were (still are) killing me. It feels like I tore all the nerves out of them. I wonder why they are giving me shooting pains??


Lack of racing, limited long runs (longest was 9 miles - I ran out of time in the training plan), lack of good nutrition (no one told me Clif shot bloks FREEZE at that temperature). :)


This was an awesome race. I highly recommend you do it, if you haven't. Had it not been for the cold weather, it would have been a beautiful day. Nice and sunny out. The other runners are super friendly and so were the volunteers. Great scenery during the run, and plenty of stuff to do afterward. We had lunch at a great French place afterward and I got the best blueberry pancakes EVER. I think I'll be back next year to race this!

Plus, I think I'm ready to sign up for more races...this was exactly what I needed to get me back in the game. A big thank you to my wonderful, sleep-deprived hubby who came to watch my race and be my half-mary sherpa.