Philadelphia Half Marathon Race Recap

Today…I ran my FIRST HALF MARATHON! 

I left my apartment at 6 this morning all dressed and ready to go.  It was still pitch back out as I waited or a trolley to head downtown to the starting line. 

Once I got downtown, I went straight to the place that my friend Ro and I were supposed to meet.  They got a late start so I was thinking I was actually going to be running the half alone.  I was just walking into the corral right before the gun went off when Ro and her friend came running up!  Phew! 

A little after 7am and we were off!  As the corrals kept moving more and more forward I was definitely getting increasingly nervous.  Around 7:20 it was our turn to start running…and run we did!

The first few miles were great.  We all took it slow and ran together.  Ro’s friend was running the full and a little faster than us so she pulled ahead while Ro and I continued to run together.  At mile 2, I saw Krista who blogs at Kristastes!  Thanks for being a great spectator and putting a smile on my face!  She was able to snag this pic of me…

At mile 4, Ro wanted to stop and use the porta potties so I had to make a decision.  Wait or venture ahead alone.  I was feeling good, but I was only 4 miles in.  Since I didn’t have a specific time goal in mind, I chose to wait for her.  I think this ended up being a great move because miles 11-13 were pretty rough…but more on that later.

Miles 1-7 were great and we didn’t really walk at all the first half.  We discussed walking breaks and decided to take them when we needed them, but to keep them short.  My support crew was at mile 7.5 on Drexel’s campus, not far from my apartment.  The plan was to meet them there since it would be about a half way point for the race.  It was also close for them, and easy place navigate to the end from.  Win-Win!  They were great and had some awesome signs made!  It really made my day seeing them just before mile 8.

A big thanks to Shaun, Liz, and Joe for being great supporters.  Miles 8 and 9 were uphill.  When I looked at the elevation chart I knew the University City/Zoo area before Martin Luther King drive would be at a slight incline, but it was more hilly than I had expected. 

Here I am after saying goodbye to my support crew and making my way up the first of many rolling hills.

Miles 8, 9, and 10 were good.  Hilly, but Ro and I took it easy when we needed to and pushed ourselves to keep going.  We kept saying “8 is almost 10, and 10 is almost done.”  Before we knew it, we were at 11.  From then on, I really was struggling.  We stopped to walk for 0.1 miles and everything started to hurt.  I stepped on a discarded Gu so my sneakers got sticky, and I started dragging alone leaves like the person with toilet paper stuck to their shoe…not cute. 

I knew I was going to finish, I just wanted it to be OVER.  In full disclosure even if I wanted to quit I couldn’t because we were on a road that was between a highway and a river.  So my choices were to finish, drown, or run in front of a car.  Quitting never even crossed my mind, but I definitely was fighting back tears those last miles.  My back felt like it was going to crack in half, and it actually was feeling better to run than to walk at this point.  Trotting along in a slow jog was easier than dragging my body along with a slow walk.  When we hit 12.5, I knew we were so close.  I picked up the pace and Ro and I finished strong!

After the race, I needed to sit.  I stretched for a few minutes on the ground then found the strength to make it to the car.  It felt SO GOOD to sit in a real seat.  I went home, had a hot bath, a good stretch, and a great meal.  Now it’s time for a little nap before a full night of studying my butt off for my P&T exam tomorrow.

Unofficial time – 2:58 (my garmin’s time that was paused during bathroom breaks on the course) I started it a bit early, final garmin distance was 13.45.  Roughly a 13 minute mile.

The last miles were tough, but I’m certainly confident that with more training I can conquer them better in January in Disney!!!

Anyone else run today?  How did it go?