Philadelphia Marathon

Preface:
Those of you have been reading my blog for the past year know the story. I was registered for this marathon in 2008 but never reached the starting line. I was fitted in the wrong shoes (too much support) and developed a tibial stress fracture in late September which kept me on the sidelines for the next 12 weeks. My return to running in the beginning of 2009 was very slow. After a couple months of inactivity I was very conservative in my return to running but was plagued with shin splints for the first couple of months. I backed off the running even more and focused on biking while the shin splints healed. By June I was ready to start training, my eye was on a Fall half marathon season. With the help of my friend, CoachC, I trained hard all summer and was set for a 1:45 half marathon. As you know, we can train our hearts out but race day is always a gamble. I had unfavorable weather at both half marathon attempts this year but set a new PR of 1:47:18. In 2010 I will get that 1:45.

At the end of August I decided I would add the Philadelphia Marathon to my season as my final race of the year and on September 7th I took the plunge and registered, two days before the race closed. After my final half marathon of the season I focused strictly on endurance, running 10-12 miles twice during the week and going longer on the weekends. My theory was that I would pound as much endurance as I could into my body before the race and just see what happens.

The Taper:
I decided to make a Taper Log for the 21 days leading up to the marathon. My taper ended up being the best of both worlds, good and bad. It started off with a 19 mile training run at 8:45 pace which pretty much locked in the idea of me getting a BQ on race day. This was after two days of laying around sick in bed with sinus and chest congestion. The day after this run I headed to the doctor with a sinus infection and started a 10 day cycle of Cipro. Starting off my taper with illness was not ideal. However, I only missed one day of training this week and all my runs were consistent pace and mileage-wise.

My second week of taper continued going well with the running and nourishment, however I got hit rather hard with some PMS in the beginning of the week which caused some extra depression and bitchiness. Two days later I was feeling back to normal but physically I was now dealing with some fasciitis in my right quad. This had been coming and going for the past month and now it was back. (Fascia is the tissue which envelopes the muscles.) I knew it was getting worse because although it had no affect on my running per se and was only slightly sore, the pain would radiate around my hip, into my butt and up to the top of my hip/lower back area. I got that under control with some minimal icing and knowing that it was something that wouldn’t stop me from hitting pace I figured rest after the marathon would allow it to finally heal. Emotionally I was feeling strong and calm and centered.

My final week of taper continued with the ups and downs. I was feeling even more confident this week. I had no doubts about the race I had planned in my head. I had been training at the pace I planned to run in the race and knew I could do it. I added in a short tempo run this week and some strides in the middle of a couple of runs but otherwise I took this week very, very easy. I even started to worry that I wasn’t so nervous about this race. I mean, it was my very first 26.2, shouldn’t there have at least been a little bit of doubt and nervousness? I’ve seen so many people head into marathons with doubts and questions yet I was cool as a cucumber. I’d give a crooked smile when someone would say that my goal should be to just be happy finishing. That’s just not me. Well, the down side of this week was a bad case of hemorrhoids. Hey, I admit it. And before you snicker at me, I can pretty much gaurantee that some of you out there have been hit with this. Did you know that by the age of fifty, 50% of the population will have experienced this? For women, this is often a lingering result of childbirth so I don’t want to hear the jokes people. This was bad, my worst yet and I was freaking out. Luckily, by the time the weekend rolled around the issue had been resolved. I was good to go.

I ended up averaging about 9 hours of sleep each night during taper. My weight averaged 114 lbs. My training pace averaged 8:48 during taper.

The Race:

Short Story

Goal: Maintain 8:45 pace which would get me a 3:49:15 time, just under BQ (3:50:59)
Actual: 8:41 pace
Final Time: 3:47:43

Long Story

Saturday: I hit the Expo on Saturday, got my race stuff and switched corrals and then met up with some folks from the Runners World forums. It was so cool meeting up with everyone! I got to meet LongIslandChick, SeRUNdipity, eyedoctodd, gone_fishing, z-run26, trip_sister … I know I’m forgetting a couple people. After training together online since September it was so fun to meet up in person. I met up with my racing partner, Eric, and high school classmate whom I had not seen in 22 years while talking with the RW folks. We talked briefly and told each other’s we’d call in the morning. Then I headed over to the Reading Terminal to grab a bite with trip_sister, eyedoctodd and z-run26 and we talked and fueled. Then I bumped into my friend Larry and I waited with him in a sandwich line before heading to my hotel for a nap. I needed that! Later I was off to dinner to meet up with Chris (CMJHawk from kickrunners) and his brother, Pete. Chris and I have been chatting over at KR for the past year or two and it was so great to finally meet up in person. Busy, busy, busy.

I ate about every two hours on Saturday from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed. I drank water constantly all day. I also took an S! Cap (salt pill) earlier in the day. I did not carbo load too much on Saturday. In the morning I had some oatmeal, I had a turkey sandwich at 1:00 pm and again at 5:00 pm and a small amount of tortellini around 8:00 pm. I was not big into carbo loading at any point in my training, deciding to just eat normally and really focus on my protein intake. Instead of changing things too much leading into this weekend I opted to continue eating as I had been doing all along with the exception of a huge pasta dinner on Friday night.

Sunday:
I had a great night’s sleep and woke up naturally and very rested around 4:30 am. Got up, had some oatmeal and half a banana. I couldn’t finish the banana or eat the muffin I had bought the night before. My stomach was in knots with excitement. I relaxed in my pj’s with my coffee and watching TV. Before I knew it the clock read 5:30 and I hadn’t even put on my race clothes yet. I got myself assembled and headed out to walk the 1.5 miles to the start. Eric and I met up, checked our bags, I said hi to my friends Larry, Lora and met Staci and Mandy, all from kickrunners.

Eric and I headed over to the green corral and found the 3:50 pacer. I really didn’t plan on running with the pacer, my goal was to stay ahead of him. I popped my first S! Cap (salt pill) and waited for the race to start. The green corral was the third wave to start, at 7:10 we were off. I had turned my Garmin on but didn’t know if it had attached to a satellite so for the first mile I wasn’t sure if the pace it was showing was our actual pace. It turns out that it was and I was a little ticked off that our first mile was as slow as it was. No big deal, we had plenty of time to make up for it so I just shrugged it off. Eric and I caught up with each other’s lives in the first five miles. Having the Garmin and seeing our pace worked out really well because it was easy to get caught up with everyone around us and run too fast. I kept holding us back because I wanted the first 10 miles to be easy.

My race strategy was to take the first 10 miles slow, keeping the pace between 8:40-8:50. The second 10 miles I was looking to keep an 8:30-8:40 pace. And for the final 6.2 miles I wanted to do whatever I could do. I figured my paces would range between 8:25-8:55 during the course of the race, which they did.

The streets in the Old City of Philadelphia were narrow and slightly crowded. It was really neat running past the old buildings where our nation’s foundation took root. Soon, we were heading into University City and past Drexel University. The frat boys were hanging out with jugs of beer banging on pots and pans, playing bass music really loudly and whooping it up. What a blast! Next we ran past the Zoo and into Fairmont Park. This was the biggest hill of the course, in my opinion, and since it was still so early in the race I slowed down and took it really easy.

At the top of the hill the path took a sharp curve where they were handing out gels. It was super tight right here and became completely congested at the water stop at the end of the curve. I ended up shoving two people in front of me who completely stopped, I think there was room for 4 people abreast right there. This was the first of a handful of very poorly planned, congested water stops. I ended up having to shove my way through all of them. I am so glad I took my handheld but trying to maintain pace through a water stop was ridiculous.

Passing by the Art Museum where the half marathoners were finishing and the marathon continued was fun with the crowds but I totally missed the mile 13 sign, therefore I missed hitting my split button. Just past Eakins Oval I spotted my friend Tom who ran alongside me for a little bit. He said I looked good which is totally how I felt, really good. To that point it all felt very easy, I hit 13.1 in 1:56:18. I was feeling really good and I had not taken one single gel yet. Around mile 13.5 I took my second S! Cap and then my first gel sometime after mile 14. I didn’t have specific miles targeted to take my gels, instead I was going to take them as needed according to my body. A couple weeks prior to the race I had a conversation with a local college coach who suggested waiting to take my gels until after mile 15 or so, unless I needed one sooner. So, that was my fueling plan, wait until after mile 13 and see how I felt. This plan worked out great.

The run up Kelly Drive was beautiful and I was surprised that no one was yelling through the one tunnel so I gave out a whoop because I just can’t resist hearing the echoes. We hit mile 15 and spotted the 3:50 pace group. How the hell did they get in front of us? At that point my goal was to get in front of them which I did but I lost Eric in the process. I kept hoping he’d pull around them, too, but I never saw him again. At mile 16 we were heading into Manyunk and all the rolling hills. My legs were starting to feel the burn and I remember thinking that they were going to really hurt after this was over. I quickly forgot about my legs and focused on finding the next mile marker. Mile 17 down. Mile 18. We kept getting one mile closer to the finish line. Lots of people handing out beer in Manyunk, oranges, I grabbed a brownie from some guy. The crowds were awesome. If you have been following my blog then you’ve heard me say how much I hate big races because spectators drive me nuts. I officially eat my words. I loved the crowd support during this race. We had our names on our bibs and I got lots of callouts, it was great!

I never focused on the miles during the race. All I cared about was hitting my split button at the mile markers and keeping a consistent pace. I never experienced hitting the wall during this race, either. It didn’t even occur to me at mile 20 that this was the spot where a lot of runners lose it. My second 10 miles were done, now all I had to do was finish the last 6.2 miles, this was going to be easy. I was feeling so good, had taken another gel, and up to this point I had not yet pushed myself. I had run all of those miles at my normal training pace. I still had rolling hills getting out of Manyunk and was so happy once we left that town and the road became flatter.

I was passing people left and right. I could feel the burn in my legs from time to time in the last miles but quickly pushed that realization out of my head, I would deal with that later. I needed to fill my water bottle up one last time. I think it was at mile 21. Refilling my bottle was a little bit tricky. I had to hold the bottle and the lid in one hand and then grab cups of water, dump it in the bottle, grab more cups (3-4 cups per refill) all while maintaining pace. I don’t know how I did it each time, but I did. At this last refill I dropped the lid. Shit! I bent down to grab it, cursing. Someone said “it’s okay, relax”, but I think I was cursing more at how much it physically hurt to bend down and then stand back up. At this point, if you stop, you’re screwed. I didn’t lose any time and just kept moving.

I wasn’t sure where I was going to drop the hammer, I figured sometime after mile 23 but would decide as I got closer to the finish line. If I kicked hard too early I could really mess myself up. At mile 24 I saw my friend Lora. That was cool. She started yelling and telling me I looked great. That was good to hear. I felt good, still, so I’m glad you could tell that by just looking at me. I started talking to people around me at this point. I know, crazy, right? I think it was more for myself than trying to help them out. I’d say, “3 more miles, you can do it! Let’s go!” …  “2 more miles, come on! We’re almost there!” They all kind of looked at me and smiled but I’d end up passing them and I’m sure they were struggling. I, on the other hand, was feeling great! I knew I had my BQ in my pocket and started fighting back some emotion.

I have to say that the final two miles of this race were the hardest. I never slowed down but I had to work to keep my pace. I started thinking about how the fast finish long runs had really helped, I was proving it at that moment. It’s weird how you can have such mental clarity after putting your body through so much
and were still pushing. I saw Chris (who had totally kicked ass in the half marathon) and he ran alongside me for a few yards. I saw Tom again at mile 25 and yelled for him but he didn’t hear me. All of a sudden there I was, in front of the Art Museum, the finish line was on the other side of Eakins Oval. I ran hard and strong, I had to shove my way past a few people who were totally slowing down, sticking my arms out in front of me or yelling at them. The specators were loud, I could hear the announcer over the intercom system and suddenly I could see the finish line.

I crossed the finish line in 3:47:43. My first marathon and a Boston qualifying time. I also negative split the race – 1:56:18/1:51:16. I was suddenly overcome with emotion, fighting back tears. I don’t know why I was fighting them back, I should have just let them roll. Some guy asked me if I was okay, I said yes. I couldn’t even talk. It took me a little while to calm down and then I headed over to the UPS trucks and waited for Eric to finish.

I have to say this was an absolutely wonderful experience! I finally had favorable weather for one of my Fall races, 42° at the start even if it was a little warm toward the end of the race. I’m going to Boston 2011! I am so there. All of the hard work was worth it. I especially want to give a shout and big thank you to my friend, CoachC, for all of her help this year with my running. She was there to answer all of my questions and teach me how to train, her help has been invaluable.

And now, I am going to relax. Thanks for all of your support, bloggies.

Split Times:
mile 1 – 9:12
mile 2 -8:49
mile 3 – 8:34
mile 4 & 5 – 8:41 – Missed mile 4 split
mile 6 – 8:29
mile 7 – 8:18
mile 8 – 8:54 – Large hill going into Fairmont Park, took it easy here
mile 9 – 8:50 – Gu & water stop was a total mess here!!
mile 10 – 8:36
mile 11 – 8:22
mile 12 – 8:36
mile 13 & 14 – 8:29 – Missed mile 13 split, Took S Cap at m13.5, gel around mile 14
mile 15 – 8:08
mile 16 – 8:29
mile 17 – 8:31
mile 18 – 8:28
mile 19 – 8:33 – took gel
mile 20 – 8:43
mile 21 – 8:28
mile 22 – 8:36 – took gel
mile 23 – 8:30
mile 24 – 8:28
mile 25 – 8:21
mile 26.2 – 8:27
Overall: 2373/7464 (31.8%)
Age Group: 70/389 (18%)
Gender: 568/3107 (18.3%)