Philadelphia Marathon Race Report As everyone knows, I was going for the Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2:19:00. I was very confident going into this, as my training had been pretty much perfect, I was 100% healthy, and feel like I pretty much nailed the taper just right. When I went to bed last night, I felt like there was absolutely nothing I could have or would have done differently. We woke up at 5am, went outside for a quick 3 minute shakeout jog, then hung out in our hotel room until about 6:20am. The temperature was 51 degrees when we woke up, which was really nice because it was 27 degrees the day before. It was also windy, which we didn't think was a big deal at the time. We made our way down Ben Franklin Parkway with thousands and thousands of other runners. The atmosphere was exciting. Checked into the elite tent, used the private bathroom (best perk of elite seeding!), and at 6:50am they brought us out to the course. We did a few strides, and literally a minute before the race, the elite coordinator introduced the OTQ pacers. What? We had not been told about this before, but it was a welcome surprise. The men's pacer was a small little Kenyan guy. Then we were off and running... The start down the parkway felt amazing. A true big city marathon atmosphere. If you've ever been to or seen this area in front of the art museum, you would agree that this is simply an iconic road to start a big race on. It was very cool. Everyone went out fast, and there were half-marathoners mixed in there, so I made sure to hang back and stay conservative. Just before the one mile mark, things thinned out a bit, I found our pacer and a pack started to form. Hit the mile in 5:11, but with all the adrenaline and loud crowds, that was about as slow as I could possibly go. Then we found our rhythm. The next miles were 5:20, 5:19, 5:19, 5:14, 5:18, 5:17. Perfect. The crowds on Chestnut Street were the best I have ever experienced during a race. I tried to conserve as much energy as possible and stay tucked in behind some taller guys. The wind was swirling, seemingly coming from every direction, and it was obvious this would play a factor in the race. After 7 miles, you leave the downtown area and hit the hilly section of the course. Splits here were 5:23, 5:27, 5:28. Exactly what I wanted - conserve energy on the uphills. Our pack was probably still about 7-8 guys at this point (the lead marathon pack was never in sight). The next 3 miles were mostly flat, with some gradual hills, but nothing too challenging. Hit 5:12, 5:17, 5:16 - then the half-marathon in 1:09:33. Right on the money! Not many guys running with the OTQ group made it much past halfway. The 14th mile was 5:11, and it was already down to 3 - the pacer (who didn't talk much but was doing an awesome job), myself, and Karl Savage (a local favorite and former 4-minute miler). We just kept rolling and I was feeling good - 5:17, 5:16, 5:23 (up and over a bridge with the 2nd 180 degree turn). Just before we hit 17, the pacer told me he was done and couldn't go any further. He wished us luck. I said "Are you ready to do this Karl? Its just us now" I think he said he was ready, and within 20 seconds he dropped and I never saw him again (he ran 2:35). Now it was on me to make this happen. It was go time, now or never. I controlled my own destiny. No crutches, no pacers, not really even any competitors around. I think I was in 6th or 7th place. The next 4 miles were 5:18, 5:18, 5:22, 5:22 - the latter two having more uphill than I anticipated. The 30K split was 1:38:51 (sub 2:19 pace), and my 20 mile split was 1:46:05, just a few ticks off the 1:46:01 that I had written with a sharpie on my arm. This was exactly where I wanted to be... on pace at 20, and now I could do what I was trained to do - drop the hammer and catch everyone in front of me... But before I had a chance to take a swing, the hammer hit me. And so did the wind hammer - the wind was now blowing directly from the east (straight up headwind) and while not an absolute killer, it was very noticeable while running solo and having no one to tuck in behind. I tried to fight it. And my 22nd mile was 5:32. Slowest of the race, and it was a gradual downhill. I just couldn't accelerate on the downhills. My hamstrings and calves were knotting up. But all hope was not lost yet. I heard someone tell me I was in 6th place sometime during this mile. Then the $h#t hit the fan. Or it hit the wall. The wall that I tried to convince myself didn't exist started to show itself in an ugly, nasty way. The 23rd mile was 5:58, but after running sub 5:20 pace for 21 miles, that felt like I wasn't even moving. Like I was running in sand. And it was about to get a lot worse... At Utah Valley, when I hit the 23 mile mark I told myself "only 15 minutes to go!" and absolutely crushed the last couple miles, running some of my fastest splits of the race. The story of these last miles couldn't have been more different... My form was completely broken by this point - I was hunched over and not running smooth at all. It was a struggle to move. And then I started getting dizzy. Maybe it was just a lack of mental focus - I don't know, but my head was spinning and I just felt awful. I hit an aid station and walked through it. This is when I was supposed to be clipping off 5:05 miles, and it was like I was running the Wasatch 100 miler! Walking?!?! Oh man. The 24th mile was 6:22. So now I'm at women's OTQ pace! I'm at a point that I have never experienced before... fighting to stay upright. Mentally, checked out and I know I'm not going to get re-engaged in this race. Runners coming the opposite way (the second half is an out and back) were so supportive and encouraging. I just couldn't rise up and run fast like they were telling me to. I was stumbling around, weaving back and forth across the road. Its funny to think about this now... but it wasn't funny at the time. I considered just stopping and waiting for Andrea, thinking that maybe if I rested for 15 minutes, I could bring her in at 6:20 pace. But at the same time, I just wanted to get off the course in one piece, and I didn't want to risk upsetting her if she saw me in a bad state and ruin her OTQ chances, so I soldiered on... stopping to walk at every aid station and about every 2-3 minutes otherwise... I was Gallo-walking! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Mile 25 was 7:04. Cool, now I'm at race-walking OTQ pace. Guys are flying past me. I go from 6th or 7th place to 13th. During this mile I tried to high-five Andrea's dad and I completely missed (by about 4 feet). My depth perception was gone. I had officially hit the wall. The last 1.2 miles took me 9 minutes and 31 seconds (7:55 pace). With a little over a quarter mile to go, I saw my sister and a ton of my friends from college who had come out to watch. I gave them all high-fives and just shrugged my shoulders. I think they were surprised to see me looking so terrible, because they had seen my 30K split and didn't expect the blowup any more than I did. The finish was anti-climatic. Not the 2:17 and and OTQ and "Ryan Hall style" celebration and getting draped with the American flag like I had visualized on every early morning run and hard workout for the past 4 months. I just crossed like any other runner, having experienced the "other side" of the marathon that so many others have gone through. A rite of passage of sorts. I drank 3 cups of Gatorade, then threw it up. Went to the elite tent, changed my clothes, and went back to the finish to watch Andrea come in. I had my phone, so I told my sister to text me when she came by. I got the text when the clock was at 2:47-high, and Andrea came in just over 2:49. She looked strong as she crossed the line. I immediately wrapped her up in a big hug and told her how proud I was of her and how much I loved her. As I wrote about on our blog the other day, the journey is what really matters, not necessarily the outcome. She asked me how I did, and I saw the pain in her eyes when I said 2:25. She knew better than anyone how bad I wanted this and how hard I had worked. It was almost tough to admit to her that I had run so slowly. After the race we met up with all our friends and family. They knew we didn't hit the times we wanted and were very supportive and cheered us back up. After a while I came back to life and started to feel better. We got some cheesesteaks and Dairy Queen, walked around for about 4-5 miles, and had a nice afternoon - it was good to have time with friends to take our minds off the race... and laugh about my 8 minute mile finish! For such an incredible field of runners, the results across the board were not that great. The women's winner ran amazing, but none of the African men even broke 2:19, and none of the American guys qualified for the trials. I think the wind really kicked a lot of guy's butts over the last 10K. I did everything I could, and it just wasn't my day. I wouldn't have changed anything about my training... I wouldn't have tapered differently... and I wouldn't have raced with a different strategy. I hydrated well during the race at the aid stations and I took my gels, so I was fueled perfectly. I have no regrets about anything. I don't even regret making this such a "public" goal. If you want to achieve great things in life, you have to push it to the edge, and sometimes that means you will fall short of expectations, especially when they are very high. I'm burnt out on writing now... I think I'll have some more reflections on the race tomorrow, but I wanted to get this up tonight. I'm not going for a last-chance last-chance qualifier in the half-marathon in Vegas in two weeks... it crossed my mind for a split second, but I think I need to take a break, then start from scratch again. I feel blessed to even be in the situation where a 2:25 marathon is a complete disaster with an EPIC blowup over the last 4 miles! That says a lot about how far I have come this year. This has been the most amazing year of running of my life, and I believe my ceiling now is a lot higher than I ever thought possible. When talking to my parents after the race, they reminded me of a very fitting quote from Bill Rodgers: The marathon can humble you. I'll bounce back, stronger and faster than ever, you can mark my words on that. And now I don't have to go for 2:19 all at once - I have years to get there, and before that - knock down my PRs at shorter distances. Quick thoughts on the Philly course - crowd support is amazing for the first half of the race, then its pretty lonely until the very end. In terms of the difficulty of the course - we definitely underestimated it. Its not a Chicago/Berlin/London pancake flat course. The hills are a lot more significant than we gave them credit for and I guess if there was any aspect of the race that we were under-prepared for - that was it. [Day after thoughts... I think electrolyte depletion played a role in my demise... some thoughts on that here.] A lot of very good professional photos from the race. Some more below... 
We're keeping this poster, and we're going to cross out 2012 and write in 2016! 
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