I began marathon morning by walking outside the Sheraton hotel that I was staying at to judge for myself the coldness of the temperature. Surprisingly and fortunately, the temperature was pretty mild at 5:30 am; that is, upper 30s to low 40s (the temperatures were much more frigid at the starting line of the two Ogden Marathons that I have run). As a result, I did not have to put to use all the cold gear that I brought with me. This is just another example that marathons tend to be completely unpredictable because I was warned by many runners who have run this race in the past that the temperature usually remains at or below freezing for the entire race (e.g., many returning runners that I bumped into remarked how frigid last year’s race was). Consequently, since I do not handle cold weather that well (especially the part that involves standing around and shivering in the cold waiting for the race to start), I caught a big break with the outside temperature being so high for this time of the year.
After getting on all my running gear, I preceded with my sister and brother-in-law (who both ran the half marathon) to the starting line (which is also the finish line; that is, the course is essentially an oddly shaped figure-eight in that you visit the start/finish line three times--once at the start, at the 13.1 mile marker which is the end of the half marathon, then at the finish) by walking the twelve blocks from the Sheraton hotel down to the Philadelphia Art Museum and its steps that were made famous by the movie Rocky. The place was absolutely packed with approximately 20,000 runners participating in this year’s races. I was just able to deposit my drop bag in the appropriate UPS truck and get to my corral approximately five minutes before the race began. Bart Yasso (running guru, developer of the brutal interval workout involving 800s, and Runner’s World icon) along with the Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter were leading the festivities at the starting line.
Once the starting horn sounded, we were off and running. I immediately proceeded to run my slowest mile of the race (i.e., 6:57). Even though I was near the front of the enormous pack in first corral that was comprised of one thousand of the fastest runners, it was slow going for the first couple of miles. I think people were a little timid due to some of narrow streets caused by construction and due to the streets being wet in certain places on a chilly, but comfortable morning. After we turned west at the base of the impressive Ben Franklin Bridge on to Delaware Avenue, I was able to pick up the pace a little bit (i.e., 6:18 for the third mile).
I just continued to chip away and improve my average pace over the subsequent miles with the exception of a 6:36 and a 6:35 pace on miles four and eight, respectively. The biggest climb of on the course was between miles seven and eight; therefore, the reason for the 6:35. However, I’m not completely sure why my fourth mile was 6:36, but my left foot seemed to bother my gait from time to time for the first ten miles. With that said, I was able to knockout the following paces in the first ten miles: a 6:14, another 6:18, a 6:11, and a 6:10. With the exception of a 6:13 for mile fifteen, my minutes-per-mile pace on this relatively flat course was basically a linear upward regression with a peak of 6:42 on mile twenty-five.
By the way, what an amazing course! The first half is in the big city and university areas of town; whereas, the second half goes along a road following the Schuykill River under a number of bridges and short stone tunnels to a turnaround point which is in the small town of Manayunk that is lined with small shops, a bunch of screaming supporters, and many signs that indicated there was plenty of beer in this town.
Once I reached mile twenty (shortly after the Manayunk turnaround), the so called second half of the marathon began. By this time I realized that unfortunately my PR was not going to be broken in this race; that is, for some reason I was unable to accelerate with the faster runners. As a result, I focused on keeping my minutes-per-mile down and not letting anyone else pass me. After I ran under another bridge and by the mile-marker twenty-three, I determined that I felt good enough and my pace was fast enough to hold off any runners that would try pass me; therefore, I changed my objective to start chasing down runners over the last 5k. I was able to pass a few runners as I headed back to the Art Museum, not because I was picking up the pace, but because I was able to hold it as other runners began to slow (especially during the last mile which involves an incline to the finish line).
A larger crowd of supporters greeted the runners as we circled around in front of the Art Museum heading toward the finish line. Since the Philadelphia Marathon puts first names on the bibs, everyone yells out your name as you run by. Hence, with “Eye of the Tiger” blaring over the speakers and complete strangers lining the roads yelling out my name and words of encouragement made for an unforgettable experience as I approached the finish line. I ended up finishing in a time of 2:50:58 which is my second-faster marathon and the first marathon where I ran every single mile at a sub-7:00 pace. A product of a relatively flat course, my pace range of 47 seconds (6:10-6:57) was also a personal best. However, if I could have kept up with the 2:40 runners, it was the perfect course and weather conditions to set a PR. As a result, I’ll be thinking about this missed opportunity on all my upcoming training runs which should keep me motivated all winter long.
Finally, after recovering for awhile, I was able to get in some post-race training by completing 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups. | 