One thing about Philly is it's my hometown. It makes a difference for many reasons. For one, the home bed advantage. Not enough can be said to staying in my parents house/my apartment as opposed to a hotel room, home cooked food and just the atmosphere. I'm much more relaxed than when on a destination run. Saturday I headed down to the expo with my mom to pick up my #: 3336. The slogan: Kick Asphalt. Freakin' awesome. I hope Philly keeps the slogan because it's just so damn cool. Anyway, Saturday was windy and brutally cold. That did not help the nerves settle for Sunday's run! I spent the remainder of the day resting up and watching PSU book their ticket to Pasadena:-) YAY!
Sunday morning - woke up at the dreadful hour of 4:30am. Gross. Even for me! The attire? My brooks "fast as flash" tights, blue long sleeve technical top with a turtleneck, psu singlet, gloves and a hat. I also started with a running jacket and hand warmers to stay warm. No need to waste more energy pre race! The weather was similar to highs on January 22nd, the coldest average in Philly. Oh, it should be mentioned I forgot my watch in NY so I essentially went by internal clock. Since my mom drove me down, I was able to head to the start about a half hour to the start which was nice! The corral was nice since the masses kept me warm:-p Once I arrived at my corral, I turned around and see a paw print on someone's shirt. Turns out one of my TRD teammates was directly next to me! We shivered and waited to head out. I hadn't read all the directions and apparently we were on a wave start which meant a certain amount of people released every 2 minutes. Each time, the song Gonna Fly Now blared over the speakers.
And finally we were off!
Miles 1-7:
Very similar start to the PDR. Headed down the Ben Franklin Parkway towards City Hall and by the Constitution Center and Liberty Bell. Instead of heading back to do the loop of the Kelly Drive we took a brief tour of South Street and Chinatown as well. Before heading away towards University City I saw my parents, brother, and mom's friend on Chesnut Street. I threw my jacket at them and sped away. I still felt a bit rusty as I generally do at the beginning. It was also a bit disheartening to hear someone shout "you're almost there" at mile 4. Sheesh, wait til I've past 6.2 so there's less than a 20 mile run left;) There wasn't a huge crowd until we hit Chesnut Street (heading back towards the start area). It was definitely odd. Not a bad thing but weird.
Miles 7-14:
This part has the only true inclines/hills of the course. I knew about them so it wasn't as scary as it was for anyone that thought "oh there's no hills in Philly!" We ran by 30th Street Station and I waved to a couple NY Flyers guys cheering on the sidelines. I think one of them snapped my photo. University City was fun as there was one frat house that had guys banging pots and pans. Not sure I'd want that in my ear after a rough Saturday night;) Then it was off to Memorial Park which is the only true hill of the course. Fortunately, marathoners and half marathoners were all together for this so it helped to have the company. I was ready for this since my mom had run the course and she told me "there's a couple inclines then the HILL. Don't be deceived." After getting up the hill, I started to hit that zone. It gave me a sense of relief to know that I had made it 11miles and the stomach was holding up. Good news. I also saw people dressed up as cows cheering on the sidelines - umm, interesting. We headed back towards the Art Museum and here the half marathoners went to the left and the full kept right on going. Fortunately, we could not see the finish line for the half! But, you could still see people doing the half getting excited to be done. I yelled "see you in another 13.1." Hey, you gotta be positive! I saw my parents again and yelled "see you at the finish line." As I headed down the Kelly Drive evidently shoreturtle saw me too! YAY! Thanks for being out there!
Miles 14-20:
The Drive brought isolation. The half marathoners were done and we were on our own. I saw Mozzer pass on the other side as I was heading towards Manayunk. He looked strong:) As we headed to Manayunk the aches started. There were more inclines and the mental games started. Ya know, the ones where you tell yourself "come on we're in single digits to go." :) Manayunk was a splash of relief as there were people EVERYWHERE. There was the obligatory beer station. At about mile 20 we hit the turnaround to head back towards the finish. That was definitely a big relief! At this point, I saw my TRD friend again just seconds ahead.
Miles 20-26
After the turnaround I knew the game I had to play. First, get to the Falls Bridge. That's your territory. I had just done my 18 miler a few weeks ago: 2 8.4 loops of the drive plus an extra run up the incline at mile 26. At this point, since I was off of no true watch and the wave start ruined any ability to have a clue what I was running, I knew I was ahead of the 3:50 pace group. That was very exciting for me. I also had my TRD teammate to help pull me along. We traded spaces back and forth. At a couple water stands, I walked to get the water and then picked up the pace to sub 9 again. I think that was really key to keeping me from a bonk. It also was essential as the water stands were an ice skating rink! (My dad one up'd that when he told me one of the Philly marathons it was 14 degrees and the water actually froze!) As we headed back, once we hit Boathouse Row I knew we were soooo close. This was my town. It gave me an extra boost of energy for the final 2.2. I actually finished with one of my fastest splits of the race: 8:31 pace.
Last .2 miles
The incline? What incline? There were so many people mobbing the finish area within the last .5 miles that it made you feel like you were in the Tour de France. There were no boundaries so it dropped down to one lane for the final .2! As we turned the corner by the Art Museum I pumped my arms in the air knowing marathon #2 of the season was in the books! I also knew I had kicked Chicago to the curb. While I didn't achieve my ultimate dream, it was a huge boost from the debacle of Chicago. I crossed the finish line and it was such an awesome feeling. It brought back that feeling of why I run. If anything, this is up there with MCM. I just went out there and had fun. No true expectations. Oh, and Philly wouldn't be Philly without a soft pretzel at the end! They had a whole food tent! YAY! NYCM, you listening? FOOD!
So, that's Philly '08. I think this was a redemption race and a rebirth of sorts for me. I'm excited to run again and I think that's a great sign for '09. The no watch thing? GREAT! I think it helped me just run my race! I managed to pull my second fastest marathon 6 weeks after a dreadful 26.2 march. I'm planning to take a week or two off from running. It's been a long time since I've given my body a rest, not to mention my mind. I'm pretty beat up. There's time to figure out what to do in '09, for now it's time to party it up for the month!
Oh yeah, not too much rest! I just booked my flight to Florida in January - the ING Miami Half Marathon. Don't worry this will be more of a tune up then a race;) Plus, I'm looking forward to warmth and sun! Don't worry, I"m not marathoning so it won't be raining or some other weird weather phenomena.
tired
okay
excited
The day began early with a 5am wakeup. It started well with all of us pumped up and full of smiles. Why not? It's a huge marathon and the culmination of all that running. As a sign in Niketown said "Sunday is really a victory lap." As we walked to Grant Park, other runners joined us and I began to get my feelings for the race together. I sported my PSU singlet and race ready shorts with the yellow hat. No need for a sweatshirt as it was 67 degrees as we headed over.
to envision breaking the race down into small chunks to get to my cheering support.
disappointed
anxious
annoyed
Whoops! Finally we were off.
Since the last time I've also finished up two more 20 milers and a 55 mile week. One twenty miler is shown on the left. We ran from Columbus Circle, around the tip of Manhattan, over the Brooklyn Bridge to Prospect Park, a lap of Prospect Park before heading back and ending on the LES. As usual, a training season would not be complete with me wiping out somewhere. I managed to wipe out on a sidewalk in Brooklyn and now sport a lovely wound on my left knee (good job by the photographer not to get that knee in the photo!). It was nasty humid with essentially 100% humidity as when we got to the tip of Manhattan you could not see Brooklyn! It was eerie as a cruise ship was coming in it looked like it was coming from nowhere out of the fog. Surreal. Finished that run in a shade under 3 hours. 
complacent
Marathon weekend. I’ve grown to see it as my favorite weekend in New York City of the year. This year was extra special with the Men’s US Olympic Trials for the marathon the day before in Central Park. However, since I’m just getting back into the fun of running, I opted out of NYC Saturday morning for an XC race in New Jersey. I had no intentions other than to have a good time and scramble up some hills. And holy cow, these were hills that made Central Park look flat. The course was two loops with both hills (one by the name b*stard) within the last ¾ mile of the course! Holy crow, this was one of the hardest races I’ve EVER done. The first lap I ran the flat portion hard which probably was not a good idea but then I went all out on the hills the first time too. Not good. If I had a heart rate monitor, I bet it would have been screaming “what the &*(& your heart rate can’t go that high!”. LOL. The second lap killed me as I felt like huge pieces of concrete were on my legs instead of running shoes. I did pass one girl on the last hill but I’ve never been so happy to cross a finish line! My lungs were burning like after doing the 5th Avenue mile, only it was a 5k! The rest of the day I spent coughing if I started to laugh:-p Seriously though, an absolute blast and I’d do it again in a heartbeat! You can’t beat the rush of adrenaline you get trying to get up hills that. I’ve heard they have this race in the spring and I am definitely going back to tackle these bad boys again!
change my camera battery so I had to rely on the pom poms to bring support to the runners. Along the way, I saw Crazy Bandana and Moz (aww yeah he stopped for a cookie!). While I was getting ready to get more cookies, all of a sudden I heard someone say there’s Pink Monkey and Liz. Apparently my response was “Oh my G**!” I think out of instinct I immediately placed the cookies down and started chasing after them with all clothing on (jacket, long sleeves, shorts, pants on top of the shorts). I had intended to just say hello but they just said “come with us, we need you.” So off I went in more clothes than I’d wear in 40 degree weather let alone 60+. It also should be mentioned all I had was my phone and house keys – no wallet or any of the other items I had brought with me to the stand. The plan originally was for me to be on hand at the TRD booth to run with someone should I be needed. I had run 4.5 miles in the morning thinking I may not run at all! LOL! Pink Monkey and Liz were super strong and it showed in their time: 3:50! Awesome, simply awesome! Sempre Libera joined us on the Fifth Avenue side as I had called her while literally on the run;-) I also took some photos via camera phone which is a lot tougher than one may think. Both Liz and Monkey were completely alert the entire time and as we got to Columbus Circle SL and I bid them farewell and headed off the course. We saw JK, LD, and KR finish before heading to the meeting spot on t he west side. The smiles coming from Liz were so big that words can’t do it justice. She kept wanting to thank me but for what? She ran the race and I’ve always said you can tell someone how to do something but they need to execute the plan. Execution? Oh yeah, they definitely did that. Congrats, girls as you have earned the right to get some serious R&R.
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The rest of the race reminded me more of a funeral procession. There were a lot of people walking, ambulances, etc. :-/ I found out later one of the guys Paul (met through 
to break 3:50 - and honestly didn't care since it wasn't breaking the elusive number I want anyway. As I headed down the hill to the finish line I mustered what I could and passed a few people along the way. Finished officially in 3:50:47. All things considered, I was able to salvage a decent marathon and was only 5 minutes off my PR in extremely horrendous conditions: heat and humidity! By the time I finished it was 77 degrees in Scranton. Eek!
Found 
curious
busy
loop but fortunately I could jump right back into the zone! My dad also has issues with staying in his own running lane. At one point, he ran into this woman, she ran ahead and then we caught up again. At this point I hear her say "oh shoot, not you!" and she sprints ahead! LOL As for me, I keep at least a person and a half distance from my dad to avoid the forearm shiver:-p