Race Day, 11/22/09-The Philadelphia Marathon, Part III

I had just made the turn away from the finish line and started heading in the direction of mile 14. A woman appeared next to me and suddenly stated "Where the hell is the damn finish line?" I looked at her, and asked if she was doing to half marathon. She was. I told her she had missed the turn and needed to go back. I don't know how anyone could have missed it. There were so many signs and announcements. I guess she was pretty darned tired.

I left the yelling supporters and headed up a hill. Soon, I was in total quiet. I didn't see anyone. I was a bit nervous that I had somehow gotten off the race route, but I soon saw the sign for mile 14. I headed down a hill, then I was on a four lane highway running along the river. From there, the race was an out and back to a small town called Manayunk. I was seeing all the runners heading toward the finish, and hearing people say things like "Don't worry, you will be in Boston." I, however, would not be in Boston as I still had half a race to finish.

I was nearing mile 15 when I heard the ambulance. I never did see the person who needed the ambulance, but I did run past the emergency workers and volunteers. I was just happy it was not me needing medical attention. It was a long boring road out to Manayunk. There were not many spectators along this road, so it was harder to stay running. I did soon see our friends Gary, Kari, and Chris as they headed back to the museum. I still had miles to go.

The town of Manayunk was so cute. All of the local bars and restaurants were open and many had outdoor seating. People cheered us runners as they enjoyed their brunch. I saw several of my Galloway friends, including Eric who had run a marathon in Delaware the day before. He yelled so loud when he saw me, it really made me feel great.

I had been calling Bill all through the race giving me updates to my position. I called him again around mile 23 where I needed yet another rest stop (I swear I have never had to go during a training run, but I went twice in this race!) There was a man shouting at the runners "Pain is weakness leaving the body!" It is one of my favorite quotes, and I had to chuckle. I told him I must have a lot of weakness. A female runner next to me said that wasn't true or else I would no longer be running. She was right.

The miles from 23 to 26 went by so quickly. I was back at the museum, knowing that my goal was within reach. I saw my step brother, Jamie, waiting for me with a huge grin on his face. He ran with me and took a video of my finish. I saw my step mom, then Bill taking pictures right near the 26 mile marker. My dad, aunt, and uncle were there, too. By then, I knew there were no more walk breaks, so I just kept running. I finished in 5:54, beating my goal by 6 minutes. I was so happy to receive my medal - it is beautiful.

My family took such good care of me after the race. After all of the hugs and kisses, they went to get me water, broth, fruit and a famous Philly pretzel. I had my picture taken by the marathon sign, and even got to see my friend Hardin. It was such a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. I am so happy that I was able to share it with my family.

After a stop back at the hotel to clean up and a good bye to my family members, Bill and I head out in search of every runner's favorite post race refreshment, beer. We went to a bar called Monk's where we had some great Belgium beer and burgers. We later met our friends for dinner and we all celebrated a great race day by eating more food and drinking more beer.

I so enjoyed the Philadelphia Marathon. It was a great race in a wonderful city. The route was good, the people were wonderful, and there are so may things to do and see. I would recommend this race to anyone. Thank you, City of Brotherly Love. I had a fantastic time!

Race Day 11/22/09-The Philadelphia Marathon, Part II

I was off on the biggest race of my life to date. We started down Benjamin Franklin Parkway away from the museum. Before my group arrived at the starting line, we saw volunteers unwrapping the medals for the finishing runners. I kind of wondered why they were hanging medals from their arms now - it would be at least 2 hours before even the fastest runner finished the race. I heard the runner next to me say that he would just go ahead and take the medal now. I chuckled, but I wanted to earn the medal. See you in a few hours, guys!

I was less than a half mile into the race when I started to feel the Nano slipping down my arm. I also noticed that I was hearing the same group, and wondered if I would hear the same album on rotation for the next 6 hours. I let the distraction of my music problems get to me. I almost missed seeing Independence Hall and Benjamin Franklin's final resting place. I got my stuff together, my I will never, ever try something new on race day. Lesson learned!

We ran through Chinatown, then turned to go on a road near the Delaware River. With about 2 miles in, people were starting to shed clothes. I was not one of them. We were given throw away gloves in our race bag, but how could I toss cute gloves with the marathon name, logo, and date on them? Nope, that's a souvenir I am keeping.

We hit the first water stop, and headed back into center city. People were out in on the streets cheering for the passing runners. We were greeted by a couple welcoming us to famous South Street, home of bars, stores, and Jim's Steaks where I would be eating a celebratory cheesesteak on Monday. We turned toward Society Hill, and were again greeted. A man dressed in colonial garb shouted welcome at us and informed us we were at mile 5. Five miles, that's it?

Luckily, we had much more of downtown to distract us during the run. I saw Boyd's menswear store. I used to go to Boyd's with my mom and dad when I was a kid. We would shop for suits for my dad there when I was 5 or 6 years old. That is why I picked this race. It is like coming home for me.

We started to leave the downtown area and head to the campus of Drexel University. We ran past many frat houses with blasting stereos and lots of guys checking out the female runners. Apparently, guys were giving out food at some point, but I was too late for it. We went past the Philadelphia Zoo, and then up the worse hill of the race (which honestly wasn't all that bad).

I realized that I had a problem at that point. I needed to pee. I never pee while running. I have never peed during a race. Heck, I didn't have to use the bathroom during my 20, 23, or 25.5 mile training runs. I reached to top of the hill and saw a row of port-a-potties. I went for it. I walked right up and into a stall, took care of my business and got back on the road. I probably lost a minute tops, but it was worth it. Gross, but worth it.

We went down the hills, and had a little bit of course were we ran down one direction of the street, then doubled back on the same road. I saw several folks from Raleigh there. It was so nice to shout encouragement to them, and get kid words back. It kept my going on the road along the Schuylkill River. I saw the museum looming ahead.

I could hear the roar of the crowd. There were hundreds of people at the museum cheering on their friends and family members. There were even marathoners finishing by then. I saw the fork ahead. Half marathon finishers to the right. Mile 14 to the left.

I took a deep breath and went left. Stay tuned...

It has been too long...

Well, what can I say? I have been pretty busy lately. It is about time I have updated my blog, so here goes...

I did it. I finished the Philadelphia Marathon. Not only did I finish, I finished faster than I thought I would. At the beginning of this training season, I decided my goal would be 6 hours. In the Galloway program, we do a measure called the Magic Mile where you run a mile as fast as you can. Based on your finish time for the mile, you can predict your finished for every length of race. My Magic Mile indicated I would finish a marathon in 6 hour, 15 minutes. I was a bit bummed because I really wanted to run 6 hours. Well, I finished it in 5 hours, 54 minutes. Ha!

Philadelphia is a wonderful city. We arrived on Friday to give up plenty of time to get ready for the race and to be able to visit my family who lives in the area. We had a great hotel right on Benjamin Franklin Parkway which is the main road that leads to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the race begins and ends. There were several members of the Raleigh Galloway running group in town for the race. Our close friends, Chris & Tara as well as Gary & Kari, were all there as well. We met up with them at the race Expo on Friday, and enjoyed a great Italian meal with them Friday night.

On Saturday, we were able to visit the largest museum of Rodin sculpture outside of Paris in the morning. We also walked up to the museum to have our picture taken with the Rocky statue, and to run those famous stairs. My dad and his family flew down from Boston to spend the weekend with my aunt and uncle. He picked us up around lunchtime on Saturday, and we spent the rest of the day with family. It was so nice to see everyone, and to know that they would be waiting for me at the finish line. My aunt and uncle are great hosts - they served an early meal of spaghetti with turkey meat sauce just for us.

Soon, it was time to head to the hotel to get some sleep before the big race. To be continued...

I just signed up for my first marathon

Oh my goodness!! I just signed up for my first marathon. It will be the Philadelphia Marathon on November 22, 2009. I am excited, nervous, and feeling a little insane right now.

I have been thinking that I should try to run one marathon in my lifetime. I really like the half marathon distance. It is a challenging distance, but it is not too difficult to complete and recover. I am very tired when I complete one, but it is a good tired. I often wonder after I finish 13.1 miles if I could go that distance again. I guess I will find out.

I think this race will be a good fit. I was born just outside of Philly, so it is a town that I love. The run will take up past trendy shopping areas, historic buildings, and the river. It should be a nice route. It is also very late in the season, so it will give me the most time to train. I am sure with the Galloway program, I will be ready for the run. I will have actually already ran 26 miles in training before I get to Philly, so I will know what I am getting ready to do.

Oh my, oh my. I can't believe I am really going to do it!