Another PR!!! PDR Half Marathon

I have to start off by saying that I'm beaming. Absolutely beaming!! I ran the Philadelphia Distance Run (half marathon) this morning. As I stated in my previous post, I had several different scenarios worked out for today. Totally lacking in the confidence department left me thinking that a 1:45 would be great, but I decided this morning when I arrived at the start to go for a 1:43.

We arrived down town in just enough time to hit the port o' pots and get to our corrals. It was PACKED!! We literally couldn't get through the gate to corral 3 so we had to climb under the fence in corral 4 and weasel our way to #3. Anyway, we got to our starting spot with 3 minutes to spare. They started in waves this year with each corral having their own start. I personally thought this was great but if I was in corral 18, I might have thought different. I imagine it took a while for those people to get the official start gun.

Anyway, my goal was to start off at an 8:00 minute mile and then speed up from there. Well, of course that didn't go exactly as planned and I found myself running a 7:42 to start. But you know what, it felt good so I went with it. The race through the city went quick and before I knew it we were heading back towards the start with about 4 miles under our belt. We passed thousands and thousands of runners who were just starting and for the first time in my running career I felt a touch of confidence...I was in the front. Hard to explain, but it felt good. So we continued on and before long I found myself right back on the 8.4 mile loop I ran 6 times this summer during my Ultra. Knowing this part of the course really helped mentally. I knew I just had to cross Falls Bridge and then I would be on my way "home", as I like to call it. At mile 9 the pace got the best of me and I started to go down mentally. My legs weren't turning over as easily as they had been and I started to psych myself out. But I fought back the fears of not being able to finish and just tried to remind myself of how comfortable the pace felt and that I was indeed...ok.

So enough babble, here's the important stuff. I finished with a time of 1:42:37. A HUGE PR for me, beating my current PR of 1:46:48. When I crossed the finish line I was tired but I wasn't spent. I was not breathing heavy or exhausted...but I was on the verge of tears. I honestly have ZERO confidence in myself and to finish at 1:42:37 was such a big deal. I kept saying to myself over and over, "I can't believe I just did that." This finish time has me at a 3:33 to 3:35 marathon time, which is the BQ I'm looking for. Eeek....I'm ready to go get that BQ, people. I'm soooo ready!!!

*sigh*...I've been on cloud nine all day. I could not be happier with the effort I put forth today. I live for pushing myself and I will continue to do so. It may be hard and out of my comfort zone, but it's definitely the way I like to do things. Bring on the next 9 weeks of training!!

Stats (total finishers: 12247)

Clock Time 1:44:47
Chip Time 1:42:37
Overall Place 1998 / 12247
Gender Place 407 / 6394
Division Place 81 / 1215
Age Grade 64.4%
Pace 7:50
Ttlrace 12247
Ttldiv1215
Ttlsex 6394
5 Km 24:35
10 Km 48:47
10 Mi 1:18:29