Philly Half Marathon Race Report

Wow, work is beyond busy and I barely have time to hit the bathroom let alone read/write any posts! One more crazy day to get through and then hopefully I have some time this weekend to decompress. All that stands between me and Jamaica is four crazy days at work, I think I can manage...and it will make sipping champagne on the beach all that more enjoyable.

This past Sunday was the Philly marathon. I've run the marathon the past 3 years but with Reggae only 2 weeks after, I decided to play it safe and run the half this year. The weekend started off great with a nice dinner Friday night with Abby and Amanda. While Abby lives in the area and we've met up before for runs/coffee, Amanda and I have never met. It was so nice to finally meet her as we've been chatting and following each other for years. After dinner, we ended up stopping by a friend's house and I probably did everything I shouldn't have done two nights before a race (damn vino). But since I wasn't planning on racing, I threw caution to the wind and just had a fun weekend.

After spending hours on my feet shopping at the outlets on Saturday and not drinking a sip of water all day, I went to bed super early hoping a good night sleep would rejuvenate me a little. I have to say, I really like waking up for a race with zero expectations and no pressure. I figured the wine I had on Friday, the busy day on Saturday and the pre race salad I had for dinner left no hopes of me doing anything spectacular on Sunday, so I just lined up for a fun little run through the streets of Philly.

Right from the start I told myself to not look at my watch and just run by feel. I'm thinking I should have left the Garmin at home because I can't resist checking my pace. And every time I did check, if I saw a 7:30 or below, I'd slow myself down thinking I couldn't hold that for the entire race. Truth is, I don't think I should have slowed myself down, I felt great and think I could have even run a little harder. The entire race I just did my thing and took in the excitement. I was feeling so good until we hit the hills through Drexel and the park. I have done ZERO hill training since Reggae is flat and that sort of came back to bite me in the ass. I wanted so badly to stop and walk one of the hills but since I was only doing the half, I powered up them the best I could knowing the pain would be short lived and I'd be done racing altogether in a few more miles.

All along, I really had no idea where I was going to finish. I obviously need to learn how to calculate finish times while I'm running. It wasn't until I had less than 2 miles to go that I realized a PR was going to happen and that I had a shot of breaking 1:40. Once I realized it though I pushed as hard as I could. The last mile I gave it everything I had and pushed so hard that I wasn't sure if I was going to pee myself or puke. But honestly, I didn't care if either happened! I wanted as close to 1:40 as I could get! As I approached the finish, another girl and I "chicked" some guys which the announcers happily shouted over the loud speakers. I'm sure those guys loved that, but it was all in good fun.

I crossed the finish in 1:40:28 and felt great! In fact, I mentioned to a friend that I didn't even feel like I had run yet. Now, after walking another 5.5 miles and running my friend 3 miles in for her first marathon finish, my legs weren't so happy and I was definitely feeling the effects of the day. But it was such a fun day the little aches and pains were worth it.

I'm really happy with my finish time since I went out there with no real goals. I PR'd and had an incredible day so there's not much more I could ask for. The pace felt so comfortable that I'm wondering if I'm actually where I need to be for that 3:30. But, I'm going to stick with my decision of not racing Reggae. Instead I'm going to line up just like I did this past Sunday and see what the day brings.