War and Peace the Philly Way

I wasn’t sure what to expect coming into the Philly marathon this past weekend. I was in good shape but just not good long distance running shape. Missing almost all of September from a calf strain was weighing heavily on me. I also knew very little about the marathon course other than it is considered to be ‘fast’ and has few hills (or at least any hills that are really daunting). So my basic plan was to take what the course offered and try to hit some fast splits and see how long I could hold on. I wasn’t sure if I’d crash at mile 16 or 24…but the crash was imminent.
I was super lucky and grateful that Theia & IronHubby allowed me to crash at their house the night before the race – not to mention being my taxi and tour guide. After dinner at Ralph’s and meeting/seeing a bunch of other KR’s, we hung out at that night being entertained by a Hanna Montana wannabe (and doing quite a good job at that). The 0430 wakeup call came early and after fueling up (7 banana cocoa pancakes for me) and getting a little bit of a late start (shocker) we were on our way into the city. We knew timing was going to be tight w/traffic, parking and pit stop lines. Our crew connected in the early Philly twilight (LL, Solar & twin, Moe, Scratch, Missy, PTom, Dr Wu) before the start and we soon all went our own ways. Theia & I made a beeline for the porta-potties – nature was screaming and the 25+ minute lines were painful!!! We got separated from Missy in the poop line crowds so I was hoping to connect w/her at the starting corral somehow.
Theia & I parted ways and I jogged to the corrals to find a comfortable spot in the 3000s. I didn’t quite hear the announcer give the countdown so I jumped in at the end of the corrals and started to make my way up but this was way too slow. So I risked life & limb and jumped the corral fence, even after having heard of other horror stories of starting corral jumping.
I found a corral further up behind the 3:50 pacer – not quite where I wanted to be but I figured I could quickly get up to the 3:40 pacer and find Missy (assuming she made it up there).
Little did I know there was a split start.

Usually my recall of a race and my ability to associate visual cues to how I was feeling in the race are good. Not this time. I remember so little about the scenery and where I was thinking certain things, where the up/downhills were – it’s as if I hit reset after the race.

1 - 8:11
We’re off – lots of walkers and very slow joggers, but I am noticing some folks going a little quick for this early in the race. I was searching the running crowds for Missy, and yes, yelling her name (we had planned on running together).
2 - 7:48
Still dodging and weaving and running as many tangents as I can.
3/4 - 17:23 (8:41 avg)
I knew LL’s fire department was here and was gearing up for bellowing his name but better than that, he was 30 feet in front of me. So, we hung there for ~5 seconds and ran together for a few minutes. LL, I gotta say, you were sweating like a banshee. I think I pulled over around mile 4.5 because my sock was balling up under my left big toe. It turned out my toe was numb from the cold – no balling of the sock….just a little wasted time.
5 - 7:16
One of three things for this quick split…there must have been a downhill here although the elevation map I saw showed an uphill, I hit my watch early or the mileage marker was off a bit.
6/7 - 15:52 (7:56 avg)
Just not seeing the mile markers because I’m more worried about my footing. I recall the road being very lumpy and very straight. The crowd was fun though.
8/9 - 15:27 (7:28 avg)
Ditto to the last comment. I recall starting to take note of how I’m feeling and I feel good – all systems seem to be clicking. I think this is where the road narrowed considerably – lots of parked cars and runners 3 and 4 wide (I briefly thought that to be pretty selfish and annoying – then I passed ‘em). I also popped my first Gu at mile 8.
10 - 8:16
Now that we have moved out of the city I see the 3:40 group up ahead and spot Missy. I give her a shout out, debated on hanging around but she looked locked in with the pacer crowd so I bailed. I didn’t want to mess up her groove.
11 - 7:42
Crested the hill and felt great – I passed a ton of people here. I was feeling really fresh.
12 - 7:41
I think this was along the river and I recall seeing runners on the other side…not much else going on in my head other than concentrating on not getting Gu all over my hands.
13 - 8:37
Coming back into downtown, my bladder is talking so I hit the port-a-potties for a quick stop. I guess I didn’t realize how disgusting those things were at 6:45AM.
13.1 - 1:44:ish
I hit the half and tried to remember where I was in previous races to compare my pace. I knew I had a good start and was just hoping to be able to hold pace.
14 - 7:53
Those of us who are in for the ‘long haul’ are on our own now. The spectators thinned out as did the # of runners. I’m looking around me wondering if I can latch on to anyone but I’m still passing a lot of people and wondering if I’m going too fast.
15 - 7:54
I think this is where the leaders started going by. Pretty inspiring to see them fly through.
16 - 7:58
I opted for Sport Beans here – still clicking the miles away. I’m starting to wonder when my body is going to revolt.
17/18 - 16:14 (8:07 avg)
I was really concentrating on the other side so I wouldn’t miss PTom and finally saw him. I also forgot to hit my split ‘cause I was pumped to see him doing well.
19 - 8:03
I figured Pacer was next so I started to turn my focus again to the other side of the road but the course split and I figured I’d miss him. Where the hell is that turnaround anyway? I think there was a girl running near me who was purposely trying to drag others down w/her whining about the noise, hills, wanting to be on the other side, etc. I started to feel as though I was struggling to hold pace – if not, I definitely would have worked to put her behind me.
20 - 8:14
I hit the turn and could feel the miles now. I was still capable of simple math and realized I had ~56 minutes to run the final 10K and still PR. Just desperately hoping my legs would hold on. I was entering uncharted waters as I had only run one 20 miler in preparation for the race.
21 - 8:28
The time bleeding started to get a little worse. I recall something that Voo had written about trying to pick up the pace instead of slowing down but it just wasn’t happening.
22 - 8:25
Avoid the death march…avoid the death march!
23 - 8:48
I pulled over real quick to stretch my calf muscles out. I couldn’t feel anything below my quads – my lower legs were completely numb.
24 - 9:17
Now my right hammy was starting to grab. Again, because I only had one long run, I didn’t know how far I could push the lactic acid/cramp sensation. I felt hydrated and full but it didn’t seem to help the cramping.
25 - 10:19
More stretching and hammy grabbing. Now the right quad was getting into the action so I treated it to a little percussive maintenance and that seemed to do the trick.
26 - 9:56
I sucked it up and just maintained a very conservative pace – no stopping or stretching. I knew a PR was out but seeing downtown Philly coming up was a welcome relief.
26.2 - 1:57
I think this was the shortest/quickest 0.2 miles I have ever experienced. The crowds were really pinched in – like running through a section of the Tour de France. I spotted the KR crowd in the stands (in reality, I only saw Solar) but had to turn my attention back to the last 100 feet – no falling now.
My last thought was wondering if Missy BQ’d.

I hit the food tent and sucked down 10 or 12 cups of the hot rice/broth and felt some warmth being restored. I couldn’t wait to get my gear bag and devour a whoopie pie or two.
I was able to avoid the death march (AKA, Piper shuffle) and ran the entire race, stopping only to remove a mystical sock ball, pee once and stretch multiple times in the last 4+ miles. Overall, I’m pleased with my time since my training cycle was put on hold for the month of September waiting for a calf strain to mend. So, I lost at least 3 20+ mile long runs – I’m convinced that was the difference maker in the late miles of the race. I seem to be stuck on 3:37 (my 3rd this year) for different reasons so I’m hoping to break that barrier in ’09. I think Philly is an easier course than the other races I have run, ripe for a big ol’ PR….just not for me this time.
I don’t think the weather or wind was a factor for me personally. I’m used to running in cold & windy conditions. I was also dressed appropriately and well hydrated but my lactic acid pump wasn’t conditioned to handle the late race load.

I was as prepared as I could have been but not as prepared as I really wanted to be unfortunately.

And my flight home….I just don’t remember it. Not one bit of it.

Finishing stats:
Chip Time 03:37:52
Overall Place 1629 / 7231
Gender Place 1327 / 4245
Division Place 252 / 714
Age Grade 58.3%
Pace 8:18.7
5K 0:25:00
10K 0:50:23
15K 1:14:41
20K 1:39:13
25K 2:04:20
30K 2:29:12
35K 2:55:29
40K 3:24:35

(I’m pretty happy w/my placement. I’m not usually that high up in the ‘rankings’)