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This was a difficult race report to write. As a practical obstacle, there were the five post-race days spent at the outlaws' house, where they were determined not to give me a moment to collect my thoughts, let alone try to sum up an amazing weekend. More importantly, most reports I've written in my short racing career have been pretty simple: I showed up, I ran, here are some splits, at some point I wanted to throw up, and I finished. Philly was different. Oh, the bare script of the race was the same (right down to the urge to vomit), but everything else was not.<br><br>
I started running in late August 2006. I had 3 main goals: run a 5K after completing C25K, have a good showing at my hometown 4 miler on July 4, and run a half marathon in the fall of 2007. Originally, I set a secondary goal to break 2:00 in my HM, a mark that seemed insane after a 29:21 debut 5K in November 2006. At some point late last fall, I found the CR 30's, and my perspective on running changed completely. I started running because it was more convenient than swimming, because both my parents are good runners and started in their 30's, because I wanted to lose weight. I became a runner because of the advice and inspiration I picked up from my fellow 30's.<br><br>
After a successful spring racing season, I took a few weeks of downtime, and decided it was time to get serious about HM training. Inspired by the success that <b>CoachT</b> had in getting his BQ with the Daniels formula, I decided to cut down JD's marathon A plan for the half marathon, peaking at 50M/week. This was a bit aggressive, and I was uncertain as to how my body would react. At this point I thought 1:50 might be a realistic goal. Also around this time Philly was becoming the consensus fall meetup. Two weeks later than the HM I had originally planned to run, the timing was great, and I couldn't pass on a chance to meet my imaginary running friends.<br><br>
It turns out 50M/week was doable for me, but challenging. I ran 4 tune-up races from September to early November (including a 1:16 10 miler in October) that let me refine my goal times down. I thought 1:40 was possible, and I might get near 1:38 with the perfect race. <b>PacerChris</b> and <b>PhillyTom</b> suggested something like 1:37:30. (Remember that!)<br><br>
A few weeks before Philly, <b>PTom</b> (a 1:16 half marathoner) came up with an injury and would be unable to race. Generously, he offered to pace one of the 30's in the HM. It turns out my 7:30's would make a nice Sunday jog for him, so we decided to run together. Cool! I was going to be able to share my first HM with another KR 30! (For just how easy a run my HM was for him, I suggest you check out his report on his amazing Philly race(s). <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Smile">)<br><br>
OK, there's a race report hiding in here somewhere, I promise.<br><br>
Jenn and I arrived in Philly late Friday evening, and took a train and a cab to our friends' townhouse where we were staying, literally within sight of the Art Museum. Up until this point I wasn't particularly concerned about the weather, except perhaps the slight chance of rain forecasted for race day. However, at some point that night we went out to walk our friend's dog, and the cold wind hit me hard. Given that the coldest temperatures I'd run in this fall had been the low 50's, 30's and blowing was a big adjustment, and it completely psyched me out. This, and the uncertainty that comes with racing a new distance, gave me the worst case of pre-race jitters I've ever had.<br><br>
We spent Saturday touring Philly with our friends and my dad and step-mom, who had come down from Boston for the weekend. (My dad ran the 8K.) By the time dinner rolled around, I was in a near panic about the cold and distance, though meeting a big group of the 30s Saturday night, most for the first time, went a long way towards calming me down. I don't think I can add anything to what's already been said about that weekend's meet-up, but I will echo that the KRs I met are even cooler and hawter in RL.<br><br>
I slept terribly Saturday night, and woke up at 5:30. The jitters were gone, and I was excited as I've ever been for a race. I met Tom at the Rodin Museum right on time, and caught up with <b>LL</b>, <b>Bob</b>, <b>CoachT</b> and some others as well. Wandering around the starting area, we actually bumped into my Dad in his way to the 8K start, and picked up <b>Winter</b> as well. Maybe 20 minutes before the scheduled start, I ditched my throw-away sweatshirt and windpants, and we headed to the corrals. Originally we were going to line up near the 3:20 marathon pacer, but the crowd was thinner than expected. Tom made the first of many good calls here, and moved us up farther than I would have normally been comfortable. As it turned out we were in about the right starting position, and had very little congestion after the first 1/4 mile. That definitely saved us some time. Many reports have mentioned the late gun. Having Tom and Michelle with me in the corrals was a tremendous calming influence on my nerves through the delayed start. Then we were off!<br><br>
Essentially every race I've run to date has been by feel. I thought perhaps I should have a plan for this distance, so I thought hanging right around 7:30's would be good, and should save me some energy for a kick in the last few miles. That went out the window pretty quickly, with the second mile going by in 7:18. Tom mentioned we were faster than the plan, but I said that it felt like the right pace, so we tried to hang around the low 7:20's as much as possible. Somewhere in the first few miles we picked up <b>Notey</b>, who was planning to run the full in 3:20. He ran with us off and on for most of the 13, and we had our own KR convoy.<br><br>
I had done all of my training runs and races alone, so having two running partners was a new experience. It was great! I felt much more talkative than I had anticipated, and the conversation with Tom and Bill was free and easy. The first 6 miles breezed by, and I was really having fun. One of the runners around us compared Chestnut St to 1st Avenue at NYC, and while that's probably a bit of an exaggeration, the crowd support on this part of the course was wonderful. We passed 10K in about 46:00, which is an unofficial PR for me. In fact, I think the energy from the crowd may have tricked me into my one mistake of the race. Tom and I both missed the 7 mile mark (as did a lot of people, it seems), and at about 7.5 miles I began to tire considerably. My Garmin autolapped mile 7 @ 7:00, which was too fast, and was not the best prep for the climb ahead. But, we backed off and got the pace under control in mile 8 (7:32).<br><br>
I'd been told the hill in Philly wasn't much, but coming where it did in the race, I felt it more than I expected. At the top of the hill, by mile 10, I was beginning to labor, and the real work began. (We came through 10 miles in 1:14:\xx, which is another unofficial PR for me.) This is where Tom was at his best. While earlier the conversation was easy, I had to concentrate more here, and Tom was able to push the pace a little while doling out the perfect level of motivation. Around mile 11 we caught our first sight of the Art Museum since the start, and he told me this is where all those 15 mile LRs were going to pay off. He was right, as we were able to pick some runners off, and my Garmin had miles 11-13 at 7:11, 7:19, and 7:17.<br><br>
Since turning off Chestnut St, while there were still spectators along the route, I hadn't heard anything from the crowd as I concentrated on keeping pace. With 200m to go, I had nothing left, felt like I was going to hurl, and was wondering how I was going to make the final steps. Just then I heard my name from the right, and that all changed. I can't begin to describe how amazing a feeling it was to see the KR's, my family, and Jenn's family behind Moe's KR banner. I gave what little kick I had there, and finished with a big (tired) smile on my face. Final chip time: <b>1:37:22</b>, so nearly 40 seconds better than my projected "perfect race."<br><br>
After a congratulations from Tom (who was quickly back out on the course to "run a few more miles with Notey"<img alt="wink.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/wink.gif">, I wandered around the finish area in a tired, giddy haze. I caught up with Jenn outside the food tent, and we made our way back to the KR cheering section. So much has already been said about the atmosphere in the bleachers that morning (see, for instance, <b>Beaker</b>'s tremendous weekend report on the KR front page), that I don't know what else I could possibly add. It was an amazing morning. As cool as it was to hear my name and be cheered it, it was equally incredible to watch <b>Scratch</b> complete his comeback from a tibial fracture, <b>Winter</b> finish her second HM in a few short weeks after the autumn she's had, <b>Moe</b>, <b>Frankie</b>, and <b>Moon</b> cross the line hand-in-hand, <b>Solar</b> and <b>CoachT</b> complete Lora's triumphant return to 26.2, <b>Voodoo</b> finish hobbled but not broken, <b>Nettie</b> fly to the finish in her tutu amongst a crowd of KR's, and everyone else come across. (There are too many personal victories to mention them all.) Thank you all, you folks mean the world to me. What a race; what a weekend; what a group of people.<br><br>
Oh, and free chocolate soup to anyone who got this far in this ludicrously longwinded RR. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy">
I started running in late August 2006. I had 3 main goals: run a 5K after completing C25K, have a good showing at my hometown 4 miler on July 4, and run a half marathon in the fall of 2007. Originally, I set a secondary goal to break 2:00 in my HM, a mark that seemed insane after a 29:21 debut 5K in November 2006. At some point late last fall, I found the CR 30's, and my perspective on running changed completely. I started running because it was more convenient than swimming, because both my parents are good runners and started in their 30's, because I wanted to lose weight. I became a runner because of the advice and inspiration I picked up from my fellow 30's.<br><br>
After a successful spring racing season, I took a few weeks of downtime, and decided it was time to get serious about HM training. Inspired by the success that <b>CoachT</b> had in getting his BQ with the Daniels formula, I decided to cut down JD's marathon A plan for the half marathon, peaking at 50M/week. This was a bit aggressive, and I was uncertain as to how my body would react. At this point I thought 1:50 might be a realistic goal. Also around this time Philly was becoming the consensus fall meetup. Two weeks later than the HM I had originally planned to run, the timing was great, and I couldn't pass on a chance to meet my imaginary running friends.<br><br>
It turns out 50M/week was doable for me, but challenging. I ran 4 tune-up races from September to early November (including a 1:16 10 miler in October) that let me refine my goal times down. I thought 1:40 was possible, and I might get near 1:38 with the perfect race. <b>PacerChris</b> and <b>PhillyTom</b> suggested something like 1:37:30. (Remember that!)<br><br>
A few weeks before Philly, <b>PTom</b> (a 1:16 half marathoner) came up with an injury and would be unable to race. Generously, he offered to pace one of the 30's in the HM. It turns out my 7:30's would make a nice Sunday jog for him, so we decided to run together. Cool! I was going to be able to share my first HM with another KR 30! (For just how easy a run my HM was for him, I suggest you check out his report on his amazing Philly race(s). <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Smile">)<br><br>
OK, there's a race report hiding in here somewhere, I promise.<br><br>
Jenn and I arrived in Philly late Friday evening, and took a train and a cab to our friends' townhouse where we were staying, literally within sight of the Art Museum. Up until this point I wasn't particularly concerned about the weather, except perhaps the slight chance of rain forecasted for race day. However, at some point that night we went out to walk our friend's dog, and the cold wind hit me hard. Given that the coldest temperatures I'd run in this fall had been the low 50's, 30's and blowing was a big adjustment, and it completely psyched me out. This, and the uncertainty that comes with racing a new distance, gave me the worst case of pre-race jitters I've ever had.<br><br>
We spent Saturday touring Philly with our friends and my dad and step-mom, who had come down from Boston for the weekend. (My dad ran the 8K.) By the time dinner rolled around, I was in a near panic about the cold and distance, though meeting a big group of the 30s Saturday night, most for the first time, went a long way towards calming me down. I don't think I can add anything to what's already been said about that weekend's meet-up, but I will echo that the KRs I met are even cooler and hawter in RL.<br><br>
I slept terribly Saturday night, and woke up at 5:30. The jitters were gone, and I was excited as I've ever been for a race. I met Tom at the Rodin Museum right on time, and caught up with <b>LL</b>, <b>Bob</b>, <b>CoachT</b> and some others as well. Wandering around the starting area, we actually bumped into my Dad in his way to the 8K start, and picked up <b>Winter</b> as well. Maybe 20 minutes before the scheduled start, I ditched my throw-away sweatshirt and windpants, and we headed to the corrals. Originally we were going to line up near the 3:20 marathon pacer, but the crowd was thinner than expected. Tom made the first of many good calls here, and moved us up farther than I would have normally been comfortable. As it turned out we were in about the right starting position, and had very little congestion after the first 1/4 mile. That definitely saved us some time. Many reports have mentioned the late gun. Having Tom and Michelle with me in the corrals was a tremendous calming influence on my nerves through the delayed start. Then we were off!<br><br>
Essentially every race I've run to date has been by feel. I thought perhaps I should have a plan for this distance, so I thought hanging right around 7:30's would be good, and should save me some energy for a kick in the last few miles. That went out the window pretty quickly, with the second mile going by in 7:18. Tom mentioned we were faster than the plan, but I said that it felt like the right pace, so we tried to hang around the low 7:20's as much as possible. Somewhere in the first few miles we picked up <b>Notey</b>, who was planning to run the full in 3:20. He ran with us off and on for most of the 13, and we had our own KR convoy.<br><br>
I had done all of my training runs and races alone, so having two running partners was a new experience. It was great! I felt much more talkative than I had anticipated, and the conversation with Tom and Bill was free and easy. The first 6 miles breezed by, and I was really having fun. One of the runners around us compared Chestnut St to 1st Avenue at NYC, and while that's probably a bit of an exaggeration, the crowd support on this part of the course was wonderful. We passed 10K in about 46:00, which is an unofficial PR for me. In fact, I think the energy from the crowd may have tricked me into my one mistake of the race. Tom and I both missed the 7 mile mark (as did a lot of people, it seems), and at about 7.5 miles I began to tire considerably. My Garmin autolapped mile 7 @ 7:00, which was too fast, and was not the best prep for the climb ahead. But, we backed off and got the pace under control in mile 8 (7:32).<br><br>
I'd been told the hill in Philly wasn't much, but coming where it did in the race, I felt it more than I expected. At the top of the hill, by mile 10, I was beginning to labor, and the real work began. (We came through 10 miles in 1:14:\xx, which is another unofficial PR for me.) This is where Tom was at his best. While earlier the conversation was easy, I had to concentrate more here, and Tom was able to push the pace a little while doling out the perfect level of motivation. Around mile 11 we caught our first sight of the Art Museum since the start, and he told me this is where all those 15 mile LRs were going to pay off. He was right, as we were able to pick some runners off, and my Garmin had miles 11-13 at 7:11, 7:19, and 7:17.<br><br>
Since turning off Chestnut St, while there were still spectators along the route, I hadn't heard anything from the crowd as I concentrated on keeping pace. With 200m to go, I had nothing left, felt like I was going to hurl, and was wondering how I was going to make the final steps. Just then I heard my name from the right, and that all changed. I can't begin to describe how amazing a feeling it was to see the KR's, my family, and Jenn's family behind Moe's KR banner. I gave what little kick I had there, and finished with a big (tired) smile on my face. Final chip time: <b>1:37:22</b>, so nearly 40 seconds better than my projected "perfect race."<br><br>
After a congratulations from Tom (who was quickly back out on the course to "run a few more miles with Notey"<img alt="wink.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/wink.gif">, I wandered around the finish area in a tired, giddy haze. I caught up with Jenn outside the food tent, and we made our way back to the KR cheering section. So much has already been said about the atmosphere in the bleachers that morning (see, for instance, <b>Beaker</b>'s tremendous weekend report on the KR front page), that I don't know what else I could possibly add. It was an amazing morning. As cool as it was to hear my name and be cheered it, it was equally incredible to watch <b>Scratch</b> complete his comeback from a tibial fracture, <b>Winter</b> finish her second HM in a few short weeks after the autumn she's had, <b>Moe</b>, <b>Frankie</b>, and <b>Moon</b> cross the line hand-in-hand, <b>Solar</b> and <b>CoachT</b> complete Lora's triumphant return to 26.2, <b>Voodoo</b> finish hobbled but not broken, <b>Nettie</b> fly to the finish in her tutu amongst a crowd of KR's, and everyone else come across. (There are too many personal victories to mention them all.) Thank you all, you folks mean the world to me. What a race; what a weekend; what a group of people.<br><br>
Oh, and free chocolate soup to anyone who got this far in this ludicrously longwinded RR. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy">
