Friday, November 27, 2009

Philly-tastic Recap



Happy Day-after-thanksgiving everyone!

I decided/finally got around to getting my pictures uploaded from the marathon because I know you've been on pins and needles awaiting a recap.....

Anyway, my weekend began Friday by flying out to Philadelphia.  Although I had planned on going alone, my dad decided last minute to come so we flew out together.  This ended up making the weekend so much better/more fun and gave us some "bonding time."  After getting our car, we drove into Philly, checked into our hotel and went for a walk to dinner at the "Marathon Diner"- how appropriate!  We crashed soon after and slept for a glorious 10 hours.

Saturday morning, we jogged down to the Museum of Natural History and took some "Rocky" pics running up the steps- I'll spare you those.  After a sketchy oatmeal breakfast from Au Bon Pain, it was off to the expo!  The pic above is of me holding up six fingers in honor of marathon #6.  We actually had alot of fun at the expo and sightseeing and eating two shady baked potatoes from lunch at a food court.  The rest of the afternoon was spent in preparation and reading, before a customary frozen yogurt dinner and bed.

Morning came.

Banana x2 = breakfast of champions
As well as my lucky shirt that I wore with my sweet new arm warmers.

I seemed to be obsessed with the awkward thumb's up out of nervousness.

Pop and I at the start.  Super-bright jacket = sweet.

And the running began!  The first few miles were great and flew by although I could feel it not lasting.  The bottom of my foot and my knee were hurting, which I hoped would go away- no such luck.  Infact, the bottom of my foot has since bruised after the race which I didn't even know could happen.  Anyway, I was cruising hitting 7:15-7:30 miles, and feeling great.

Me, at the 10K point- yay!

However, the good times were short lived.  By 10 miles, both my foot and my knee were greatly hindering my pace which dropped significantly.  I felt my recent swine flu catching up with me and felt overall tired.  Mentally it was difficult at the halfway point to see a sign that said "Finish -->" (for the half marathoners) and another that said "14 mile <---" which I followed.  I saw my pop again at 15 miles and was seriously doubting if I could finish at that point.  I said a few choice words to him as he tried to run along side of me, mainly because I could see how slow we were going and it was frustrating.  My legs felt fresh, but the injuries were not allowing me to pick up the pace and my garmin delivered disappointing news everytime I looked at it.  With 10 miles to go, the marathon had turned into an exercise in survival.  I counted down each mile and felt mad that I couldn't enjoy the course and the experience more.  Finally, the last 2 miles came.  There was a good deal of crowd support and people using my name (from my bib) which really helped.  The finish was finally there and I crossed it in a somewhat disappointing 3:41.  I knew (and so did you if you read my long last post) that I was not likely going to PR.  However, I was hoping to better my corral for Boston and come closer to a PR.  But it was not to be and there honestly was no more I could have done that day.  I can't let myself as a runner be defined by one less-than-ideal performance.

Post-race, "boo"- me giving my pop the thumb's down sign.

Back at the hotel atleast-it-is-over thumb's up!

Post race breakfast was delicious, and time with my dad was great.  Really, it was a nice weekend overall- even when I had to work at 6am the morning after.  I am currently taking it easy this week and re-evaluating my goals for the next year or so.  December will be pretty chill for me in terms of training, but I plan on getting all the pieces in place to hit it hard starting in January for Boston.  Philly was a great experience, a good way to cap off my running year, and makes me want to work harder and smarter for the future.

More on my training plans to come......

2 comments:

  1. still a great race and such a show of your character for finishing with a great time despite not feeling that great! i think it's awesome that your dad decided to come support you :)

    can't wait to see more about your training plans...i'm interested in seeing how you attack boston training

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  2. gahhh i think the internet just ate my comment?! annoying!

    but the gist of it was that youre amazing! it shows sooo much character that you stuck with the race and still finished strong. :)

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