Philadelphia Marathon!

Ok ok ... so the race was what, almost 4 weeks ago?  Yes, i've been slacking when it comes to updating... so here we go.  I'll give the update in this and the subsequent post or two!

So we made the half hour trek to the starting area before the sun even came up over Philadelphia.  To say it was cold would be an understatement.  At race start the temperature was around 25 degrees which means it was substantially colder an hour + previous to that.

Finally made it to the staging area with the tens of thousands of others, i checked my bag into one of the many school buses lined up in front of the "rocky steps" and immediately went to stand in line at one of the port-a-potties.  Standing in line, at least 50 runners deep, i anxiously looked at my watch, counting the seconds until i'd have to say "screw it" and run to the start corral.   Fortunately, at about 7:00 am i was able to hop in and do my business (mind you, start time was scheduled for 7:02.)

Ran to the corral, hurdled 2 barriers, squeezed through a fence and finally found the group i needed to be with: the 3:20 pacers.

The race started off around 7:10 and the pace seems VERY pedestrian.  Painfully so.  

For the first ten miles, the race went without incident.  It was very easy, actually, considering i hadn't run the 4 weeks leading up to the race due to a stress fracture and tendon damage in my right foot.  

Between mile 10 and 11 is when i essentially fell off the physical health cliff.

First my right foot started flaring up.  Initially it was a small ache which grew into shooting pain from the tendon and 5th metatarsal point.  If that were all, i may have been fine for the remaining 16 miles, but unfortunately, my luck isn't THAT good.

At the halfway mark i saw Eric and Adam, tossed my hat, and let them in on the fact that the remainder of the race would be a struggle due to pain.

About mile 14 is when my little friend, who i lovingly named "marathon buddy," came to join me. 

This blister made me completely forget about the pain coming from the rest of my foot.  With every step... shooting pain.

As if that wasn't bad enough, an old soccer injury flared up and my right knee became the source of almost crippling pain at about mile 16.  It turns out i had somehow irritated my IT Band and the combination of the injuries nearly caused my right leg to crumble beneath me on more than a few occasions.

I gladly let the 3:20 pacer group drop me around the halfway mark just because i knew if i kept that pace my injuries may force me to not finish at all.  I wasn't winded, cramped, or anything like that.  I was purely worried that my foot would fail me... of course, i wasn't experiencing the other ailments at the time. 

At the 20 mile marker i checked my watch and realized that i had to keep a 10 minute mile pace to keep my overall time under 4 hours.  That became my new goal.  Even after not having run for years i could run 6.2 miles in well under an hour... but this would be a challenge.

I walked hills and aide stations, and hobbled the rest of the way.

When all was said and done, i finished the race 3:58:30.

Now... some race highlights!!

-  I must have heard the Rocky theme AT LEAST a dozen times throughout the race.  It was great!

-  The aide stations were organized far better than those at Baltimore (however, it was so cold that i nearly fell a few times because of ice that had formed from spilled water.)

-  The runners were very supportive when they saw i was in obvious pain.  Many actually stopped to see if i needed help for my knee.  This probably would have ever happened in Baltimore.

-  Nearly EVERY street was lined with people.  From downtown to Manayunk and back... it was great to have all the support.

-  I learned from my past mistakes at Baltimore and fueled my body far better.  I didn't cramp, i upped my sodium intake and carb / calorie intake (thank you Hammer Nutrition.)   I wore a fuel belt where i had 4 hammer gels mixed with water, 4 endurolite tablets for my sodium intake, and then a healthy mix of water and gatorade helped a lot.

If i hadn't been injured and if i had actually been able to train for the race, i think that i would have easily qualified for Boston on this course.  It was very flat, fast, and easy...  maybe next year...

I ended up driving back to New York later that day, and for the next few days felt like absolute garbage.  I didn't get a chance to take an ice bath so that was a big factor in my post race soreness.

To this day, my knee is still hurting, so until further notice, only swimming and lifting for this guy.