Race Report

As promised, here is my race report from last Sunday. The story actually begins on Saturday. I was worried because, for all my fastidious diet preparation, I didn't do the other half of race preparation---getting tons of sleep--- because I'd been working on my WPE II report. But my sleep deprivation actually lined things up perfectly. I was so tired that I slept from Friday 4am-10.30am Saturday, went to get my bib with Pavol, slept from 12pm-3pm, watched the UM OSU game, and then slept again from 6pm-6am. So in total I slept for 21.5 of the last 26 hours before the race.

Saturday I woke up just before the sun, and without my alarm. I ate a breakfast of banana, kiefer, and oats, worried about what to wear---the temperature was about 40 degrees---and left for the starting line. I stopped at Wawa to buy a cup of coffee and ran into Lauren and Jen from the Bioengineering Department (they were running the half). Eakin's Oval was a mess and I had trouble finding the gear drop. After finally stashing my bag, I waited in a long line for the bathroom, not wanting to repeat my PDR experience. While I was waiting the race director announced that the start was less than 2min away. I decided to ignore it---I'd go across the start line with an empty bladder, even if I was the last one across. But in fact, the start was was delayed for 5 minutes, and I was in the corral with time to spare. Just before the starting gun I saw friends Doug, Matt, and Mary, there cheering on their friends.

The race started and I found myself in a large group of runners near the 3h40m pace group. I ran the first mile very slow, in ~8m30s, and just enjoyed running down the Ben Franklin Parkway. I gave a high five to a woman holding a Williams College banner and shouted 'Go Ephs!'; she laughed and wished me good luck. About halfway down Arch Street I started running behind a guy working at around 7:45 min / mile pace. I followed him for the next three miles as we went down Columbus Ave, through South Philly, back north towards South Street, and finally up to Chestnut Street. Around Chestnut and Broad Street, I decided to move forward a little, into a less crowded spot. I passed the 3:30 pace group as we went over the Schuylkill River and settled into a good rhythm. I wasn't running very even splits, but the average was around my goal pace, so I didn't worry too much. I saw Doug again shortly after the turn onto 34th Street, but the real fun was going past a very loud Drexel fraternity, with about twenty fraternity brothers drinking beer and banging pots and pans. I have never been so happy to see Greeks!

The miles between 8-13 are a blur. The running was easy, but I got disoriented as we wound through a confusing course in West Fairmount Park. Doug reappeared on his bike at one point and rode back and forth between me and his girlfriend, snapping photos and chatting. We ran
past Memorial Hall and the Japanese House, at one point the half-marathoners took a short cut and we were on our own, then we merged back up to run down West River Drive back to the Art Museum together. Amazingly, despite some up and downhills, my knee was holding up fine. A little sore, but no sharp pain.

As soon as we came back across the river the crowds picked up and we shot out down Boathouse Row for our first traversal of Kelly Drive. As expected, the crowds thinned out, but those of us from Philadelphia got a lift just from the course. This loop is the "home turf" of every runner in the city, and most of us could run it in our sleep. We also got to see the first elite runners gliding along at 5:00 pace on the return leg. The leader was paced by a Hummer with a giant clock on the back reading off his splits to him.

At the water/gel stations around mile 18, right before the Falls Road Bridge, it because obvious that my oats had worked themselves through, and seeing a free portable toilet, I dashed across and hopped in. Two minutes later I was back on the course again, which had become much more crowded. I quickly figured out that I'd lost the gap between myself and the 3:30 pace group and there were a large number of runners holding on. Running in that bubble was no fun, and I found their leader a little annoying ("niiiice and easy, just keep it niiiiice and easy") so I ran ahead about 10-15secs. We ran down to Ridge Ave, saw the first female elites, and then down the hill into Manayunk.

Manayunk, perhaps because of its experience with pro cycling, knows how to put on a street party. Main Street was packed, and everyone was handing out freebies: orange wedges, bananas, even beer! Mile 20 was right at the end of Main Street, and we turned around to do the same 6.2 miles in reverse. At this point, I must have started slowing down. The pace group swallowed me up about halfway into Manayunk, and I ran with them for miles 21 and 22. The gratuitous climb onto the overpass and then back down at Ridge and City Line Ave was unexpected and made me a little mad, but I still felt OK. Then at the same water stop at the Falls Bridge I slowed down to grab some water and when I started again, everything was hard. My legs felt like lead and every muscle group---calves, quads, glutes, hamstrings---were all aching. What's worse, I'd lost the pace group by slowing down and now I needed to run faster to catch them! I didn't feel like I had it in me right there---probably the mistake of the race---but I knew that I had a minute or so on them chip time because I'd started further back at the start.

The next two miles were the hardest I've ever run. My stride was so short and my legs hurting so much, and my mind so weak, it seemed like years between mile markers. I don't remember much from that perioud. I stopped twice to strech my calves and hamstrings, and I remember using the landmarks (Strawberry Mansion, Columbia, US Grant) to convince myself that these were all short distances that I'd done before. Then, mercifully, mile 24, and we're within a few minutes of Boathouse Row. I don't remember hitting the mile 25 marker, just getting mentally geared up for the little hill that follows it. I glanced at my watch and saw 3:28:00; 3:30 was probably out of reach, but I decided to go for it. Somehow, a combination of the crowds and knowing the course well, I lengthened my stride a bit and went up the hill. Running harded actually loosened me up a bit and when we came around the final curve to the finish I felt like I was sorta-kinda sprinting. I went across the line and into the chute, hit stop and saw 3:31:13 (actual chip time was 17 seconds faster, for some reason). I was disappointed to miss the goal, but mostly my immediate feelings were first relief and second thirst.

So overall, the marathon was a lot of fun. Going into it I didn't know what to expect, but it definitely lived up to its reputation. I want to do another one next year, this time with a real time goal, and I know some things I should have done in training that would have made a difference on race day. In particular, running enough miles at your goal pace to have it completely internalized into your muscles, and not skimping on hill workouts and weights would have made a difference for me. But analysis another day...