My Personal Training Blog For The Philadelphia Marathon by cs15217

• Marathon thoughts

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  Nov2520084:25 p.m.

  Here are some random thoughts from my first marathon.  I started in Corral 5, and I felt as though I couldn't really break free and run my own pace through the first 6 or 7 miles.  I ditched my first upper layer, a fleece Under Armour thing, a half mile in.  I was intending on running about a 4:10, but I kept eyeing the 4:15 pacer, and decided that I would rather just hang back than expend the extra effort and energy it would have taken to fight through those crowds.  Then by the time things thinned and I could pick it up, I started hitting the icy ground at the fluid stations.  I decided to walk through every fluid station because I'm clumsy to begin with, and that would have been all I needed to slip on that ice. 

  Somewhere near the Zoo (Mile 10 or 11?) I decided to finally bite the bullet and slip under an overpass to pee.  The problem was that I had way too many layers to get through to pee, so I wasted probably 5 or more minutes there.  Then when I got back on the race course, I realized that I forgot my gloves, so I had to duck back under the overpass and search through the leaves for those gloves.  Two reasons: (a) I didn't want to lose body heat through my hands; and (b) I love those gloves!

  Right after that, I started trying to guage whether I was sweating through my layers enough to get rid of some.  I knew that my wife and her sister and my brother-in-law were waiting for me at 13.1, so I decided around Mile 12 that I could give her the pants and my black nike jacket.  She ran the 8K, then threw on some extra layers and got into position to cheer for me.  The problem with giving her my layers is that I would have to take my bib off that jacket and re-pin it to my shirt underneath.  I did the turnaround at 13.1 and didn't see them anywhere.  This was at about 9:24 a.m.  I figured I missed them, but then I saw them on the right with a sign which read, "Set It Off" (inside joke based loosely on a Madball song).  I stopped and took my time with the layer removal because my fingers weren't working, and it was nice talking to them.  I probably blew about 5 or more minutes there, and I made a comment to them, "I'm never gonna win the race now!"

  If you go back through my training logs, you'll see that I always pay really close attention to time, recording the time for every single mile I have run.  I stuck to all my tempo runs and speedwork runs to the second.  But for some reason, in my first marathon, I no longer even cared about my time.  Here's why.  First, as mentioned, some things were out of my control, like a crowded course and icy fluid stations.  Second, since it was my first marathon, I had no idea how much I would need to have left in the "tank" after 20 Miles.  So I knew going in that I would play it extremely conservatively through the first 15-17 miles.  Obviously at this point in my training, I could have run the first 15 miles at probably 1:30 faster per mile.  But I had that fear of the unknown about 21 through 26, so I kept my cool and tried to conserve energy.  Definitely in my second marathon, I will manage that conservatism a little more wisely and find the exact right balance to walk that tightrope between pushing the early miles and having enough to finish.

  After the halfway point when I ditched those layers, I felt a huge weight having been lifted.  Those layers were soaked by that point and weighing me down.  And the temps probably were in the mid-30s by 9:30 a.m., so perfect for shorts.  Once we got down along the river, probably around Mile 15, I started running with a guy from Boston, and we talked some serious NFL.  Probably went through the entire league team-by-team, discussing their strengths, weaknesses, etc.  I could have this conversation 24-7, so it was awesome to talk about it in Mile 15 of the Marathon.  Immediately afterwards, I ran into a dude wearing a Pittsburgh Penguins hat (sorry Philly) and a football jersey from a Pittsburgh high school.  Turns out he knows one of my work friends from high school, so it was nice to discuss things of familiarity at that point.

  Heading up into Manayunk around Miles 21 and 22 was a huge boost.  People were out and they were loud, offering everything from brownies to beer.  I grabbed the brownie and passed on the Yuengling, but not without giving it serious thought.  Come to think of it, I ate a lot during the course of this race.  Of course I hit my GU every 4 miles or so before water stops.  But I also went through maybe a Clif Bar and a half while running, just taking tiny bites every few steps.  Ditto with a big soft pretzel that someone handed me.  The reason I did so, and the reason I drank two gatorade cups at every station, was because I had read so much about "hitting the wall" having to do with running out of sugar or glycogen in your blood.  I decided that replenishing and refueling early in the race would help me in the later miles.

  This is going to sound strange, but I had pre-programmed a mass text message to my friends and family before the race.  It said, "I am in Mile 23, ahead of pace.  Write back and cheer me on or even better, make me laugh."  My reason for doing so is that I figured I would need someplace to direct my mind in those late miles.  When I hit 23 I sent the text, and got back such awesome responses from everyone.  And yes you can run 9 minute miles while sending and receiving texts (though I was probably at 10s at that point).  So Miles 23 through 25 just kind of disappeared because I was back in my Pittsburgh world, at least in my mind.

  When I saw that Mile 25 marker, I thought, "I better wake up and pay attention, I want to remember the last couple miles of this thing."  My wife was somewhere right after that mile marker, and she ran a few hundred yards of Mile 26 with me.  I was smiling and laughing with her, just feeling really strong.  I don't even remember passing the Mile 26 marker, but I remember coming into the finish, how the course was only about 5 feet wide because there were so many people crowding and and cheering the finishers.  What an awesome feeling.  I remember putting a big smile on my face for the race photographers during that final mile and at the finish.  I remember getting my medal and my big foil thing and just feeling so happy.  I texted my dad and my brother, "Finished."  I went through the food tent then found my wife on Benjamin Franklin Parkway.  We decided beforehand to meet under the Kenya flag (of course), and she was waiting with two of those big soft pretzels. 

  Tried to take an ice bath back at the hotel, but it was just way too painful so I took a nice cold shower, put on my medal and my race shirt, and hit a restaurant where I had almost an entire pizza.  Tried to walk laps in the hotel hallways every few hours the rest of the day, while going in and out of sleep and watching the Raiders upset the Broncos.  First marathon in the books!!!

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  Comments (2)

  • drakethecat 'Hi, I just remembered that I wanted to check and see how you did ... the lone "Philly blogger." Great job on your 1st mara. I was also there, running my 9th. It was a really tough day -- hard to know what to wear, dealing with the icy water stops, etc. I liked the bit about the NFL talk ... definitely finding a pace buddy helps the miles fly by. Very impressive all around. Will you run Pittsburgh now? I heard that if you do the Philly-Pitt double you get a special medal. Not sure if that's really true. Anyway, congrats!!' added 30th Nov 2008

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  • cs15217 'Thanks and congrats on your 9th marathon! I hear you on not knowing what to wear and dealing with the ice. I talked to the people at the Pittsburgh Marathon booth at the expo, and they said there is a special "Keystone Medal" for running both marathons. As of now, I do plan on running Pittsburgh. Unfortunately that means training in January and February!' added 2nd Dec 2008

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