I was visiting Philadelphia this weekend to attend Taylor Swift’s #TSTheErasTour at Lincoln Arena and am flying home today. So I thought what better time than now to motivate me to finish a post about my last marathon of 2018.
My final marathon of 2018 was the 25th Running of the AACR Philadelphia Marathon. Since the first two marathons I participated in this year were on the pricier side of trips, I was looking for a marathon that was a cheaper weekend trip. I was still working a split second & third-shift as well: so I was looking for a more “beginner friendly” marathon as well. The Philadelphia Marathon fit all of these categories and when I saw this years finisher medal, I was sold.
I had only been to Philadelphia once before, and it was the weekend before Thanksgiving so I requested that G join me for a fun weekend trip. Unfortunately, he did have to work the Monday after the race so he left in the middle of the marathon. But it was still a fun trip either way. We stayed at the Philadelphia Marriott downtown, right across from Reading Terminal Market, swung by the Liberty Bell, and decided which one is better Pat’s or Gino’s (we decided one’s cheese was better and the other’s meat and bread was better but now I don’t remember which on is which).
The Philadelphia Marathon was the perfect marathon to travel to. There are plenty of things to site see while there, I had only been to Philadelphia once before, but was looking forward to coming back. The only problem was, I was feeling a bit under-the-weather. This was before COVID, so it was still fairly acceptable to walk out in public when you had a cold because capitalist America doesn’t stop for any illness.
The Expo:
Located in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Marathon Participants were instructed to pick their packets up either Friday, November 16 or Saturday, November 17th. We ended up going Friday evening before our dinner. Since I had G with me, I didn’t spend as much time as I normal do in Marathon Expos. I did however, grab a very cute Quarter Zip and a BOCO Gear Hat.
The Marathon:
The race started at 7:00am and the start line was about a 30 minute walk away from my hotel. I woke up at 5:30am and I was still feeling under-the-weather. I went into this marathon hoping I could break 4:30:00 (since I was so close at the Vermont City Marathon) but given how I was feeling, I was assuming closer to a 5 hour run. After getting dressed, and eating the Amish Pretzel I saved for breakfast from the night before, I snuck out of the hotel room and then headed to the start line. Since the start-line was 1.5 miles away, I used this as an opportunity to get my warm-up run in. I did a light jog at a 10:40 pace for a mile, then walked once I hit one mile. After that, I did my warm-up sun salutations and mobility exercises to warm up my hips and ankles.
Mile 1: 10:02
10K Time: 59:39
Mile 2: 9:22.5
Mile 3: 9:13
Mile 4: 9:26
Miles 5: 9:35
Mile 6: 9:12
I was in the Purple Corral, which had me in the middle of the pack; but made our start time later. I didn’t officially cross the start line until 7:22am. Thus, my warm-up wasn’t the best warm-up as I had a fairly long cool down period between. Once the start gun when off, I stayed close to the 4-hours pacer. Though my nose wouldn’t stop running, my body felt confident. We ran down Benjamin Franklin Parkway toward Logan Square Park where we turned onto Arch Street. Then we wrap around Old City onto Christopher Columbus Blvd to run alongside The Delaware River. From Miles 5 – 7 you enter back into Center City and Midtown Village.
The plan was for G to come find me and cheer me on at the mile 6 point before he had to had to the airport. Unfortunately, I was running too fast so he barely missed me when I passed through the 10k mark. I originally told him cause I was sick I would probably be closer to 11:00/mile pace, so his plan was to be there at 8:20am, and I passed by at 8:21am. He said he did see the back of me though!
This point of the run was also not ideal because of ALL the buildings. My Garmin kept loosing my GPS location, so it became difficult to keep track of what mile I was actually on. According to my Garmin, I finished Mile 7 at a 7:42/mile pace. As much as I would LOVE to believe that. 7:42 was my current “Magic Mile” pace so I doubted I ran it that fast. Thankfully, as soon as we got out of Center City West, the connection became better which allowed me to focus more on my Pacing. At this point, I was no longer keeping up with the 4hour pacer.
After we passed through Penn’s campus, the path along Fairmount park was gorgeous. There were quite a few spectators camped out and it made the path more enjoyable.
Mile 8: 9:18
Half Marathon Time: 2:05:51
Mile 9: 9:12
Mile 10: 9:33
Mile 11: 9:38
Miles 12: 9:20
Mile 13: 9:48
It was at the Half point were I began slowing down. However, as soon as I made it to mile 15 I needed to take a walk break. At this point I was starting to get sore, and so I took some of the Tylenol I had on me. I did my best to walk at a fast pace. But I did walk a whole half a mile. I then pretty much did a walk:run interval all the way to the end at that point. But the biggest struggle was getting to the turnaround point at Mile 20 in Manayunk. Though it was barely a hill, it still felt like we were running uphill the whole time. I maintained around an 11:30/mile pace.
The crowd once you reached the Manayunk strech was the loudest I have ever heard and it was such a party. If you are someone that loves to take free alcohol during a marathon, there are plenty of people along the main street stretch more than willing to pour you a beer or a fireball shot. So, when one of the patrons offered me the chance to shot-gun a beer at Mile 21, I took it. Maybe it wasn’t the best decision, I was sick after all, but it gave me that extra motivation I needed to head down to the finish line.
4:36:23
Final Thoughts:
I would recommend the Philadelphia Marathon to any beginner runner. The city is a great place to visit during the weekend and the public transportation can get you pretty far without using uber or lyft. Though we didn’t actually run up the Rocky Stair’s during the marathon (like I originally thought) it was still a great experience and one I would consider doing again after I finish my 50 State Challenge.
duffrunstough 