26.2: Check!

Been there, done that. Just kidding! Here is the story behind my experience at the Philadelphia Marathon:

Saturday night I checked the weather several times, and it was calling for rain throughout the whole day. That started to seriously bum me out, because I was hoping for perfect race day conditions as I didn't want to be waterlogged even before starting, thus starting cold and wet...didn't sound fun to me!

But then I remembered a conversation I had with a running buddy the week before and he said to just remember: no matter what you're going through, every other runner is dealing with too. That kind of put my mind at ease a bit and thus took a c'est la vis approach to it: can't do anything about it, so fuck it!

We were staying at my brothers house from the Friday before the race til the day after Thanksgiving. As you may know, our kids tend to be horrible sleepers, so on the eve of the race I opted to sleep on the living room couch. It was comfy, dark and quiet. That means Muy Bueno! It took about 15min to fall asleep, but once I did, I slept soundly until my cell phone alarm went off at 4:10am.

Race time was 7am, but I wanted to get there a lot earlier to scope out the weather conditions and make a game time decision as far as what to wear. I got up plenty early to get a decent meal in me and allow my body plenty of time and opportunity to, shall we say evacuate, in a nice, warm home-like environment.

My sister-in-law drove me into the city, and we left around 5:30 to give us time to get a parking spot and get to the race area.

We got to the starting area around 6:30, but wouldn't you know it I had to um, evacuate, a second time...nerves I guess. So I hopped in line and waited 15 minutes or so.

After the bathroom Erin and I were looking to see what all of the other runners were wearing and it was kind of split down the middle. A lot were wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirt or long sleeved shirt. Others had pants and long sleeved shirt.

I had already dressed in shorts, long pants, long shirt and short sleeved shirt over it. Erin had written my name on the front of my short sleeved shirt (AWESOME idea by the way!!!), so I knew I was going to wear that on top. But my dilemma was whether or not I should go with the pants.

I was pretty chilly even while wearing them, and since there were plenty of other people wearing pants I decided to stick with them...also because my bib (For you non-running folks, the 'bib' is that paper with your race number or ID on it) was already pinned to them, so it would have been a pain to change it.

So I also had a hat and gloves with me, that I decided to bring...Again, I already had them on and was chilly, so it wouldn't hurt to start with them..I could always ditch them later if it warmed up and I didn't want to carry them.

So Erin bode we farewell and good luck and I lined up with the 5hr pace group. I introduced myself to the pacer and then began chatting with a few women and we all decided that we would stick together. No one knew each other previously so it was good: No hard feelings whatsoever if someone wanted to push ahead or fall behind.

The race started and away we went! Mile 1 went down the Ben Franklin Parkway and then snaked through some streets. There was a lot of dodging sweatshirts, hats gloves and whatnot that were just thrown straight to the ground. A lot of people threw them off to side, but I was surprised how many just dropped them where they were, right in the way of thousands of people behind them.

Mile 1: 10:26. That kind of surprised me, as it was a good 40 seconds ahead of what the pacegroup wristband said we would do the first mile in. But I shrugged it off as maybe the pacer was just banking some time for later in the race.

Mile 2 was more of the same as far as dodging clothes. I kept my hat & gloves on and just kept grooving along. Mile 2 time: 10:44.

Mile 3 found a water stop and shortly thereafter I noticed that i had to pee again. I was VERY surprised as I had already gone several times already. I guess all the water from the previous day was catching up to me....so i veered off to this little area where other people were going and then caught up to my little group. Mile 3: 10:56

Miles 4 & 5 were pretty non-descript. Our little group found ourselves slightly ahead of the 5hr group, but I wasn't too concerned as we were going at an easy pace. I did have a split-second reconsideration, as I knew the pacer would keep his pace, and I should go by that rather than running with three girls, but we were less than a quarter mile in front, so I shrugged it off. Miles 4 & 5: 10:50, 10:54.

Mile 5 included a decent-sized hill and one of the girls in our group started saying that she just wasn't getting into her groove. She said that maybe she tapered TOO much because she wasn't comfortable at all.

I was feeling great, and at the 6mi water station I took a gel because that's what I've been doing on my training runs (taking gels every 6 miles). Mile 6: 10:36.

It was right around this point that the pacer called out my name and waved...letting me (and everyone else in hearing distance) know that I was ahead of the pace group. Looking back, I know he was just looking out for me, since I signed up for his group and he didn't want me to gas early, but at the time I kind of got offended at that. Way to publicly call me out, pal. I just waved back and stayed right where I was. Fuckin' Dicknose.

Mile 7 10:21

Mile 8 included another hill, and a water stop which we walked through so our partner who wasn't having a great day could catch her breath, stretch and get another gel. Mile 8: 11:31

Miles 9-11 were more of the same: slow easy pace, good conversations and still staying within 100yds in front of the 5hr pace group.

Mile 9: 10:47
Mile 10: 11:07
Mile 11: 10:30

Throughout the entire race I was taking my hat and gloves off and putting them back on. We'd be in this one area where the wind was dead, so I'd take them off, but then we'd turn a corner or switch directions and it would pick up and I'd be really chilly. So I'm glad that I never threw them to the ground, I just tucked them into my waistband.

Okay, mile 12 is when the race started to get 'not fun' for me. We were trotting along and all of a sudden I noticed a pain forming on the outside of my right knee. I have occasionally felt 'pressure' there AFTER long runs, but never PAIN during a run.

I tried to shake it off, mentally telling myself that it was just my brain telling me that it wasn't having fun (even though I was VERY comfortable otherwise). No dice. It got bad enough where I was doing a Terry Fox kind of stride. I just started thinking to myself "Good God, no. I'm not stopping. I've been training long and hard for this and to bonk out at 12 measly miles? Fuck you".

Immediately one of the other 3 girls noticed. I was about 3 steps behind them and she kept asking how I was doing. I told her I was doing fine, just hanging back a bit. Almost immediately the girl who never quite got into the race to begin with said she was slowing way down. Apparently she was hitting a wall. So she hung WAY back, while I just slowed down a little to see if I could run through it while staying with the other two girls in the running group.

Mile 12: 10:56
Mile 13: 10:47

We crossed the Half Marathon finish line and people were cheering like CRAZY. I got lots of personal encouragement (remember, I had my name on the front). That got my adrenaline going and I was able to run strongly through the downtown area in no pain at all.

Mile 14: 10:26


In the 15th mile, the brother of one of the girls I was running with hopped in and joined us for a bit. He is a Marine, so we all thanked him for his service and we all began chatting for a bit. He then veered off so he could get back to the rest of his family. Mile 15: 10:23

Mile 16 is where the pain came back, and with a vengence. One of the 2 remaining running partners asked if I wanted some advil. ADVIL? You have advil and didn't tell me about it 4 miles ago??????? WTF?

Of course i wasn't mad at her, and didn't even act like I was. I just graciously said YES! and at the next water stop I grabbed the advil, bid my awesome running partners adieu as at this point I would only slow them down. They wished me luck and ran on, while I took the advil, re-tied my shoes and stopped to stretch for a minute. Mile 16: 11:32

Mile 17 was more of the same: slogg for a bit, then slow to walk/stretch, etc. Mile 17: 12:42

I knew that Allison and the kids, my brother, his two kids and aunt and cousin would see me around mile 20, so I needed to get all this walking and stretching crap out of the way now. I wanted to look good and strong for them.

I started up again and the advil must have kicked in, because my knee felt better. Although it was right around mile 17 that I could feel the heat of a blister forming on the ball of my right foot. GREAT. something else that I have NEVER gotten during a run. But other than that, I felt okay...I mean, I felt good, but I was tired because at this point I had run 17 miles!

Mile 18: 10:16

Mile 19 was probably one of the BEST water stops I've ever encountered: Orange Wedges. Man, those REALLY hit the spot. I mean I didn't know it, but I think i was even craving them because I took a whole handful of them and ate them like there was no tomorrow! Someone was also handing out brownies, so I took a little square of that too.

Mile 19: 10:51

Mile 20 is where I saw my family. Although I was feeling better, it was still AWESOME to see them right before the turnaround. It was exactly the boost and pick-me-up I needed to see my 3.5yr old son yell "Run Daddy Run!". I stopped and posed for pictures for a minute and chatted with my family and a cop who was just standing there too.

I bid them farewell and continued to the turnaround....until Ian yelled for me, so I just HAD to go back and give him another kiss! So after I did the turnaround, I saw them again..I mean not even a minute after I bid them goodbye! I posed for another picture and told everybody I'd see them at the end.

Mile 20: 12:09

Mile 21 found another waterstop with oranges and also in that mile I realized I had to pee again, so found a not-so-well hidden place where others were going and relieved myself. Also, I found it hard to get back into my groove after peeing, so I took a few walk breaks Mile 21: 12:40

In Mile 22 I was doing yet another walk break when I heard a pack of people slogging up behind me and then pass me. It was Captain Dicknose and the 5hr pace group. Ever since he called me out early in the race, I had made it my mission to stay in front of them. DOH!

I NEEDED to beat him. You know what? F this guy. He's not going to beat me. I hopped right in step behind him and re-joined the group. There were probably only 8 people left, and only 2 of them looked better than I felt. So I knew I could keep up.

Mile 22: 11:09

Mile 23: 12:01

The pace group took an extended walk break at the next water station and the pacer gave a bit of a pep talk. We counted down from 10 and began running again. He said we were ahead of schedule, so we'd take the next mile slow.

Mile 24: 12:25.

It was at this point that the pacer said that he was still a little ahead of schedule but HIGHLY encouraged anyone who could push on to do so. He said "if you can go, GO! GO NOW! Don't hang back if you have it in you!".

Well, I'll be if that wasn't the invitation I'd been waiting for. I was going to wait a bit longer before pulling away, but here was my opportunity.

I put my head down, mentally flipped off the pacer, and focused on my breathing. Once I felt my body synch up I looked up and pressed on.

The next two miles were I have to say the hardest two miles I've ever run. I was too close to the finish to walk...F that. I was going to run this thing out..but it took all I had to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I remember thinking at one point that I reasoned not stopping because it took more energy to stop and walk than it did to keep running.

But I kept going and just kept thinking to myself that I'm soooo close to becoming a marathoner. Heck, I was even PASSING people!

Mile 25: 11:05

Mile 26 is when the crowds came back into play. THere was LOTS of cheering and encouragement and THIS is when I was glad that I had my name on my shirt. Spectators would call my name and I would look them in the eye as they told me I looked great and that I was near the finish line.

Mile 26: 10:39

The crowds got bigger and louder and then I saw Erin in the crowd cheering me on. All of a sudden the finish line was in sight. It took all I had, but I managed to pull out a full-on sprint to the finish and raised my arms as I crossed the line.

CHIP TIME: 4:55:03

My goal was to finish between 4:45-5:00 so I managed to pull that out even with the unexpected early 'injury'.

Immediately after the race, runners were treated to cup of hot chicken broth. As soon as I saw that, I can honestly say I got excited! That totally hit the spot and couldn't imagine anything else that I would want to drink at that point in time...a plate of oranges with it would have just been the bees knees!

Post-Race, Erin and I picked up cheesesteaks for everybody from Pats, but then we stopped at Geno's for a cheesesteak for me so I could compare the two. Yeah, that's right: I had two cheesesteaks. Guess what? I rounded out that shit with some cheese fries, probably a third of a pan of brownies and about fourteen beers. I was a freakin' bottomless pit after the race. Not to mention that I was practically completely sober as well as the last one to go to bed that night!

Before the gorgefest though, I took an ice bath before my shower to help with the soreness. Doesn't that sound enticing? It's as horrible as it sounds, but the 10 minutes of agony is worth the relief it provides. In case you can't visualize it, here are my titanic toes in the middle of the ice field:

Before the trip Erin had promised me a massage (she's a massage therapist at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia) after the race to also help with the soreness and I must confess: I was SOOO looking forward to it. I have only had one professional massage before and that was a few years ago on vacation in Arizona. It was friggin' phenomenal and have been jonesin' for another one ever since. She said she would do it Sunday, but her kids needed soothing back to sleep, so she went and took care of them and then just crashed for the night. I certainly don't blame her.

Monday I woke up with a VERY sore right knee and had a giant blister on the bottom of my right foot. So Erin did what no sister-in-law should EVER have to do: She volunteered to pop that bad boy (the blister, not the knee!). She poked the thing with a safety pin and immediately she was greeted with a spray of blister juice....right in her face. She laughed, and I wanted to as well, but first I had to swallow the puke that had quickly gurgled up and found its way into my mouth. So we bandaged my foot up, I took some Ibuprofin and just kind of hung out and relaxed.

Monday evening Erin set up her massage table and got all the stuff together and told me to hop on. I was treated to the BEST 3 hour massage of my life. I didn't know it would last that long, but let me tell you what a pleasant surprise that was!!!!!

She did a phenomenal job and paid extra attention to my sore knee. Apparently what she did worked, because there is no pain there anymore at all. I was treated to another massage Wednesday night to work out the final kinks and now I feel as good as ever!

I'm a wee bit concerned about the knee in the future, but like I said it's feeling good now so only time will tell.

So I can officially say it: I've run a marathon!

I'm not about to run out and sign up for a spring marathon, but I'm certainly not ruling out future ones. But as expected I think Half Marathons are more my cup of tea. So maybe I'll just sign up for a marathon every OTHER year or so. All I can say right now is that I'm glad the training is over, as is Allison.

The plans for the immediate future is to focus on getting back into the gym on a regular basis to get rid of the flab that has developed due to the lack of dedicated gym time.

I'd like to thank all of you who have supported me and my running, especially you Allison! I certainly couldn't have done it without you and your support, encouragement and occasional kick in the ass to get out there and run on the days that I didn't want to! Thanks to everyone who have ran with me, gave advice, cheered me on and even those who told me to stop running because I'm just going to hurt myself. Well, I take that back. To those people I say: Ha! I did it!

Oh, and one more "bite me" to Pacer Mike. Of course I don't mean that...like I said, I know he was just looking out for me. But thanks for the motivation to finish strong! Without you I could have missed my goal!