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On Sunday Nov 18 2007, I ran my sixth marathon in Philadelphia. The weekend was another meet-up of my online running group, and this became the largest group meeting yet.
This was to be the first marathon I run without Maggie waiting for me at the finish line. With a new baby, we had
decided that she would remain behind in New Jersey while I make the trip to Philly alone. Of course, I would be meeting
up with plenty of people I know, so it's not like I'd be alone for the whole weekend. But still, it was a little sad
knowing that Maggie wouldn't be there.
A few of us started off with an easy warm-up run on Saturday. We met up at the Philadelphia Art Museum (home of
the famous 'Rocky' steps) and did a nice, slow 3 mile run.
That evening, the group met up at an Italian restaurant for a pasta dinner the day before the marathon. And this
is where I received a great surprise. My online running friends, many of whom I'm gotten quite close to over the past
year or so, all pitched in and bought me a jogging stroller as a baby shower-type of gift. I was quite floored to receive
such a wonderful gift. Jillian is still a little small to use it, but I look forward to taking her out for a run, probably
in the Spring.
Sunday morning was the marathon. There was also a Half Marathon and an 8k race. The marathon and Half Marathon
both started at 7:00am along the same course. As usual, the field was rather crowded while waiting for the starting
gun to go off. My previous best marathon time had been 3:48:56, which I had set about six month earlier in Cincinnati. Leading up to Philly, I had not decided whether or not I felt I could beat that time. My training had progressed
just fine, but I was afraid I might be suffering from a little bit of lack of sleep, due to having a new baby. I ultimately
decided that my prediction for myself would be 3:47:00, which would be a new PR for me, but not by much.
In Cincinnati, I was very happy to run with the 3:50 pacing team. I was shooting for a time somewhat faster than
that, but 3:40 (the next pacing group) seemed too fast. However, I finally decided that I would try to run with the
3:40 pacing group for as long as I could, and then simply drift behind them as necessary once I get tired. And hope
that I just keep well ahead of the 3:50 group.
I was still holding at an overall average pace of 8:10 after 9 miles. Visions of a finish around 3:30-3:35 began
dancing in my head. The steepest hill of the course occured just after Mile 9, and I slowed temporarily to ascend the
hill and save some energy. Strangely enough, I never did pick up speed again after passing the top of the hill.
Still, I passed 12.4 miles at an overall 8:17 pace. I ran the New Haven 20k (12.4 miles) in September at a 8:18 pace, which was a new PR for me. Now I just ran the first 12.4 miles of a marathon even faster than that. This was
not smart.
The halfway point of the marathon was back at the start, and was also the finish of the Half Marathon. The crowd
was very energetic here, and I had a brief pick-up in the pace by feeding off the crowd. But that pick-up was quite
brief. The fast start continued to haunt me by slowing me down. I saw my current pace drop to 8:30 per mile, then
8:45, then 9:00. I could tell that I still had a new PR well within reach, but it wouldn't be by much.
Around Mile 21, my friend Larry caught up to me. He had just run the New York City Marathon two weeks earlier,
and was taking it easy in this race. He started out at a fairly slow pace, which turned out to be a very smart move.
He was still running great this late in the race. I did my best to keep up with him, but there was too far to go and
I was too spent. By Mile 23, Larry left me behind, and I slumped to about a 9:30 pace for the rest of the race.
I finally crossed the finish line with a time of 3:48:12, with an average pace of 8:42. That's 44 seconds faster than my previous best, and just over a minute slower than my
prediction.
Just a few feet away from finishing, I heard my name called and looked over to see a bunch of my friends cheering from
the stands. I even managed to snap a photo of them, while they took photos of me.
But the best surprise of the weekend was still a few feet away. Right before I crossed the finish line, I heard
Maggie call out my name. She had left the baby at her parents' place and had driven down to surprise me! So this
makes it 6 for 6, in terms of marathons that she has seen me finish. She didn't stay in Philly for long, but it was
long enough to make it a very happy weekend for me!
Once upon a time, I would have been thrilled to average a 9:30 pace for a marathon, much less maintain that pace over
the last 3 miles. It is a great improvement over my first marathon (Chicago 2005), where my average pace was 10:12.
I must say that I'm pleased with the progress I made over the last two years. And a new PR is a new PR, even if it's
only 44 seconds. But I can't help but be just a little disappointed, knowing that I could have been better if I hadn't
started out so fast.
Well, even with six marathons under my belt now, I'm still learning, and hopefully still improving. I hope to run
many more marathons in the future, and I hope to enjoy more than a few more new PRs.
After the race, I met up with the rest of the group at a local Irish pub for a few adult beverages, and an enjoyable
afternoon that lasted well into the evening. Overall, the weekend was a tremendous experience for me. This is
based more on the company than on the race itself. And that's perfectly okay with me.
A terrific weekend ended on Monday as I drove back home to New Jersey. Of course I had to stop at Geno's for a
cheesesteak on the way out of town. No trip to Philadelphia would be complete without it...
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