Philadelphia Half-Marathon Reflection
“Gonna leave the city put my troubles behind
People in the city goin' out of their minds
Goin' to the country just to feel like gold
People in the country really let themselves go”
- Steve Miller Band
Training:
Training for the Philadelphia half marathon was far less stressful than when I was training for my first marathon. This was largely because I knew I could complete the distance. Let’s face it I ran a full marathon the spring before. Even with that there were some marked differences in the way I trained and of course my expectations were different.
For this race I used the Nike Intermediate level one training program for the half-marathon. Over all I’d say I was quite pleased with the program. The addition of speed work for me greatly helped and I have already decided that I’ll use the same program for my next half. All though from a training stand point I didn’t complete the highest mileage that it had me shoot for. I changed things as I felt my body needed and when it came to the 13 and 14 mile days I was just too exhausted from previous runs and over work to complete them.
I of course used music in my training and there are a few songs that stand out as my sound track for this race. First is “I’ll Never Be” by Reel Big Fish, I had their album on my ipod one day during a hard training session that song pulled me through and thus became a staple to almost every other run. One of the most surprising albums to become a part of my soundtrack was “The Green Album.” Muppet songs that were redone by various artists most of whom I had never heard of. The best song on that album by far is “I wish I was.” Notable songs to mention are “Born to Run” Bruce Springsteen (nothing like singing about getting out of New Jersey to motivate you), and “Since You Been Gone” by Rainbow, which was the song I woke up singing in my head as I went to the race. The song that I really stands out to me from the race itself was “People in the Country” by Steve Miller.
When I ran my marathon last spring I noticed I crossed the 13.1 mark at roughly 2hrs 18min. I remember thinking as I was racing that this was too fast. Of course it shot my hopes up to finish with a sub 5hr marathon, which did not happen. So I struggled at first with what my time for this race would be. Another aspect to this was that I had two friends running the race with me and I was concerned about us starting together so when we registered it was agreed that we would put our projected time for completion at 2hrs 30min. For me I knew this was slow and as I started training I hoped to at least match my 2:18 personal record (pr). As training progressed and I felt healthier I began to secretly hope to run the half at a 10 min pace which would me 2:10 as a finishing time. As race day approached I felt very confident that I could make 2:10 my only fear was of my friends either not keeping up or of me not keeping up with them.
Another item of note in my training is that I began to include barefoot training. On my lowest mileage day I would run at least one mile unshod. I am planning and looking forward to increasing my barefoot mileage with the goal of running a 5k in the fall unshod. We’ll see if that works because I am already planning on another half marathon in the spring.
Race Day:
Running at a major race like Philadelphia is an experience. It was packed and crazy at the starting line. The tension was high in the air. In the morning when we got up we parked at the 30th street station in Philly. For one because it wasn’t recommended in official papers so there was no danger in not finding a parking spot. Secondly because it was a mile away from the start line and that gave us the walk to warm up.
When everything was said and done our corral didn’t get to the starting line till almost 25 minutes after the start of the race. When we got up to the line we were off. There was a lot of dodging and weaving for the first six miles and I knew from my watch that our pace was fast even though I tried to be very deliberate in ignoring my watch. Our pace was fast enough that I was worried that I would have trouble later. Right at the beginning of the race, because we were 25 minutes late, I had to go to the bathroom. Every time we came to port a potties there were lines and I wasn’t about to lose that much time to go to the bathroom. At about mile six I had had enough and went into some bushes and took care of business. It was at that time my one friend continued on the race and I didn’t see him again till the end.
I got back on course and after a mile and a half, realizing I wouldn’t catch my friend again; I pulled out my ipod and started listening to music. This I think may have been a mistake. I probably should have gone without any music, but I’m not sure. It was in the last half that hills began to make their presence known. I did just fine except on the hill up to mile ten. I actually had to walk a tiny bit on this hill which led to that mile being my slowest at 10:03.
When I reached the end I had an astounding revelation. My time was better than I hoped. I had just accomplished a half marathon at 2:08:32. Definitely a PR.
Reflection:
Having accomplished my PR at 2:08:32, an improvement of roughly 10 minutes, I now have hope of going sub 2 in my next race. My average pace was 9:32. In order to go sub 2 I need to average 9, preferably lower. My only regret is that my friend did in fact beat me significantly with a time of 1:58. Honestly I am happy that he accomplished that and my feeling is it gives me something to shoot for, that my next race I’m going to beat his time.
So far this race is certainly my favorite. Unfortunately because of being on a Sunday, like most major races, I won’t be able to compete in it every year. Unlike my Marathon, there were no significant gains in weight loss. But in overall health, I feel wonderful! I am proud of both of my friends and of all of our times, 1:58(male); 2:08(male); 2:40(female) for two individuals who never raced before it was a great experience for them. For someone who has done a lot of races I’m grateful for the opportunity to complete another one and experience the thrill of the crowds and the pride of achieving a PR.
People in the city goin' out of their minds
Goin' to the country just to feel like gold
People in the country really let themselves go”
- Steve Miller Band
Training:
Training for the Philadelphia half marathon was far less stressful than when I was training for my first marathon. This was largely because I knew I could complete the distance. Let’s face it I ran a full marathon the spring before. Even with that there were some marked differences in the way I trained and of course my expectations were different.
For this race I used the Nike Intermediate level one training program for the half-marathon. Over all I’d say I was quite pleased with the program. The addition of speed work for me greatly helped and I have already decided that I’ll use the same program for my next half. All though from a training stand point I didn’t complete the highest mileage that it had me shoot for. I changed things as I felt my body needed and when it came to the 13 and 14 mile days I was just too exhausted from previous runs and over work to complete them.
I of course used music in my training and there are a few songs that stand out as my sound track for this race. First is “I’ll Never Be” by Reel Big Fish, I had their album on my ipod one day during a hard training session that song pulled me through and thus became a staple to almost every other run. One of the most surprising albums to become a part of my soundtrack was “The Green Album.” Muppet songs that were redone by various artists most of whom I had never heard of. The best song on that album by far is “I wish I was.” Notable songs to mention are “Born to Run” Bruce Springsteen (nothing like singing about getting out of New Jersey to motivate you), and “Since You Been Gone” by Rainbow, which was the song I woke up singing in my head as I went to the race. The song that I really stands out to me from the race itself was “People in the Country” by Steve Miller.
When I ran my marathon last spring I noticed I crossed the 13.1 mark at roughly 2hrs 18min. I remember thinking as I was racing that this was too fast. Of course it shot my hopes up to finish with a sub 5hr marathon, which did not happen. So I struggled at first with what my time for this race would be. Another aspect to this was that I had two friends running the race with me and I was concerned about us starting together so when we registered it was agreed that we would put our projected time for completion at 2hrs 30min. For me I knew this was slow and as I started training I hoped to at least match my 2:18 personal record (pr). As training progressed and I felt healthier I began to secretly hope to run the half at a 10 min pace which would me 2:10 as a finishing time. As race day approached I felt very confident that I could make 2:10 my only fear was of my friends either not keeping up or of me not keeping up with them.
Another item of note in my training is that I began to include barefoot training. On my lowest mileage day I would run at least one mile unshod. I am planning and looking forward to increasing my barefoot mileage with the goal of running a 5k in the fall unshod. We’ll see if that works because I am already planning on another half marathon in the spring.
Race Day:
Running at a major race like Philadelphia is an experience. It was packed and crazy at the starting line. The tension was high in the air. In the morning when we got up we parked at the 30th street station in Philly. For one because it wasn’t recommended in official papers so there was no danger in not finding a parking spot. Secondly because it was a mile away from the start line and that gave us the walk to warm up.
When everything was said and done our corral didn’t get to the starting line till almost 25 minutes after the start of the race. When we got up to the line we were off. There was a lot of dodging and weaving for the first six miles and I knew from my watch that our pace was fast even though I tried to be very deliberate in ignoring my watch. Our pace was fast enough that I was worried that I would have trouble later. Right at the beginning of the race, because we were 25 minutes late, I had to go to the bathroom. Every time we came to port a potties there were lines and I wasn’t about to lose that much time to go to the bathroom. At about mile six I had had enough and went into some bushes and took care of business. It was at that time my one friend continued on the race and I didn’t see him again till the end.
I got back on course and after a mile and a half, realizing I wouldn’t catch my friend again; I pulled out my ipod and started listening to music. This I think may have been a mistake. I probably should have gone without any music, but I’m not sure. It was in the last half that hills began to make their presence known. I did just fine except on the hill up to mile ten. I actually had to walk a tiny bit on this hill which led to that mile being my slowest at 10:03.
When I reached the end I had an astounding revelation. My time was better than I hoped. I had just accomplished a half marathon at 2:08:32. Definitely a PR.
Reflection:
Having accomplished my PR at 2:08:32, an improvement of roughly 10 minutes, I now have hope of going sub 2 in my next race. My average pace was 9:32. In order to go sub 2 I need to average 9, preferably lower. My only regret is that my friend did in fact beat me significantly with a time of 1:58. Honestly I am happy that he accomplished that and my feeling is it gives me something to shoot for, that my next race I’m going to beat his time.
So far this race is certainly my favorite. Unfortunately because of being on a Sunday, like most major races, I won’t be able to compete in it every year. Unlike my Marathon, there were no significant gains in weight loss. But in overall health, I feel wonderful! I am proud of both of my friends and of all of our times, 1:58(male); 2:08(male); 2:40(female) for two individuals who never raced before it was a great experience for them. For someone who has done a lot of races I’m grateful for the opportunity to complete another one and experience the thrill of the crowds and the pride of achieving a PR.
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