Philadelphia Half

A great Half Marathon, Philadelphia!  Add to the fact that the Rock n Roll Series put together a great race, we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather for this weekend.  Sunny skies and cool temps in the morning giving way to a breezy afternoon. 

I arrived in Philadelphia to meet Maria and Rich early afternoon yesterday.  We did all the essentials from picking up my packet at the Expo to seeing the sites of the city.  It was a very fun day (photos to follow).  However, in the back of my mind the entire day was my foot and if this was really a good idea.  In the car on the way to Philadelphia I felt a pinch every now and then.  This obviously added to my concern.  I'd continue pondering throughout the day if running a Half as the arch in my left foot was still bothering me was a good idea.  But, I carried on.  We saw the city and I even got to meet up with my good friend Jill prior to calling it an early evening.

My sister, Jill and I headed out early and arrived at the corrals where I was happy to see the race started and ended by the Rocky steps.  Yes, I'm a huge Rocky fan.  We started at 8 and I immediately began on a light pace to make sure I did not push myself too hard.  To my surprise, up until mile 10 my foot never bothered me.  I did not want to push my luck so I kept a consistent pace the entire race.  My pace ended up being a 7:54 mile.  At mile 10 I focused on the last three miles and ignored the pinch that got consistently worse with each step.

In the end, I was very happy with the results.  I clocked in my 10K time at 47:42 and 10 mile at 1:17:23.  I placed 1,742 out of 15,116 participants with a finish time of 1:43:34.

There's no question I was aided considerably by the fact that this was a flat course.  I have no doubt that if this was a repeat of my Connecticut Half the outcome would have been much different.  Also, I have to mention the great crowds of Philly.  These guys were great and so was the music and cheerleaders along the route. 

After I crossed the finish I headed towards the steps to meet up with Maria and Rich and took some good touristy shots.  From there it was back to the hotel where I touched base with Jill via text before her trip back to NYC. 

This was a fun weekend and now I look toward West Virginia on October 13.  Between now and then I will be paying a visit to the doctor to take a look at my foot to be safe.  I'll be resting this week and hope to be back up and running by next.

Thanks for a great race/weekend, Philadelphia!

View from hotel room of Cathedral St. Peter and Paul

Downtown Philadelphia

Congress Hall

Independence Hall

Liberty Bell (not the best shot through the window)

The famous Pat's

City Hall

Jill and I at the start line

Maria and I

Down to the finish line

Finish line shot

No I did not run up these steps after 13.1 miles

I found the Rocky statue