Dave and Paula's Road Trip: Half Marathon

Thanks to everyone for all their good wishes and support. Special thanks to Dave who has been with me every mile since I decided to train for the MS Walk almost two years ago. Before and after each training walk or run he is right there telling me to “have fun” when I head out and waiting with a hug when I return. After some of the runs I didn’t even want to be next to myself let alone share myself in a hug with someone else. But he did. He also logged about 8 miles himself on half marathon day walking all over taking pictures and cheering.

The weekend started at the Expo on Friday afternoon. We took the train to the convention center to pick up my race packet which included the bib, timing chip, t-shirt and other assorted instructions. Those of you that know me, know that I read all of it at least twice that night! I bought a long sleeve running shirt for what eventually will be cold running days ahead, a pin replica of the finisher medal and a head band for covering my ears in the cold. We listened to a guy give a description of what to expect on Sunday from getting there to running to post race activities. This picture is me next to the board with everyone's name. On the other side were an equal number of names. There were close to 16,000 people registered. 13,254 finished. I was one of them! :)

Race day for the Philadelphia Distance Run was perfect. My day started at 5 am for breakfast. Then the requisite before pictures (I had requests for before and after pictures). We took Route 1, Route 30 and Girard Avenue down to the Art Museum. All the race directions suggested the expressway and the 30th street exit. If everyone went that way there was probably a big back up. I was not in the mood for big back ups.

To this point I really wasn’t nervous about the running part. I had run 15 miles two weeks before, and 12 miles the week before so I really felt ready for the distance. However, when Dave dropped me off, I got butterflies. The visual at that moment was hard to expect. Already (at 6:30) there were probably 1,000 or more people milling around and despite having studied the map the night before I felt lost. Where were the corrals? Would I find them in time? What was I doing here? That lasted about 30 seconds. Deep breath, walk around figure out what is what, I told myself. I was fine after that.

Philly-fitters had arranged to meet pre-race at the Rocky Statue.

Many of us did. Dave had gone to park the car and I didn’t expect to see him again until the race was over but I looked up and there he was taking pictures all over. In all, he ended up taking over 80 pictures that day. I was very glad for that. IN teh picture on the left from keft to right, that's Karen, Doreen, Angie and I. And of course, we had to do the "ROCKY" picture. It seemed like the thing to do.

Doreen, Angie and I started in Corral #15. Here is our before picture on the left at the Rocky Statue and on the right as we

entered the corral. The horn went off at 7:45 or thereabouts. We didn’t move for at least 7-8 minutes after that. We crossed the start line finally about 8:00. We waved to Mayor Nutter up in the box above the start banner. Angie’s husband ran with us. We all stayed together more or less through the first 3 miles around the city streets. Philly fit coaches and runners who had done this before told us to relax, have fun and smile. We tried to do all three! At first bumping into people was a given. It was hard to maneuver and find your pace. Close to 16,000 started this race! As we approached the one mile marker, the first wave of runners and two wheelchair racers were coming out of the city, heading back to the art museum and up MLK Boulevard. We cheered for them.

The first water stop came between mile one and two. We didn’t stop because we had water with us. This water stop was crowded and we were glad we didn’t have to stop. None of us had tried Cytomax either so we brought our own water and electrolyte drinks. I tried it after the race and didn’t like the taste. I’m glad I came prepared to skip it. The water stops were the most dangerous part of the course. Plastic cups littered the road with water underneath. It was slippery! And at the Cytomax stops it was sticky! Not to mention the people slowing down or moving over with no warning.

We lost Angie (Ahead of us) just after the 5k marker. Doreen and I were still together until just before we got to MLK, about mile 4. We split up to go around someone and she ended up ahead of me. I fully expected that, as they both run faster than me in training runs. It was nice to start out together though. Doreen ‘caught up’ to me though on Kelly Drive after she stopped for a bathroom break which put me ahead of her and she finished about two minutes ahead of me. That was another interesting site. The port-o-potties. At Eakins oval (the start and finish) there were more port-o-potties in one place than I’ve ever seen! Fortunately I’ve managed (so far) to work my eating and drinking to avoid those stops. (So far).

The city portion of the run went very fast. I was amazed when we were approaching the art museum again. I felt good, my breathing and stride were in rhythm and comfortable. I was able to enjoy the spectators and runners around me. I felt great!! The rest of the course I had run twice already so I was really excited now!

I ran behind Elvis for a while. Another person wore a t-shirt that said Finishing Dead Last is better than Did Not Finish is better than Did Not Start! I loved that one! One woman ran with a bridal veil and a t-shirt that said Soon to be Mrs.. Somebody and the date of their wedding in October. Many people, including me, congratulated her as we got near or passed her. One woman came up behind me and after reading the back of my Philly Fit shirt said “If I can’t whine, I don’t run”. I laughed and waved as she went by and told her to enjoy the race! As we ran along MLK we could look across the river and see the runners ahead of us going along Kelly Drive.

Dave had walked up to just past the 7 mile marker where the Randy Lippincott band was playing. The chips on our shoes transmitted our time and position at the 5k, 10k and 10 mile markers. Dave called my Dad and Step-mom the night before and arranged for them to call him on his cell after I passed the 10k marker so that he would know I was approaching his location to try to get a picture. I knew he was around there and started looking for him and found him as I approached; which is why I am hamming it up for the camera! I'm not sure why the raised hands except that everyone seemed to do it when they saw someone they knew or just for the cameramen taking picture all around the course. So I figured, why not! :) Besides it's hard not to laugh when you do that and that looks better than teh usual serious running face.

Over the falls bridge was the bagpiper. Everyone who has ever run the race mentioned him to me. It was so noisy that he was hard to hear but I did see him. As I approached the bridge, I got really excited and halfway across I realized I had sped up. I had to slow myself down afraid that I would run out of steam before the end. I turned the corner on to Kelly Drive and realized I was going to do this! The clocks at each mile told me that more or less I was keeping with 11 minute miles. A very good pace for me! I had to remind myself that I wasn’t stopping at Lloyd Hall as we had in our training runs. I had to keep going past there to the finish line at Eakins Oval. I saw mile maker #11 but never say #12. I wasn’t sure where I was but as I approached Lloyd Hall I knew I was close so I picked up my pace and when I turned the corner to the finish line I went all out. I pumped my fist and shouted “YES” as I crossed the finish line. I had done it! I had run a half marathon! It was an awesome feeling. I ran the whole way!

I heard my name and turned to see Dave trying to get my picture. I ran to the sideline to let him take the pictures and give him a kiss before continuing on through the finishers circle and onto the Family Reunion Pavillon where I could meet up with Dave and Philly Fit people as they finished. I had arranged to meet Dave at the letter Z. I figured most people would meet at letters based on their name. But how many would be at Z? I was right. It was easy to find him. We asked a guy nearby to take our picture together and went off to find the Philly Fit people at letter P (see what I mean?). We took a bunch of pictures and wandered over to the booth where I could get my medal engraved with my name and finish time. At this point I didn’t know what my finish time was yet. I was thrilled to see that I had come in less than my predicted time of 2:30. Everyone had to pick a predicted time in order to enter so they could decided where you start. I figured I'd be between 11 and 12 minutes per mile. I was surprised to see that it was much closer to 11.