I love the city of Philadelphia, which is an interesting take on my persona since I hate big cities, yet the city of brotherly love connects with me in a way where New York City, London, and Los Angeles do not. Maybe it's the people, the beauty, or the accessibility, or maybe it's even the immense pride of history and identity. It's probably the combination of all those attributes but all I know is I always enjoy my time there.
Now, I am competing in my second half marathon in Philadelphia with my close friend Jason(1) which is great for two reasons.
(1) Kaz Alert! Kaz Alert! My good friend Kaz couldn't sign up for the race in time (because he was designing and launching defense ballistic missiles off of the coast of Hawaii...not a joke...the man designs defense ballistic missiles for a living) so he decided to join us about a quarter mile down the start. He ran with us for about 2 miles and then slowed up a bit. Kaz ended running a 1:38 half marathon (He ran about 1:37 but I added a minute to eliminate any possible discrepancy from his point of entrance) which comes out to a 7:28 pace. You know when the last time he ran...September! September! Almost a two month layoff and he runs an elite pace. Just incredible. He never ceases to amaze me.
-We are pretty much neck and neck in running ability so it will be interesting to see who comes up on top. Jason destroyed me last year by over two minutes and set a personal record in the progress. I was looking to get my revenge... in a friendly competitive way.
-It's always great running with friends and with our abilities so close, we will be able to push each other to a better level.
The race starts and we went out way too fast.
I was following Jason's lead since he seems to be more in tune with his pace than I am. Jason runs more than me and works extremely closely with his GPS watches. His one watch measures vertical oscillation, cadence, ground contact, and heart rate and Jason works endlessly with the data achieved to help him improve his performance. It's one of the many reasons he has improved his overall game. He has even shown me a few tricks of the trade to help use the data for my own personal gain.
The first two miles, we are averaging 6:30 miles, which is a big no-no. Every running professional and their mother state the best way to enter a race 13.1 miles or longer is to start below race pace, work into it, and then in the later miles, exceed that goal pace for a strong finish.
Jason and I don't listen well.
We know we are moving faster than race pace but we both are in good form. I am feeling great and I see zero struggle in Jason's stride so maybe we are going to have the race of our lives and exceedingly exceed our own expectations, which is pleasant....in theory.
Over the next few miles, we slow ourselves closer to our goal pace which is to break 1:30 (6:51 average mile over the 13.1 mile distance) and feel like we are a good place to do so.
Then, after mile 7, are pace slows just a tad. It was slight but noticeable enough in where we both understood we were going slower than the goal pace. This put us a in tricky spot since we still had 6 miles left to go so we couldn't take the risk of putting in the extra effort to gain that additional time and then bonking out by the finish. So we decided to coast the next few miles until around mile 10, where we can put forth a solid 5k effort to give us a chance to break 1:30.
Mile 9 is where the biggest hill in the course resides. It is short yet steep and when you are trying to PR, these challenges and obstacles get in your way. However, we both kill the hill and make our move shortly thereafter. We both fuel up at the aid station right after we pass the Mile 10 marker. I start making my move and slowly put distance on Jason. He tries to stick with me but I gain a few seconds every 10-15 strides.
When I get back into Central Philadelphia and observe the Art Museum (where the Rocky Steps are located as well as the finish line), a sense of relief sets in. I think about the past season and my future going forward with triathlons and long distance races as the reality sets in that I will just be missing the 1:30 time. I see the finish line and finish as strong as I can.
1:30:25.
Typical...
I am upset even though I set a personal record but I had nothing left to give. I left it all on the course. I was hurting at the end and thought it was a great way to end the season. It sucks I didn't PR but I am more than content with my performance. I think this time is due to poor execution than anything else. Something I will look into going forward.
Jason finished about a minute behind me. He wasn't too happy either as he ran a little bit slower than last year but it's a time we can build on together.
So with that, the season has ended and the off season has begun.
Thanks for reading!
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