Philadelphia Marathon

Marathon…Check!
Chip Time: 3:55:42

Woo Hoo! I did it! I have joined the ranks of millions of other marathon runners. I have been a runner for a long time but now I am a MARATHON runner. I feel so great and proud and emotional, its crazy! I am going to try to write a decent recap but all I can think about it how much FUN I had. Okay so here goes…

We got to Philly Saturday morning (the day of Dan’s birthday) we stopped at the hotel to drop off our luggage and pulled up right behind my parents! The rooms weren’t ready so we left our bags and the four of us headed to the expo. I was happy the rooms weren’t ready because I know Dan would have skipped out of the expo to nap but he was forced to come and see what this whole racing thing is all about!  After a quick stop at Starbucks we continued on to the expo. This was my first race expo (and for such an important race!) I went crazy taking pictures and it really got me pumped up for the next day.

My Dad and me at the expo!

After we picked up our shirts, bags, number, etc. we walked around for a bit, browsed the gear, stopped at the pace tables, and…met Bart Yasso! I was looking forward to meeting him because a few months ago I read about his “Yasso 800” marathon training workout. My Dad bought his book, My Life on the Run and he signed it for us. Yay! By this time, Dan had already left to go meet his parents who were waiting for us at Lucky Strike, a bowling alley/bar/lounge where we spent the afternoon bowling and had some snacks and drinks (water for my Dad and me of course!) Bowling was fun. Things got a little heated because Dan’s family challenged my family to a competition. They even made tee shirts and everything.

Team Dan…boo!

Team Keri…Yay!

Unfortunately Team Keri did not prevail, although I came in 3rd the second game, and I think they voted me most improved which I definitely consider a victory : ) My mom lost both games but I think she had more fun than anyone. Now she wants to buy a Wii so she can practice. After bowling 2 games we headed back to the hotel to rest and shower up before dinner. We went to an early dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Tequila. I know, I know, Mexican before a marathon?? The food was authentic so I stayed away from spicy food and my stomach felt fine! After dinner we went back to the hotel for birthday cake and coffee and hung out for a bit. Around 9 Dan and I headed back to our room and he ordered a movie, cracked into the mini bar and I laid out my clothes and fell asleep by 10 o’clock. I slept pretty well minus Dan’s phone going off for awhile with birthday calls and texts. His friends gave him a hard time when they found out how he was spending his 26th birthday…what can I say? He is the best! So after a pretty good night’s sleep, my alarm went off at 4:45am. I woke up feeling refreshed and calm. I got dressed, but on some make-up and headed down to my parent’s suite for some coffee and bagels.

Ready to Go!

Attempting to get a decent shot…oh well!

After some coffee and food my Dad and I walked to the start. I was pretty chilly in my shorts but I knew it would get warmer later and I’m glad I wore what I did. I was shivering and shaking because of cold and nerves and despite it being 6:30am and pretty dark still I had tons of energy which helped me during the race. The walk warmed me up a bit and we headed to our corral. The whole event was extremely well organized. I never once felt rushed or crowded or confused. Everything went very smoothly and the race started promptly. We were in the 3rd corral and crossed the start line only a minute after the clock started. We were off! I was pretty nervous, but the nerves quickly melted away and after a few minutes I was smiling. The smile almost never left my face…seriously! The way they had the corrals set up, I didn’t really feel crowded, except for a few turns in the beginning. The miles seemed to fly by and before I knew it we were coming up to our first cheer zone! Miles 5-7 were through packed streets right by our hotel! Turns out our cheering section must have JUST missed us. It was just as fun though. Philly had a great crowd! Everyone was cheering and screaming and holding up signs. The bibs had our names on them so people could cheer you on personally! It felt so great to hear your name called, there was so much support I could not believe it. Those people were out there cheering for hours and they were so enthusiastic…I don’t think I could have that kind of energy haha! My favorite sign said something like “Hurry up, MY legs are starting to hurt!” I love it. Needless to say, I came out of the cheer zone with a HUGE smile on my face. In fact, up into this point I literally forgot I was running a race! It was just about this time that I even noticed any feeling in my legs. It felt like I was flying up until then. Then I remembered I was running a race and had a long way to go and tried to pace myself. My Dad had the Garmin and mile 7 was our fastest at 7:47 wayy to fast. So we slowed down but it was so hard! Thank God my Dad was there to keep me focused or I would have gone out way to fast. It was really important to me to run this entire race with my Dad because we’ve wanted to run a marathon together for so long! My number one goal was to finish the marathon with my Dad. Boston was 2nd. Boston 2010 is closed anyway so we have plenty of time to qualify for the next one. It was so much fun to have him to run with. Anyway, around mile 9 we stopped to use the bathroom and continued on our way. Mile 13 was back around the start where the half marathoners finished and we headed out to Manyunk for the second half of our race. I was so happy I never once thought I wished I had signed up for the half. I always wondered that because I have run half marathons where others were running the full marathon and I remember thinking I could never have done the whole thing. Not this time! My smile got bigger as we headed toward the sign that said “Mile 14.” The second half of the race was a little quieter than the first but the miles continued to tick by…around mile 15 or 16 was part of an out and back and we started to see the leaders. It was fun and inspiring to see such fast runners and it was nice to be able to cheer them on. Around mile 19 there were people giving out free beer. So funny. People were actually taking it! Not me : ) I settled for a Vanilla Bean GU and some water. Manyunk was fun, I saw the Joggler and there was a man playing the drums. Right before mile 20 the 3:40 pace group passed me. Next time, I told myself and we pushed on. For awhile I ran a little bit ahead of my Dad. Not on purpose, but I settled into my rhythm and it was hard to change it, even to go a little slower. Finally we saw the turn around…this is it I told myself and we headed back to the city for our last 6 miles. The miles continued to fly by and the smile on my face just kept getting bigger. Around mile 23 my Dad reminded me that this was the farthest I had ever run. A new record! A little bit after that my smile faded. We saw someone on the ground ahead. My Dad said it looked like someone fell but when we passed you could tell the woman was unconscious. Thank God help was there. I started to cry but my Dad assured me she was okay, and that it looked like she had fainted. After the race I searched the Internet and fortunately found no stories of any deaths. After that I heard many sirens and just prayed for all the runners. I tried to re-focus because we only had 2 miles to go! “Less than 20 minutes of running” people kept yelling or “Mile 25 is just beyond the bridge, you should be proud!” I literally could not believe the amazing support from the spectators. My smile was back. The last 2 miles I stuck side by side with my Dad. We were determined to cross that finish line together and hopefully we will have an awesome picture of our first marathon together! The last mile I felt like I was flying again although this time much slower than in the beginning (mile 25 was 9:47 according to the Garmin). The streets were lined with people cheering louder than ever! It is a little bit of a blur but I was so happy I felt like crying. My Dad grabbed my hand and we threw them up as we crossed. Yay! We did it! Just as we crossed we saw our cheering section holding up signs and taking pics.

Here are some pictures from after the race:

Dan’s mom made signs!

Don’t be fooled by my smile…everything hurt from my hips down!

Posing…

So we did it! We didn’t qualify for Boston but we finished in under 4 hours and I am thrilled! I was on such a runner’s high for the rest of the day. I was secretly afraid I would hate it and be a 5K runner forever. No chance. Now we can’t wait to run our next one. Don’t worry 5K I still love you

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