Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Philadelphia Half Marathon 2010

I can't seem to get a grasp on how to actually write all that’s been happening because all the stuff keeps happening!!!… one day… our life will slow.. and when it does…

Sunday, September 19th
Joe really doesn’t function well prior to say… 8am…


TIME TO GET UP! 4AM... RACE DAY!

Today was the ING Philly Half Marathon (13.1 miles) and somehow I convinced Joe that it was fun.. and that he should do it with me… (SUCKER)..


We arrived in Philly around 6am, parked and started our trek to the start… thankfully only 8 blocks away and we got there early enough to christen the port-o-pots, and oh yeah.. watch the sunrise from the art museum steps…

Life was in fact …Good..!

OK...time to line up… 20,000 people in 22 or so corrals.. thankfully we are near the front!.. Joe in corral 4… I corral 5… then off we go… yeahhhh.... running free... free...FREE.. and strong.. strong.. STRONG!... ain't no one stopping me....I ... AM...


....... Freaking tired as shit!... by mile 5… I was done.. toast.. finis... my legs felt like someone had beaten them and were just hollow shells attached to my dead carcass... and then D-mn .. "Hey"... um.. "Hello".. (my friend Denise had just caught up to me)...

[Denise is my running buddy… she and I are great competitive friends..in fact best friends... we sometimes train together, race together, work together and well I beat her last year at this race by like 11 seconds..and well HOW DID SHE CATCH ME!!?]....


I am thinking... calculating... she was suppose to be in the corral behind me..which by the way should have gone off 3 minutes later than me....thus I SHOULD HAVE HAD A 3 min lead!...Calculating that I just ran a 38 min 5 miler.. what did she just run a 35 min 5 miler!!!??? HMPH!!

I tried to ignore her… perhaps she would just go away.. but she would NOT.... I couldn’t shake her.. ...I couldn’t … and well... so it began... we ran together to the finish....

[BTW I come to find out later.. conveniently ...she failed to mention the fact she changed corrals.. so she was NOT 3 minutes behind me and thus when she caught up to me... she didn't have a 3 min lead... she started in my corral and only had a 30 seconds lead... DUDE... !! ]

Good tactical maneuver on her part!..hmmm...had I known... would I have tried to take her out? ..hmmm.. She swears she did tell me...when we were running.. that she had changed corrals... the fact I had ear phones in.. well... today was not about the win but about the friendship... she could have easily taken me out .. but didn't.. in fact she slowed at times to stay with me when she saw I was hurting...and I with her...

She was hurting from her previous day’s flag football with "the Amazons" and I from Saturday's overall female 5K win… so between us …pulling each other… and stubborn persistence (in not letting the other get ahead)… we managed to bring in the last 8 miles of the race…..together… finishing in 1 hour and 52 minutes… (around an 8.30 pace).. not too shabby for two 40 somethings…

Joe ran a blistering 1 hour and 44 minutes (around an 8 min pace)..which just goes to prove that he should have taken this up years ago… this running stuff… he is a natural. With no speed work and on tired legs to pull that... I have to admit that he showed really great restraint in not punching the punk who pushed passed him during the race and then later when Joe got ahead of him, the punk spit on his back.. I tell you… Joe is SOO much the better man… because I would have been arrested… for sure…

Joe waited for me at the finish… I tell you… nothing is better than that.. seeing him at the finish... unless of course it's me waiting for him..




Selected - Chicago Marathon 2021

Exciting.... after trying for a number of years to get into the Chicago Marathon... I was finally selected!!! So now to figure out the best ...