Marathonmommy- Race report, please!
And I'm dying to know how the tights worked out!
You certainly don't need to twist my arm....loved Philly - AGAIN! The Expo for this race was not nearly as good as the Rock n Roll Half. There was not nearly as much free stuff. Last time, I walked away with tons of free Luna bars, samples of Greek yogurt, etc. This time, nada. But, Verizon had a cute Kids' Zone and the kids loved playing here while my mom sat and I walked around. Usually love Expos, but since I've now been to a few, it seems to be the same crap everywhere. LOL! I did finally find the Power Band stall I was looking for at Wine and Dine and bought one. It may all be a hoax, but I will take any possible advantage I can get to stay injury free.
Since the race was full by the time I registered, I decided to run for a charity. I decided to run for the Tourettes Syndrome Association. They had a very low fundraising requirement and it seemed like a good cause. I exceeded my requirement, which was a good thing. That night, we had a TSA dinner and we (my mom, DD, DS, and I) sat with another family with two kids. The little girl we sat with had Tourettes - but I don't think I would have picked up on it. Later, my DD told me she noticed it, but the kids had a blast at dinner and I am happy we were able to help out kids having to deal with this daily! Dinner was about 2 hours long, so I am glad they had the company of each other. It was a nice night.
I stayed at Society Hill which is a couple of miles from the start. No cabs were available, and there was a LONG line of people waiting. Took the subway with a bunch of others and followed the crowd to the start. The corrals were disorganized, and no one was checking (so opposite from Disney), so I just ran with the closest one. It was fine.
This course was so different from RnR....but I think better. We started at Ben Franklin Parkway, went down Race Street and down to Penn's Landing. We made our way back up Chestnut and then past the zoo and back to Eakins Oval at the start. The crowd support was absolutely incredible for much of the race. It was so cool to see the different neighborhoods of Philly this way. I am looking forward to going back with the kiddos and seeing the Liberty Bell and other sites! Miles 7-9 were full of hills - I don't know how, but they were all uphill. There was a beast of one near the zoo. I significantly slowed down at the hills! But somehow, I managed to PR...I ran a 2:23:30 - probably because it was the first of my 3 Half Marathons I did not have excruciating knee pain. And yes, I am giving credit to the CW-X compression tights. I really do think they made a difference. I still had some pain in my non-surgery knee near the end, but the pain was not the crippling kind if you know what I mean.
Overall, it was a perfect race day....there was perfect weather, perfect sights, and perfect atmosphere. Loved this race . . . but wouldn't do the full here! (There was a split near the Half finish, and I would be SOOOOOO tempted to finish in the Half chute having just completed the major hills of the race!)
I've always had a little bit of a hip/leg problem, but since the Food and Wine Half I can't seem to get rid of it. Hmmph, I hate to admit it, but I'm really noticing that as I age, my body doesn't recover nearly as quickly. 
Where are you finding these? 
I'm going to have to leave Jersey for some races! I'm not finding anything longer than a 5K around here, except for the occasional 10k waaay up north. My cousin is doing the Princess & she needs a 10k for proof of time. Doesn't seem likely to find one between now & February!
UGH. Always something.
