~Philadelphia Marathon 11/23/08~

[KeenHo]

Hi everyone!

I am just getting back in town after visiting the South Salem, New York area which is in West Chester County, New York. (Not up-state as previously mentioned in error ). I'm from the Pittsburgh area originally and from Delaware now so everything in New Your is up-state to me.

Judy's DH (Charlie) and I ran the Ridgeville, CT half marathon course yesterday covering a total of 13 miles in 2:12 for an overall pace of 10:13. It was a beautiful rolling course amongst tree lined streets bordered by beautiful homes and well manicured grounds. I wasn't out to beat myself up with a really quick pace and even before I started we agreed to keep it close to Charlie's pace. He ran a 13 instead of a 9 which was what he had on his schedule. It was really nice to have a running partner. I think my training would be easier if I ran with someone on a regular basis. Someone that would be well matched with me and could push me from time to time too.

Congrats to Cindy on the 20 Miler!

I want to send pixie dust to everyone with a injury that is recovering.

I am not planning a taper for the upcoming PDR next Sunday since the run is part of my MCM training. I have a rest day on Friday and I will not run Saturday so that is a good break before the (hopefully PR) half on Sunday.

Be good. Have a great week!



Howard

 

[Jodi]

SundayBots

Cindy - I mean, what else can I say??? Truly inspirational. It is so humid out, I don't know how you did it. A big confidence builder, to be sure!!!!!! I'm so proud of you!

Mikey - OUCH Sorry your ailing. Please follow your own advice & take a few days off, kay? Ice it, and you KNOW how I feel about self-massage . Don't sweat not finishing the run...I do it all the time .

Howard - Glad you had a great trip & nice job on the 13.1 miles, nice & easy is the way to go, especially since you have PDR next week!! Welcome home.

Loucy - Ouch to you, too! Stay off that knee for the week & see how it feels on Friday, yeah? Maybe don't take too much Motrin so you can really get an idea of how bad you hurt yourself? Hope it's better in the a.m.

Dave - Waiting for a race report

Sara - Ugh for the treadmill & the weather...I'm with you, let's just wait until the weather gets better!! BTW, how' your little one? Feeling better I hope? Have you signed up for Philly yet?

Theta - HI!! Let us know how your mega walk goes tomorrow!!

I sat on the couch like a tick today.

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Hey Everyone: I had a lot of fun at the Rochester Half Marathon yesterday. This was the first time running my hometown event. They've only been doing it for 4 years. Last year I had signed up to run the half marathon, but I couldn't do it because of my Mom's funeral.

I woke up at 5:00am yesterday, and it was already 70+ degrees and 80-90% humidity. I wouldn't need any extra clothes to keep warm at the starting line. I ate my powerbar, drank a powerade, and got ready to go.

The race started at Rochester's Frontier Field home of our minor league baseball team. Traffic was backed up, but I got to the parking lots in plenty of time. Picked up my timing chip, and walked the half mile to the starting line. My training plan (that I kind of made up myself), called for 15 miles this week. So I planned on doing a two mile warmup run before the race start. I put on my iPod, played the DIS Unplugged Podcast, and slowly ran from the starting line to the 1 mile point. I felt really relaxed, and it was fun running down the middle of the course all by myself. No one else was on the course at all.

I got back to the starting line right when the full marathon was about to start. Watched the start of that race, and the half marathon was going to start 15 minutes later. I used a natural porta-potty (i.e., tree), stretched, put my iPod away, ate a GU, and then lined up for the race.

We're off. I wanted to run around a 9 min/mile pace for the race, but since my Garmin died I didn't have any watch on. I would just have to rely on the course timers. I hit the first mile right at 8:55 min. So far so good... unfortunately, the race is not that big, and that was one of the few times on the course there was a timer. So I'm just going to have to rely on my own pace.

The air was incredibly thick and humid, but I was feeling comfortable. It was also nice to run on streets I was really familiar with. I had trained on a lot of this course over the past 3 years.

Hit the 4 mile mark and eat my GU. Usually when I take my GU every 4 miles, I take a walk break while I do it. In my mind I think, "I wonder if I can run this whole thing without walking?" That becomes my new goal. Run the whole half marathon with no walk breaks.

Between 4-5 miles I ran right past my neighborhood. DW, DD10 , and DD7 were not out. They were still sleeping. At 5 miles I get my last time check, timer yells out 43:30 as I go by. So I'm right on my pace, and I'm still feeling good.

Next two miles are from my neighborhood to the Erie Canal Trail. I'm really familiar with this stretch because I run it every week for my LR. We hit the park with the trailhead for the Erie Canal Trail at 7 miles, the clouds break, and the sun comes out. With the sun on us, it is HOT!!! I start dumping water over my head. The air is so humid, nothing dries. My shirt and shorts are soaked. Just keep running, just keep running...

Eat a GU at mile 8 - no walk break, just keep running... very hot. My head is throbbing, and I keep dumping water on my head. My right hip is starting to bother me - which it's been doing the past couple weeks, but I ignore it.

Mile 10, there's a runner stretching by the mile marker. I ask her for the time. She yells out 1:28. I'm still on pace, and still running. Now I just gut it out the last 3 miles. I'm tired, I want a walk break, but I tell myself I'm not stopping now.

The last 2 miles we're off the relatively shady canal trail, and running on city streets back to Frontier Field for the finish line. Now that we're in full sun, I really start to feel how hot it is getting. I don't attempt to pick up my pace for the finish, I just want to run the whole way.

There it is, I see the finish line, and cross in...

1:56:18!!
A new half marathon PR for me by 2 minutes.

Whoa it's hot, and I want to get out of the sun. I get some water, powerade, banana, and sit and stretch. I think to myself, "if I was running the full marathon, I'd be out on the course at least another 2 hours." Man, I feel bad for those people that have to run 2 more hours in the heat. My right hip is sore, and I'm limping a little bit. I stick around at the finish line, and watch the winner of the full marathon come through. Time to go home.

Later in the day, I check the results online, and I start to see news reports that the marathon course was shut down at noon because of the heat. It's true, evidently around 10:00am (I finished at 9:45a) they "red flagged" the course. Put signs on every water stop saying the heat was reaching dangerous levels, and making sure everyone drinks. At noon, they shut the course down. If you had passed the 20 mile point, you had the option to finish, but if you were still on the course you were picked up.

I'm still limping around today, and hope I haven't hurt my right hip too much. I'm taking a full rest day today, and hopefully it will start to feel better.

Thanks for reading. Talk to you all later.

 

[msblrobs]

Dave - Congrats on the PR !! No small feat with those weather conditions. Lots of for your hip and enjoy your well deserved rest day today.

Howard - Congrats to you and Charlie on quite a successful 1/2 as well . Can you hook up with your local running club to try to find a running partner ? I know they have online sites as well to try to match up athletes looking to train together.

Jodi - Thanks for asking about Rinne - we think it was all due to molars coming in .

Colleen - Sending you lots of for tons of nirvana on your LR this morning .

PROUD MOM POST - DD7 got 10 inches of her hair cut off to donate to Locks of Love . I am mailing her ponytail today and we are so excited to think a child with cancer will benefit from her generosity .

I have my marathon strategy all set . I am going to run/walk/whatever the full in Philly in November as long as Colleen commits to the same. Then I am going to run the RNR Marathon in San Diego on 5/31 since we're already booked in a timeshare from 5/23-5/30 in So Cal. I redeemed some Hilton Honors points for a room the night before the marathon in San Diego so it's a done deal .

6 this morning in the dark. The neighbors had a tree fall on their house during the night so lots of fire trucks and EMS to brighten up the roads a bit. I'll run a few more miles or bike tonight as well. Have a great week guys

 

[KeenHo]

Hi, my DW (Cam) offered to host one of her (almost) famous night before Philly Marathon lasagne parties at our house in Wilmington, Delaware. We are about 30 minutes south of Philadelphia along I-95 (just over the state line in Delaware).

If you might be interested, please let me know and we'll see if there is enough interest to pull it off.

Dave~ Congratulations on the PR!!! My PR is 1:59:37! I hope that will fall this weekend though. I know it is something you need to work hard at, 1:56:18's don't fall off of trees. Good effort and you should be glowing inside and out about that time.


I have 5 miles on tap for tonight after work.

Have a great week!



Howard

 

[Jodi]

Wow Howard, that's extremely generous of you & Cam to offer...especially since you've never met me before... You've been reading my posts, right?

 

[lourodrigis]

Hi, my DW (Cam) offered to host one of her (almost) famous night before Philly Marathon lasagne parties at our house in Wilmington, Delaware. We are about 30 minutes south of Philadelphia along I-95 (just over the state line in Delaware).

If you might be interested, please let me know and we'll see if there is enough interest to pull it off.

Howard - I agree with Jodi. You may want to think twice before inviting her.
Actually, I am up for it but I am just as up for eating in Philadelphia. Whatever the peeps decide is fine with me. If we choose to eat in Philly I just need to know what type of food and what price range and I'll throw a few places out. The place I went to on Saturday, Mixto (1141 Pine Street), had awesome Latin food and the prices were reasonable for Center City.

The knee is feeling a little better today but if the PDR were tomorrow I would be on the DL. Right now my left hip hurts more than my knee but that's from limping around so much. I slept with a knee brace on last night and that helped. I'm also trying to do the whole R.I.C.E. thing as much as possible. I think I may be a game time decision for the PDR. If I can walk up the stairs by Friday without pain I'll run it with a brace on.

Lou

 

[Theta]

Howard - I agree with Jodi. You may want to think twice before inviting her.

Lou

I am game for anything too! I will put a shout out for Cam's lasagna though, it is AWESOME and the company is great too!

Well I got my 12 miles walking in today. It hurt. It hurt partly because I was dumb and partly because well, I was dumb. First off, I didn't stretch enough before and could actually feel my knee cap riding up. So I had to stop and stretch about 4 times in the 12 miles. Secondly, I didn't learn anything from my last 4 marathons when I consumed some sort of "fuel" every 4 miles. Well I guess I thought I didn't need anything for 12 miles and 3 hours of exertion. I didn't carry any gels, beans or even gatorade, nada. I knew I had places to stop for water at mile 4 and 8 and thought I would be good. Ah, NOT! Did I say I HURT?!?!

I am drinking a glass of wine now so the pain will just go away. All day I kept saying, THIS IS DEFINITELY MY LAST MARATHON!! So if I could, after Philly marathon, I would rename this thread, ~JAMAICA or BUST~ or ~McPhill-Hawaii- Bots~. Any place I could have a foofoo umbrella drink in my hand.

 

[KeenHo]

Hi ! I am glad Colleen has been to a WDW Lasagne Party and can vouch for me, Cam and the lasagne. Honestly, we have plenty of room here and would love to host everyone. If some people are in town and need a way here, I am sure I can arrange to pick someone up or get a car pool started. Let's see what everyone thinks.

Lou: I hope you feel better and can run this weekend.

I was supposed to XT today but I ran today instead and tomorrow Cam and I are taking the first of several dance lessons in preparation of our vow renewal in January on Monday, January 12. So, I will consider that my Xt for the week.

Here is what I accomplished:

Miles: 5
Time: 40:43
Pace: 8:09

Splits:
8:16
8:42
8:13
7:56
7:36

Have a great night!



Howard

 

[Optimator]

Hey McPhillyFriends.

Tonight at dinner the DD's are telling us about the Internet safety talk they had at school today. Did you know you're never supposed to tell strangers your name, where you live, how old you are, post pictures of yourself, and you are NEVER supposed to meet up with people from the Internet!!! They didn't mention anything about bib numbers? We are setting fine examples here!

Completely unrelated...

Howard - That is extremely generous of you and Cam. Just remember though, we're a party of 5! I think Jodi can behave for the evening. My 3 little darlings, not so sure. Heck, who am I kidding. I'm the one you'd have to worry about.

[Miles: 5
Time: 40:43
Pace: 8:09

Splits:
8:16
8:42
8:13
7:56
7:36

A 7:36?? What, was something chasing you!

Dave - Excellent job on the new PR! Especially in such hot and humid conditions. By thankful you weren't running the full. I hope the hip calms down for you.

Colleen - Sorry that your 12 miles was no fun. Are you feeling better? Did the wine help?

Lou - I know PDR is a hometown race and all, but I wouldn't do anything too hasty and mess up your chance to run the rest of the fall. Just take it easy and listen to your body.

Sara - You gotta love a woman with a plan (as if you all didn't already know what you wanted and how to go about getting it! ).

That's so great about DD7 donating her hair. She should really be proud of herself as well.

Cindy - Belated congrats on your 20 miler. It's been a LONG time since I've even sniffed that kind of distance. Even better that you don't hate running.

Jodi - Hey chicky. I keep forgetting to ask, have you had a chance to use your new weapon that Bruce got you? Maybe some poor unsuspecting paperboy or something?

What are your plans for WDW when you're down for the Yeti?


I ran 5+ miles this morning. My thigh was pretty much fine until about mile 5 then I could start to feel it. Not really a hurt, just sort of knew it was there so I just coasted the rest of the way home and called it a successful run.

All the activities, work, and a couple of back to school nights are going to make it tough to get all the scheduled miles in this week. I guess it's a good week to take it easy anyway.

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Good Morning Everyone: Thanks for the congrats on my half marathon. I'm feeling pretty good about it, and my hip's feeling better. For the first time since I started running again 3 years ago I used some pain relieving ointment on it. It really worked! I'm feeling a lot better. I'm going to try to run again today, but I'll take it easy that's for sure.

Mike- Nice job on your 5 miler. What's up with your thigh? I can't remember when you hurt it. Is it just rebelling from starting to run again after the 3 week vacation?

Howard- Thank you so much for your's and Cam's generous offer to have us down to dinner during the Philly marathon. I would love to take you up on your offer. It would be great to be able to spend some time with you and Cam again. Thank you so much. I'm game for whatever the group decides. You guys are great. And congrats on your 5 miler run. Wow, you have gotten really fast lately. Have you been doing any speedwork? Or are you just pushing the pace on your runs?

Colleen- Why didn't you take any fuel with you? Sorry you had a stonker 12 miler. Good for you for sticking with it though.

Lou- How'd your sister's book signing go? I told my DD10 about it, and she was really interested in getting a copy of the book. She so loves to read, and thought it was so cool that your sister was a published author. Take it easy on your knee. Good luck with your decision for the PDR.

Hi Jodi- Haven't heard much about your running lately. I'm excited for the Yeti. What are your plans for the weekend? Where are you and your son going to be? Is Bruce going down?

Sara- You really have some pretty special girls. You should be proud. Whoo hooo, so you're down for the Philly full. Now Colleen has to commit.

Cindy- I'm really impressed with your training plan. You are going to be in such good shape for Philly. I'm looking forward to meeting you at the Yeti.

 

[Theta]

Colleen- Why didn't you take any fuel with you?

Dave, like I said, either I am dumb, have Alzheimers setting in or maybe even premenopausal. Arn't you glad you asked! Congratulations on your wonderful performance in your half marathon. Glad to hear the hip is feeling better too. What kind of ointment are you using?

Sara, your daughter's donation to Locks of Love is so cool! What a wonderful gift.

Mike, funny story about your DD's internet lesson in school.

Lou, take Mikes advice and carefully assess your injury before you head out for the race this weekend. There will be more races.

Jodi, what do you planned for a run today?

Howard, thanks again for the invite. I guess you need you go back and ask Cam if she is ready for a huge group. I will keep Mike and Jodi on their best behavior.

Alright, so I got 12 miles in yesterday and I am feeling really behind compared to Cindy's banging out 20! Yoga today for me to try and stretch out this hip, ITBand, etc.

 

[Jodi]

Hey DisPhillyScaryInternetStalker Bots!

Dave - You are my hero What a terrific performance on your 1/2! The NYC wasn't that hot/humid & wanted to roll into a ball & cry . My hat is off to you (but I gotta put it back on now 'cause my hair's greasy ). Loved your report, too! Glad the hip isn't too mad!

Colleen - Hey man, nice job on that 12 miler!! Sorry it was rough, but @ least you know if you're deserted somewhere 12 miles from food & gu you can make it out alive! Did the yoga loosen everything up?

Howard - I PROMISE I'll behave!! Bruce will behave, too. (I'll give him some Benadryl b4 we get there). There's only two of us, not like Mike! I'm loving your training, dude, keep it up.

Mike - As long as there's a life guard I'm sure the girls would be fine @ the hotel pool for a few hours... . Better yet, I'm sure Bruce would volunteer to watch them, since he's only a Bot-by-association! . Stay off that leg for a while & take it easy this week.

Sara - You gotta love your daughters charitable heart , are you going to Philly solo?

Lousy-goosy - How's the knee...I'll chime in with the rest in saying that I think you should be very cautious with the PDR...you don't want to miss out on the marathon, right?

Yesterday I ran 5 miles in the a.m., today I did a slow 2 mile swog w/ my son, trying to prep him for Yeti & a fundraiser his little school is doing @ the Hartford Marathon in Oct...Yep, I'm the coordinator of this particular fundraiser . I'll run tomorrow, too. Supposed to do 12 this weekend, but I might run a local 1/2 on Sun. if the weather cooperates.

As far as the Yeti goes, Spence & I are arriving on Thurs p.m. & staying @ AKL (DVC points). We'll get our crud on Fri a.m., then chillax as we're going to Mickey's Halloween Keg Party on Fri. night. Then Food & Liquor festival on Sat., then the Yeti, then home on Sun. I just got a cheap rate for a rental car from Budget for $54 for the entire stay & think I may jump on it...I hate those dang buses!!

 

[msblrobs]

are you going to Philly solo?

Should I PM you ?

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

I just got a cheap rate for a rental car from Budget for $54 for the entire stay & think I may jump on it...I hate those dang buses!!

Oooh, do tell me about the rate. I may jump on it too.

So I think I'm going solo for Philly too.

 

[rKyDeX]

Howard
Tracy and I are always up for lasagna. Our only hold-up is transportation. Maybe we can carpool with some of the other W.I.S.H.ers staying at the Embassy Suites.

Jodi, Dave and Cindy
RE: Expedition Everest. I'm driving the Ark over to Ft. Wilderness with the dogs on Friday afternoon. Miranda has marching band on Friday night's football game, so she and Tracy are driving over on Saturday. I'll probably try go to packet pick-up Friday afternoon. Saturday morning I've got an 8 miler scheduled so I'll probably run to Wilderness Lodge and then back to the Fort.

Colleen
Rename the thread "Honolulu-Philly-MCM..." and join Tracy and I for 2009 Honolulu Marathon on December 13th. It's a "no time limit" event, so it will be perfect for Tracy.

Sara
What a great thing DD7 has done. My sister has donated a couple of time to Locks of Love. It's a truly worthy organization.

Mike and Lou
Hey to the walking wounded. Lou, watch those knee injuries, they can take a looooong time to heal. Even after you can do stairs painlessly, you'll have to watch out on long runs. Good luck on your recoveries.

I'm still trying to shake the sinus infection I picked up in California. I skipped last Sunday's 15 miler and hope to make it up this Sunday instead of the 11 that is scheduled.

Chester
W.I.S.H. Half-Fast Marathon Team

 

[lourodrigis]

Mike - I hear you about the PDR. We'll see. Rest the thigh.

Dave - The book signing was great. There were a lot of people there. It was exciting seeing my sister autographing books. If your daughter comes to Philly I'll have my sister sign the book. She should be at the finish line since she lives in town. Actually by Philly book #2 will be out too.

Colleen - Sorry we couldn't get the MCM thing worked out. I think it ends up working out better for me because I was worrying about being ready. Plus having a wedding the night before MCM wasn't making it easy on me. Thanks again!

Jodi - Sounds like you will be having a great time at the Yeti. The one nice thing about the buses is that you can do all your drinking and let WDW worry about getting you back to AKL.

It's Tuesday and my knee feels a lot better than yesterday...still not good enough to run on. I managed to walk (very slowly) up and down the steps without having to take one step at a time. I have been icing and wrapping it for 3 days and it seems to be working. I think I'll try to go out on my bike tomorrow morning just to try some low impact stuff. I think I am 60/40 for the PDR now.

Now that I am out of MCM I don't need to worry about any long LR's for a few weeks. The 18-mile LBI run is on 10/12 so I may just lay low after the PDR until then.

Lou

 

[CynthiaCindy]

Hi all!

I have just returned from an unexpected trip to NJ. Seriously. Yesterday around 4:00PM I was told that I need to take a train to Northern NJ sometime that night to be at an early morning board meeting today. I was supposed to be able to call in, but the client decided at the last minute that they wanted me there in person. Great. I didn't even get to the hotel until after midnight. Thus, in order to get close to 5 hours of sleep, I only had time to run 4 miles this morning instead of 6. And on the treadmill again (at least there was an airconditioning unit blowing directly on me, kind of nice).

Tomorrow I have 14 miles scheduled That will be the longest run I have ever done before work (and, thankfully, the longest weekday run on my schedule). I think I need to get up at 4.

Dave - Congrats on the PR! That's awesome - I really enjoyed reading your race report.

Howard (and Cam) - Thanks so much for the offer to have us all over. That is so generous of you, but it really is a lot of us - are you sure you want that many people in your house the night before you have to run a marathon? Oh, and Matt can't do dairy or else he'll be making more Jodistops than there are miles in a marathon!

Lou - I'm so sorry about your knee. That totally sucks. I hope that it continues to heal for you. Have you considered getting a doctor to check it out?

Colleen - Sorry that you had a sucky run. At least you covered the distance, right?

Jodi - Do tell on how you got that Budget deal.

Chester - good luck in getting rid of the sinus infection.

Mike - Did you register for the MCM 10K (or the Philly marathon for that matter)?

Sara - That's so great that your DD donated to Locks of Love. I'm happy to hear that you will definitey be doing Philly. Colleen - you're going to register now, right?

 

[SilverE]

Aaaargghhhh! For some reason my computer has been unable to load this site for 2 days. I'm back on, and I'll catch up later; I have to go put the kiddos to bed.

Hope you are all well.

 

[wfloyd]

Hey Steve and Bill!

Colleen - A little late but hello.

Howard - I didn't know that there was going to be a lasagna party for Philly or I might have had to think about it a little harder.

It is nice to see where all the speedy people are now. Hopefully one day I can get within eyesight of some of these paces.

Bill