Philly Half Marathon Race Report

Well, the ING Rock & Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon is finally in the books, after a summer of hard training. And it wasn’t as easy as I was making it out to be.

The morning started off well, about 58 degrees at my 6 AM wake-up, and it was still relatively nice by the time I got into my corral for the 8 AM start. I was running this race alongside my Team McGraw teammate Kathy Heffelfinger, who, when she found out we both had the same time goal in mind (2:05), asked if she could run with me. I wholeheartedly agreed, and it’s a good thing I did.

Usually, I start out too fast, and it gets me in the end. With Kathy running with me, maybe I could reign in my adrenaline and save it for later. We ran a very measured pace throughout the 4-plus miles in Center City Philadelphia, right on target for a 2:05 finish. But I knew something wasn’t quite right. It got hot rather quickly in the city, to the point where I was sweating heavily but only with a heart rate in the mid-70% range.

We kept our pace all the way up Kelly Drive to the Falls Bridge crossing, and then it started to get a little difficult going down MLK Drive. Kathy got a side stitch, so we dialed it back some. By Mile 10, she was starting to fade a little. I hit the wall around Mile 11 (much worse than Kathy did, by comparison). I caught up to her at the final water stop just before Mile 12, but couldn’t keep up.

Finally, the sign for Mile 13 was in sight, which meant the finish line was right around the corner. But turning the corner, I was greeted with a hill. I threw it into high gear (or at least the highest gear I could muster by that point) and crossed the finish line in 2:10:19. Not a PR, but much better than my performance at last year’s Philadelphia Distance Run. Kathy finished about a minute or so before I did.

But I need to thank Kathy for keeping a steady pace – otherwise, I would have gone out too fast and hit the wall much earlier. And her husband got some good pictures of us, too!

Now it’s 5 weeks until my next race, the Army Ten Miler in Washington, DC.

Countdown

6 days and counting until the 2010 ING Rock & Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon! As I've stated before, I'm running this race with the great people of Team McGraw, and especially for my teammate Jen McDevitt, who's once again putting up a fight with another pesky tumor. We're gonna miss her there, but she will be on the minds of everyone on the team come Sunday.

Now, my training. My taper has begun - I did 8 miles (at least) this past Saturday afternoon. I say "at least" because I neglected to re-charge my Garmin, so I did the run by feel, and estimating my mileage. I ran it without knowing my pace, heart rate, or mileage, and I believe I ran about 8.25 miles at about a 9:20 pace. And felt good afterwards.

Today, I planned to run 4 miles, with the middle 2 miles at Tempo pace. I breezed through the run at an average heart rate befow 70% (good), and at a 9:22 total pace, which is below my projected race pace. Again, I feel good.

Wednesday, I plan on running another 4 miles, this time incorporating two half-mile repeats in the middle at 5K pace. Friday will be an easy 3 miles to wind down, and then it's race day on Sunday.

I'm very curious as to how I will perform on the flat Philly course on Sunday. I'm navigating the rolling hills of my neighborhood at race pace or below, so I'm confident that I can hit my mark. We shall see.

Philadelphia Rock & Roll Half Marathon

I did it last year; I'm doing it again. I signed up today with Team McGraw to run the 2010 Philadelphia Rock & Roll Half Marathon (formerly known as the Philadelphia Distance Run). I haven't yet registered for the race, just signed on as a Team McGraw participant again.

For those unfamiliar with Team McGraw, it honors Tug McGraw, the legendary pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets, who was stricken with a brain tumor in 2003 while at spring training as an instructor with the Phillies. Tug eventually succumbed to the tumor in January of 2004. As they state on their website,

The Tug McGraw Foundation was established to raise funds for pioneering brain tumor research and to increase public awareness of the disease. Over 200,000 adults and children annually receive a diagnosis of brain cancer, and the mission of the Foundation is to support research that will improve their quality of life in the physical, social, spiritual, and cognitive areas.

The Foundation develops programs and raises funds for two specific elements in this mission.

The Tug McGraw Research Center within the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University and grants to other medical and research institutions in the United States
Public awareness and education activities promoting knowledge and understanding of brain tumor and related issues

Team McGraw started in 2007 at the New York Marathon, and now participates in 7 distance events around the country, all the while raising funds for brain tumor research.

I joined Team McGraw last year after my step-father developed a brain tumor in January, eventually passing away in April after a valiant fight. I ran the race in his memory, carrying a bag of his ashes with me in my race pouch in September. I also met, as part of the team, Jen McDevitt, a marathoner who is currently battling a brain tumor. She is the epitome of a battler, and I am hoping that she will be running this race with us in September.

My goal is to raise about $1,000 this year. I raised $2,245 last year, and was the top fundraiser for the Philadelphia group. I hope you will all support me as much as you did last year.

You Gotta Believe!!