November 20, 2011

Race Reports from Philadelphia Marathon


Well, today didn't exactly go as planned. In some ways Andrea and I had the same race, although my final miles were a lot uglier!

Andrea ran a very impressive marathon debut of 2:49:01 on a challenging, honest course. She was on Olympic Trials qualifying pace through 22 miles. Then she fell off a bit in the final miles, but still finished strong. I am extremely proud of her. She didn't even want to run a marathon until 2 months ago, and she went out and ran a 2:49 and didn't have her best day. That is incredible.

I ended up running 2:25:57. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I was on sub-2:19 pace through 21 miles, and then fell apart on an epic scale. It was brutal. I ran an 8-minute mile at the end. The marathon can humble you. Once I realized I wasn't running 2:18-something, I threw in the towel mentally. I didn't care about running a PR today... it was sub 2:19 or bust. It ended up being a bust! :-)  But a learning experience, and a stepping stone towards 2016!

We were prepared to run 2:19/2:46, I truly believe that. It just wasn't our day. Its been a long season, and the best year of running of our lives. We'll bounce back and run faster than ever in 2012.

Rather than re-post our entire race reports that we have posted on Fast Running Blog, we'll just provide the links. You can read them and hear all our thoughts about how it went down if you are interested...



Here's my day after analysis: What I think went wrong

Some pictures below... tomorrow we are headed to New York City for a few days, then up to Connecticut for Thanksgiving.








Germ mask in the airport on the way to Philly
Shakeout run the day before the race
Expo
Unfortunately we didn't buy all this chocolate
Our bibs
Our hotel room had a kitchen but no utensils, other than measuring spoons!
Target splits written on our arms

Post race
That is how the marathon feels sometimes
Feeling a little better after the race
Dairy Queen!! (after cheesesteaks of course)

Our friend Sarah made us this sign. We won't be at the 2012 trials, but we're keeping the poster and changing the year to 2016... the dream is still alive and the fire burns strong!

5 comments:

  1. I love those pics, it was a great race. Lots of runners participate in this event. Congratulations for a great job well done and looking forward always.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Enjoy the time off of work and the time spent with family. Make sure you take care of yourselfs and recovery properly. I know that a not so great race makes you want to get right back out there and seek revenge but be cautious. If your looking for some good recovery runs you can hook up with me and run at my snail pace. :)

    You both had an AMAZING year and there is no doubt that you will be back stronger than ever in 2012. Love all of the pictures and thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You guys did great and you have to be one of the cutest fast running couples ever! Can't wait for the race where you both hit it! This one will make you both stronger!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Awesome race, love those pics. Great race is it, Congratulations for a great job well done and looking forward always. Keep it u !

    ReplyDelete
  5. you guys are amazing and love reading your posts! regardless of the feelings, you guys had a great race.

    ReplyDelete