Yesterday, I ran my first half marathon - the 2013 Philadelphia Half Marathon! I got into this whole racing world in a weird order, having already run two full marathons, so while I'm "on a break" from full marathons, I decided to give the half marathon distance a try. Training for the half marathon distance gave me the opportunity to really focus on speed. To prepare myself for the half marathon, I did a speed workout or a 30-minute training run three times each week, with a long run on the weekend. The long run would range between 6 and 13.1 miles, depending on how I was feeling that week. My training wasn't very structured, but I could tell I was getting faster, which was the end goal (since I already knew I was capable of running the distance). I had a great training with two 13.1 runs below the goal time (1:55) I set for myself at the start of training. |
The race itself was great - it was about 55 degrees (close to perfect running weather), and the energy was HUGE! It was the 20th anniversary of the Philadelphia Marathon with 30,000 runners. Also, my husband was running the race with me (his first race since cross country team in high school), and although we didn't plan it, it was also the 13th anniversary of when we started dating! The first words out of his mouth when the alarm went off at 4:15am were, "this seems like a bad idea," but I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate 13 years than with 13 miles! We lined up at the start line, took in the scene, and before we knew it - we were high-fiving Mayor Nutter! I was in the 2 hour corral, so I knew I was going to have to get my way to the front to maintain a pace somewhere around 8:35. What I was unprepared for was how long this would take and how many people there actually were! It was about 3 miles before I really could settle into my pace, and since I already felt "behind", I was going about 8:20 to catch up. It felt good, so I went with it. I was able to hold the pace on and off for a few miles, but then I got stuck behind a pacer group. | |
I would love to see my miles splits, but my Nike+ app didn't upload my run - how rude! I do have this nice official race time of 1:53:25 - I'll take it! The highlight of the race was our personal cheering squad - Kerry and Jackie. They are both runners themselves, but are new to spectating. I think they did a great job - don't you think? Kerry even pulled out my full nickname for the occasion! |
Where was your first half marathon?