Philadelphia Half Marathon

I did it!!

In 1:56:01, with an average pace of 8:51. It’s not quite the pace I was hoping for, but I did manage to cut 13 seconds off my 9:04 average from April!

The morning began with a 5 am wakeup call. I got dressed, strapped on my Garmin, and inhaled a massive bowl of Cheerios, blueberries and almond milk before hopping in the car with mom and dad.

Last night, I found this card on my desk- a good luck note from Lizzy that had arrived in my absence and gotten lost in the piles my parents leave there when I’m gone. It was the perfect mental boost.

Favorite running quote!

We got to the race site, where I used the porta potties, bid my mom farewell and headed to the gray corral to line up. I crossed the start line about 20 minutes after the gun.

Running through the streets of center city was amazing. It was packed with spectators and runners alike, and the energy was just incredible. I loved running a race in my home city!!

My splits:

• Mile 1- 9:05
• Mile 2- 8:30
• Mile 3- 8:34
• Mile 4- 8:34
• Mile 5- 8:36
• Mile 6- 8:55
• Mile 7- 8:30
• Mile 8- 9:07
• Mile 9- 9:00
• Mile 10- 9:09
• Mile 11- 9:04
• Mile 12- 8:57
• Mile 13- 9:05
• Mile 13.1- :52 seconds

Overall, I maintained a pretty steady pace, staying between 8:30 and 9:09. It was hard to run hard for the first few miles with so many runners, which ended up being a blessing in disguise- I’m glad I saved that energy! Mile 8 was where I started to feel the distance, and, incidentally, also where one of my toenails started to hurt.

Is it gross that I’m actually kind of proud of my black toenail? I feel so much more legit now J And I’m in desperate need of a pedicure for my hobbit feet, I know.

I crossed the official finish line at 2:16-ish, right in time to watch the marathon winner go by. Hard to believe he ran twice as far as me in only twenty more minutes!

In front of the famous Philadelphia Art Museum, home of the “Rocky steps.”

The medals are gorgeous! I love that City Hall is on both the ribbon and the medal itself- complete with Billy Penn, cursing us all J

Not knowing what the food situation would be post-race, I’d brought a cinnamon-raisin Alvarado Street sprouted bagel to snack on in the car:

And once home and showered, I dug into a mammoth bowl of oats.

• ¾ c oats
• 1 c almond milk
• ½ c pumpkin
• sliced banana
• chopped apple
• two spoonfuls of peanut butter
• spoonful of ground flax
• sprinkles of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice
• honey

Now, it’s naptime. Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!