Philadelphia Marathon - 2013
By Barefoot Gentile
Time: 3:46:28 - A new PR!
Philly was my fifth marathon and 4th barefoot one.
Left Saturday morning with the family to drive to Philly, get there around 12:30, checked into the Sheraton, got settled then walked to the Expo. I'm not a fan of Expo's, not into THE swag, running gear, and shoes, obviously. The goal was to get my bib and get out, it was mayhem in there. I passed a booth where a guy was talking about barefoot and minimalist running, but no time to stop my boys were hungry and cranky as well as the wife and I. We had a late lunch at 3:30, then hit the pool at the hotel for the kids. My wife and kids went out later for ice cream, I just chilled at the hotel, I was done for the day.
Sleep fairly well, woke up at 5am, went to the lobby to get some hot water for oatmeal. I had two packets of oatmeal, a banana, and a small coffee for breakfast. Went back up stairs to the room and ate in the bathroom. I didn't want to wake the family. The starting line was literally a 5 minute walk from where I was staying, at 6:15 I decided to head my way to the race. Security was a breeze, and efficient. Race time was 7:00am.
I went to Goodwill a few weeks before the race to get some sweats, a sweatshirt that I was going to toss at the beginning of race, I was expecting it to be in the 30's or 40's, didn't expect it to be spring like weather for the weekend. 50 degrees at the start and cloudy. I was still bundled up, I get cold easily. 15 minutes before start time I dis-roped. I was wearing a pair of Sanuks with socks to keep my feet warm before the race. I noticed some perplexed stares as I got rid of my footwear and took my place barefoot in the corral.
In the corral I happened to see the 3:45 pacer so I lined up with them, kind of wanted to run my own race but thought I would just hang back and keep them in my sight I felt great at the start and throughout the race. Keeping up with the 3:45 pacer was very comfortable. It was wild running through the narrow streets of Philly while trying to jockey for position, lots of fun! We came to our first hill (if you call it a hill), people were shouting out and giving warning that the HILL is here! My reaction was that's it?! It was a breeze, honestly I wouldn't even call those hills, more like a low-grade gradual incline. I'm happy to have the types of hills I have in my area to run and train on.
At mile 17 I had to hit the bathroom, I didn't want to but needed to I didn't want to offend myself or others with some stained shorts and stuff dripping down my legs. By this time I lost the 3:45 pacer. Mile 18 and 19 I was playing catch up and running at a 8:15 pace but decided to slow it down and forget about the pacer. Time to run my own race now. I felt really good, then by mile 21 started to feel it in the legs. I took more GU's than usual throughout the race. I took around 6 of them, which I think helped, and just drank water at the stations. At mile 22 I then took a beer, only took a few sips, good stuff, gave me a bit of kick! Stayed focused and headed home to the finish.
One of the cool parts of the race was getting to see the Elites run by on the other side of the road. The volunteers were amazing, the crowds were amazing, the cheer zones were the best I have seen. Very entertaining and the energy rocked. So far the best marathon I have run, and the funnest.
Splits:
10K - 53:15 - 8:35 pace
13.1 - 1:52:58 - 8:38 pace
30k - 2:40:14 - 8:36 pace
Finish - 3:46:28 - 8:39 pace