Back in 03 I broke a then 18 yr pr running 1.18.09 only to miss it the following year by 3 seconds and then the following year ran 1.19.00
After the 06 race I pretty much kyboshed road races to focus on the track for the next 10 years b4 making a welcome return in 2017.
Having opened the season over the 1/2 at the Love Run on March 31st w/ a brisk 1.24.24 I had set the bar rather high for myself but based on the Philly 10k from 3 weeks ago where I ran 38.53 off 6.13 mile pace I wondered if 6.20 pace could get me to 1.22?
Like any race it comes down to the weather, being a seasoned pro at PDR/R&R I've experienced it all on the Parkway in mid Sept,picture perfect days,heat and humidity that forced an elite Kenyan to drop out,pissing down rain and the one year it pissed down till mile 11 and then stopped.....really now yer gonna feckin' stop??!!
The forecast was for sunny and warm at least w/ a 7.30am start it shouldn't be too bad right?,bit like saying to the crew of the Titanic" the life boats are just for show right,we won't be needing those feckers????"
Took my place in the first corral and as is my won't kept to the right hand side to facilitate a clear/clearer start
Running east along Race St towards the sun I must've missed the opening mile marker and b4 turning right onto 5th St I could feel the sweat already drippin' off me
Saw 13.00 at 2 miles which was Gun Time and as is my won't I started a little further back in the corral so as not to go off half cocked,my Garmin post race revealed opening splits of 6.10-6.37-6.33-6.00 as we made our way back to the Ben Franklin Parkway
At this point it dawned on me the last 8 miles would be the Art Museum Loop where I conduct my weekly 8 mile Tempo run......this was too good to be true,instead of being on the footpaths of Kelly Dr and West River Dr I'd be out on the road but otherwise it was a carbon copy of the tempo run,the old "visualize the run" mindset had now become a reality!
I told myself not to "over project" and just take each mile as it came,always adding 6.30 to each split which in theory would get me to 13 miles in 1.25.30 plus what ever the .1 at the end would be.
While other runners opted to run on the right hand side of Kelly Dr I hugged the curb to the left knowing the course like the back of my hand,at each water stop I picked off more runners who stopped or slowed,despite the heat I only grabbed a Gatorade at the second water station as my second cup of pre race Barry's Tea......fuck yeah Product placement and future endorsement.....call me...... was still in my taste buds
Over Falls Bridge,sadly the lone Bagpiper who used to serenade us there is from a bygone era,it always stirred my Celtic Blood hearing the bagpipes
From my grueling tempo runs during the heat and humidity in July and August I had learned that West River Drive provided more shade which going into the final four miles would be clutch
I recall 66 mins on the clock at mile 10 and for the first time began to think about the overall finish time which might explain the spike in my splits......that and feckin fatigue setting in!!
Just like the final 3 miles of the tempo runs I told myself to dig deep as a hand written sign held up on Logan Square said"Pain is temporary,Results last forever"......
Eyeballing runners ahead of me I chose my targets to reel in usually anyone wearing dayglo as they tend to stand out like a sore thumb,inside the final mile I remembered all my tempo runs this year since early March where I've passed the 7 mile marker and dug deep for the closing mile.......this is not a drill people it is the real shaggin' thing".....
A few runners who'd passed me earlier were now being left behind as I set my sights on getting to the finish in front of the iconic Art Museum steps,that final slight uphill as you approach the finish is usually where I launch my kick and it would propel me to a sub 1.28 finish today 1.27.52 off 6.36 mile pace
Splits:6.10-6.37-6.33-6.00-6.37-6.34-6.44-6.44-6.41-7.00-6.59-6.45-6.39
For only the second time this season "Mrs Shamrock Warrior" was present for my race,it's been and continues to be a pleasant change of pace to have a partner who is not only supportive of my running but willing to come to my races unlike the "ghosts of girlfriends past" who trotted out tired excuses for not coming out to see me run
I recall a Philly Marathon in 04 I went to as a spectator for a friend of mine who was running her first marathon and seeing a hand written sign that said "P Diddy doesn't run this city,my girlfriend does"{Diddy had ran the NYC Marathon a few weeks earlier} and thinking how lucky someone was to have that love and support.....I no longer have to wonder what that's like....
Medal #197 in the books and a14th PDR/Philly R&R 1/2 under my belt......oh yeah way to bury the lead.....I won the 55-59 age group.....just "another day at the office for the Shamrock Warrior"
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