So apologies for no blog last week, in the build up to PDR off the back of another two failed attempts to get double digit mileage runs in I opted not to post anything, hoping some positive vibes would magically appear in my legs for Sundays all important Philadelphia Distance Run......
In the week leading up to Sunday I didn't get out along the Schuylkill River Trail/Kelly Drive, a late start to work on Monday put me behind the proverbial 8 ball and then Tuesday when I was quite gung ho about getting after it I waited an age for the trolley home, another nite it was close to 6 pm when I got home w/ the evenings drawing in now and it getting dark by 7.30pm I need to be out the door b4 6pm if I'm going to be out there for 90 mins/10 miles etc.....an excuse that would hold water in late September early October I know.....part of my reluctance I felt this week was my piss poor form of late since mid July I have only logged two 10 mile runs July 13th and July 28th like anything when your form isn't there the desire and drive to get out and get after it tends to be in short supply.....even if I had magically managed a 10 miler on Wednesday or Thursday I doubt it would have made a can of beans worth of difference to how Sundays race would play out........
For the umpteenth time since my PDR debut in 1989 I was up at the arse crack of dawn to get to the Ben Franklin Parkway by 6.30am for a 7.30pm start, while waiting in line for the portajohn on Eakins Oval I saw 59 degrees displayed on trusty Peco Tower a good morning for a race I have faced all manner of conditions over the years in this race, hot and humid, gray and overcast, pissed out of the heavens and idylic today was close to the later although the sweat off my running vest into the top part of my shorts indicated a reasonable amount of humidity along the out and back course, like last year it was down the Parkway, round Logan Circle back up the Parkway, up Kelly Drive, over Falls Bridge, down West River Drive making the turn b4 Columbia bridge, back up West River Drive, over Falls Bridge, down Kelly Drive and finishing in front of the Art Museum
Corral 3, I fear my days of the 1st corral are behind me, in fairness I don't recall what time I put for my seed time but I was a bit concerned to see the 1.50 pace group behind me , again off piss poor form coming into the race I had no overriding concerns about my finish time, speed or pace.....on Saturday nite I did wonder what if?.......what if like my recent attempts at 10 mile runs I got to mile 6-7 and ran out of steam.......long feckin walk back to Eakins Oval to get my bag........I quickly dismissed such thoughts I was reminded of an old Usain Bolt quote on my living room door I see b4 each training run/ race " worrying gets you nowhere, train hard show up for your race and run your best" sage advice......easy for a 100m/200m runner to say not so easy for a distance runner but worrying wasn't going to help me get to and from the finish so why use up nervous energy?
Clear enough start, was cognizant that I " wasn't ripping up any trees" w/ my pace, sadly a theme of my last 4 races{Love Run Hot Choc 15k Broad St Run Philly 10k} since late March, 7.52 for the opening mile I hadn't given any real thought to pace so sub 8 seemed ok if I could maintain it.....I'm painfully aware of the old adage ' if my Aunt had balls she'd be my Uncle" so ......... 7.57 at mile 2 and 8.06 at mile 3, I vaguely recall 25 mins plus at 5k, at this pace I'd be lucky to break 1.50.......
8.12-8.06-8.17 for the next 3 miles and over Falls Bridge, by now there was a steady flow of runners coming back up West River Dr towards Falls Bridge......I remember those days running 1.18-1.20 for a half marathon..... sadly from a bygone era I fear, made the turn on West River Drive b4 Columbia Bridge, mile 7 was 8.29.....ever so slowly my splits were creeping up but I was still moving.
Between mile 7 and 8 I stopped briefly to walk b4 getting going again now was when I would have to dig in mentally and physically w/ just over 5 miles to go, unlike my recent incomplete runs I had other runners to work off of, and to put things in perspective as bad as a day I thought I was having I was about to hit mile 9 crossing Falls bridge, there were runners who had yet to hit mile 5..... and further down Kelly Drive I saw the 2.45 pace group w/ a few runner behind it.....that takes some doing to not only commit to a 2.45 half marathon but also know you'll be so far behind everyone else who's finished but also watching runners on the other side of the road heading towards the finish when you haven't even made the half way mark/turnaround.....mad respect to those runners
9.14 at mile 9 this was "survival mode" I went about each mile knowing I was closer to the finish. 9.08 at mile 10 by this point I'd stopped calculating what each mile would be, just take one mile at a time and keep making my way towards the Art Museum and the finish line, whatever my 10 mile time was {1.24 I think} I was slower than my time for Broad Street in May when I ran 1.14, each mile resulted in a brief stop b4 getting going again, the longer I walked the harder it would be to get going again, unlike those failed runs in August & early September when I had to endure the walk of shame I was going to finish this race running...no matter how slowly! 9.29 at mile 11 but 10.29 at mile 12 as I stopped twice now for the final 1.1 mile at this point the goal was to break 1.55....I always knew there would come a day when I'd end up running a 1.55 half marathon.....I had just hoped it would be later in my 60s......
9.42 at mile 13 b4 a 58 second .1 to cross the line in 1.54.44 off 8.44 pace.....well at least I finished period and claimed medal #6 for the season and #249 for the career albeit w/ my slowest ever time for a half marathon but now in the cold light of day comes the inquest......unless in the next 38 days b4 I board my flight to Dublin I can somehow pull together some serious double digit mileage the Dublin Marathon WON'T happen, it's one thing to grind thro a half marathon when the work hasn't been done but I'm NOT subjecting myself to that over 26.2 miles nor fair on me not fair on my family to wait around four hours for me to cross the finish line
Hopefully finally getting a double digit run in albeit w/ the aid of 6 walk brakes yesterday triggers something this week as I look to build on that at this point I'd settle for one 20 mile run b4 Dublin but I need to get to 20 first, we'll start slowly this week and hope and pray the miles come
