Race Recap: 2019 Philadelphia Marathon

I am so excited to be typing up this recap for the Philadelphia Marathon this past Sunday because to be quite honest, I'm shocked I made it to the finish line. For those of you who didn't know, I ran the Philadelphia Marathon this weekend with minimal training considering I won the entry just a few short weeks ago. You can read all about that here if you'd like!

So like I said, I went into this marathon with very little training. For the other 3 marathons I've done, I put in 18 weeks of training with long runs going up to 20 miles. Because this was a last minute decision, I followed a half marathon training schedule up until the Hershey Half at the end of October. After that I ran a 17-miler, 12-miler, and 8-miler as far as long runs. I actually felt good going into marathon weekend. I'm sure I would've been fine if the weather hadn't been less than ideal. My best running friend, Rachel, and John braved the cold and came with me to cheer me on! Anywho, onto the recap which just a bit of a warning, probably will just be a jumbled mess of my thoughts so bear with me! It was quite a day...

The expo was fun, as always!

The forecast called for rain most of Sunday morning so I tried my best to dress accordingly. I wore capris and a tank with a long sleeve tech shirt over top. I started the race with a light jacket over top but more about that later. When I woke up that morning, it was lightly drizzling out. Once we got over to Philly and parked, it has started to let up. At that point I made the decision to wear the light jacket over my long sleeve shirt and a pair of throw away gloves. The coat is sort of water resistant so I figured it would work well. Unfortunately, it had rained all night so there were a lot of puddles everywhere and my feet were already getting wet on the walk over. We got through security fairly quickly. I made the decision to use one of the first port-a-potties I found and honestly, it was the BEST decision because the ones closer to the corrals had ridiculously long lines. I went a bit earlier than usual but I probably wouldn't have even gotten the opportunity to go if I didn't stop earlier.

John and Rachel stood with me for a bit near my corral until the first corrals were starting to leave. They moved towards the start at that point so they could cheer me on as I crossed the start line. As usual, I was in the last corral (#teamturtle) so I didn't end up starting until about 25 minutes after the first corral. Like almost every big race, the start is crowded so I spent the first mile or so darting around people so I could fall into a comfortable pace.

Within the first 3 miles I started to get an odd feeling on the inside of my right foot. It felt like the sock was bunched up so when I stopped to use a port-a-potty at the first group of them where the line wasn't ridiculously long (I think around mile 3?), I tried fixing it. Once I started back up running, it still felt funny so this time I stopped and actually took my shoe off. At that moment, I found the last thing I wanted to see this early in a race: a huge blister forming.... I quickly got out my phone and called John to see if there was any possible way he could get to me before mile 14 (it was planned for them to see me at the start, around halfway, and the finish) with moleskin, bandaids, or any other stuff that could help me. He looked at the map and sadly could not figure out a way to get to a drug store and make it to where I was in a timely manner but he'd get something for me to put on at mile 14. I was bummed until a lightbulb went off and I remembered I had a spare piece of KT tape in my hydration backpack that I kept there for emergencies. I ended up wrapping it around where the blister was forming in hopes it would protect it and stop the pain. While it was a great idea, unfortunately it helped very little. I also ended up having a second blister form on the inside of my left foot.

This looked prettier in person...

I focused most of my attention on the pain the blisters were causing as I cruised through the earlier miles. Normally the hills between miles 7 and 10 would absolutely kill me but I couldn't even think about them. I honestly don't even remember if it rained again at all. I was so excited to see John and Rachel around mile 14. I made the decision not to put any of the bandaids on that John had gotten in fear that if I took my shoes off, I'd never want to put them back on. Instead I handed off my light jacket and gloves as I was getting pretty warm. 

BIG. MISTAKE.

Once I left John and Rachel, it started to rain again. Like, freezing cold rain that was permeating everything I was wearing, making me feel frozen to the core. The rain was angled so it was going right in my face. At this point in the race, we were running along the Schuylkill River so the winds were much stronger and frequent. I tried my best to focus on the sights (I absolutely LOVE Boathouse Row) and all the spectators. I was honestly surprised at how many people still came out the spectate even with the weather. 

So glad John captures this wonderful picture of me as I ran up to him haha I must’ve looked miserable the whole time. 

As I headed towards Manayunk, around mile 18ish, I was starting to lose my motivation. I began thinking about how I'd feel if I just gave up at this point. I knew that quitting this late in the race would just be silly since I had less than 8 miles left to go. I would be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind a couple more times before I finished...

Manayunk pumped me up like always! It's like one big party as you cruise down the main street towards the turn around. And then the party keeps going until you leave the town. Once I left Manayunk, the spectators started to die down and so did my drive. The frustrating part is that for the back of the packers, like me, you see a lot of spectators cheering on those between miles 23-25 while you're still around mile 16 because of the way the course is. Those people also cheer for those on the other side of the course which I mentioned above that I saw. But once you get to that area like an hour later, there aren't many people left. This usually is my least part of the race and it was again this year. Spectators are what keep me going at this point and without them, I was left to my own thoughts.

The new mural going into Manayunk is so nice! I just had to stop on my way out to snap a picture. 

The last few miles or so were brutal. I was absolutely soaked. Even the one dry spot on my back that was covered by my hydration pack was wet at this point. I kept getting chills, my teeth were chattering, and the only thought going through my head was "I have no clue if I'll ever warm up after this!" Since my hands were frozen, I hadn't eaten a Gu since at least mile 16 and I struggled to even hold the mouthpiece on my hydration pack so I could drink some water. Millions of thoughts were running through my head. One that kept returning was that thought that I'm not sure I've ever ran a race that was this brutal before. I've ran the marathon distance 3 other times, ran a half marathon in the snow, ran a 10-miler and a half marathon in the rain, and yet this was truly the toughest of them all! I was getting pretty out of it at this point. I've heard of people starting to get a bit crazed at this point in the race and for the first time, I was. I honestly couldn't even keep track of my mile markers and my body just kept shaking with cold.

Once I hit mile 26 on my watch, I knew I only had less than a half mile to go. My watch was off by about .20 throughout most of the race. At this point I just wanted to be done so I put the pedal to the medal and pushed myself to that finish. I knew John and Rachel were somewhere towards the finish line so I scoured the sidelines for them. I heard them yelling my name before I even saw them. At that same time I heard them announce my name over the intercom along with all the other runners who were finishing at this point. That was all I needed to fly right through the finish line. I literally stopped running as soon as I crossed the line because I was DONE. Usually I'll go a bit longer to stop anybody from running right into me but I didn't even care. I was close to tears as I got my medal and heat sheet. I couldn't believe I actually did it! For a race I was considering giving up on as early as 3 miles in, I couldn't believe that I was able to push myself to that finish line!

I’m just smiling because I could see the finish line... oh, and I love running!

I probably looked like a hot mess as I tried to collect my snacks in the tent after the finish line. A pretzel and a banana dangled from my frozen fingers as I tried to also hold a cup of warm chicken broth. Not going to lie, I thought about that warm chicken broth for at least the last 10 miles. I stood there shivering and drink the broth when I finally saw John and Rachel walking up. They had thought to bring me my jacket from the car and oh my goodness I could've cried! They hugged me and all that fun stuff before we made our way to a less crowded spot to take pictures. I looked like a drowned rat and I couldn't hold my medal too well so those pictures turned out just wonderful... From there we went to the car so I could start to defrost. It probably wasn't until we got home and I removed every piece of wet clothing and put on sweatpants and a sweatshirt that I finally started to feel some sort of warmth.

There is probably so much more I could've added to this recap or even took out, but this jumbled mess represents how I felt during the whole race. Never have I felt so defeated during a race. I thought to myself many times that I should've just used that free entry for the half marathon but in a way I am glad I did the marathon. It was a chance to prove to myself that I can do hard things if I set my mind to it. I am strong!

Marathon recovery = chai tea and fuzzy socks!