I slept well last night and woke up this morning thinking today was going to be a good day. My mother-in-law was watching our son since both Lauren and I were running so she was able to drop us off somewhat close to the start (1.25 miles) so we didn't have to deal with the subway. She dropped us off about 45 minutes before the start. We walked about .75 miles and were fortunate to find open port a pots along the course route without any lines. After the pit stop, we jogged to the start area. When we got to the start, Lauren and I parted ways and I ran another .5 mile warm up. I got into the corral about 10 minutes before the start.
There was a lot of support for the victims of the Boston Marathon before the start, including a voice message from the Mayor of Boston and the playing of Sweet Caroline just before the start. In addition, all the runners were given stickers at the race expo to wear on their hearts with the message "From Philly To Boston". Mayor Nutter gave a good speech as well.
On to the race...
For those not familiar with the course, this is point to point with a gradual decline almost the whole way (about 175ft total decline). My was to break 1:05:00 and I had planned to run the first 3 miles around 6:35 pace, the next 4 at 6:30 pace, and the final 3 around 6:25 pace. The beginning of the race starts with a good downhill portion. I was feeling great this morning so I started off a little bit faster than planned. I was telling myself to slow down, but the pace felt good given the downhill. The first 3 miles were in 6:15, 6:18, and 6:24. Things flattened out a bit on the 3 mile, but the pace felt good eventhough it was under my planned pace.
Miles 4 - 7: 6:23, 6:23, 6:12, and 6:28. I was starting to labor a bit during the 7th mile, but still felt pretty good with 3 miles to go.
Miles 8 - 10: 6:24, 6:29, 6:25. I was starting to struggle a bit here, but was able to kick for the last .2 to get the pace under 6:30 for the final mile. I didn't want to be over 6:30 for the final mile after things had gone so well for me all day.
Overall, I was very happy with the final result. My time was over a minute faster than my goal pace and over 8 minutes faster than my previous PR in this race from 2 years ago.
This was a good confidence booster before my longer races scheduled in the fall. I am starting to believe that I am better suited for longer distances at this point. I ran a 5k PR less than two weeks ago which suggested I would run a little over 1:05:00 for 10 miles. In addition, my pace for 10 miles today (6:22) was about 8 seconds per mile faster than the last 10k I ran a little over a month ago, the 10k was hilly and windy though.
I am looking forward to upping my mileage to prep for Chicago in October. | 