Monday, November 24, 2008

Philadelphia conquered in 5h 43m

Completed the Philadelphia Marathon yesterday!! My First Marathon!!

Took me 5 hours and 43 minutes to complete the 26.2 mile distance. I had hoped to finish in less than five hours, but I am not disappointed with the finish time.

The weather was very cold all through!! It was 26F when I left the hotel in the morning at around 5:00 AM, and it must have increased to 40F during the race. After training all through Summer in warm weather, the cold temperatures during the race was a bit of a challenge. However, it is much better the weather being cold than warm. I will take Frozen face and cold muscles over dehydration and sunburn any time.

Reached Philadelphia on Saturday morning by train; didn't drive to make sure I have a relaxed trip back home after the run. My friend and colleague John Zhang had some free time early in the morning, and he met me at the Train station and gave me a quick tour of the historic Philadelphia City. Spent most of the afternoon at the Health and Fitness Expo; stayed around for a while after picking up my number, speed tag and a goodie-bag with a T-shirt and other interesting stuff.

Forgot to pick up pins, and had to run the marathon without pinning on my number! That will make it difficult to get my photos from the marathon once it is on the Philadelphia Marathon web-site.

I had booked a hotel near Philadelphia Airport - three quarters of an hour away from the Marathon starting point; in hind-sight that seems to have been a bad decision - being close to the marathon starting point is preferable - especially for an early start. The good thing about the hotel is that it was at the airport and less than 2 minutes walking distance from the Train station!

Got to sleep by 8:00 PM on Saturday with the goal of waking up at 4:20 AM, but woke up sometime during the night and to my chagrin found it to be 9:30 PM!!! Try as I might, didn't get to sleep before 1:00 AM. Waking up in the morning was consequently a difficult proposition. Forced myself to get dressed for the race - in multiple layers, and made it to the 5:27 AM train. Got to the city by 6:00 AM and had a mile long walk from the station to the starting point - this was a good warming up before the start of the race.

A huge mistake I did before the start of the race was to not have breakfast! Consequently had to run the entire race with an empty stomach. I had planned to have breakfast at a Dunkin Donuts or a Starbucks after arriving in the City, but at such an early hour not a single cafe was open! If at all I am in this situation again, I will have my breakfast at the hotel, never mind how expensive it is ;-)

Around 8000 runners were running the Philadelphia Marathon this year, and there were more runners participating in the half-marathon and the 8K race. The participants in the marathon were started in different groups, and I was in the third wave which was started off around 7:20 AM.

Given that the weather was very cold, I ran very slowly in the beginning to allow for my muscles to warm up. The first few miles took us within the heart of the downtown - going past the City Hall, the Convention Center, Chinatown, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Penn's Landing, Washington Square, and so on. The latter part of the marathon was mostly along the Schuylkill river and it made it for a scenic run.

The half-marathon and the full marathon shared the same trail - the half point for the full marathon being at the same place where the marathon started. By the time I came to the half way point, I was exhausted and was ready to call it quits. BUT I DID NOT QUIT!!

The second half of the marathon was gruelling; walked more than I liked to during this phase. The second half also was unique in that it was a out and back path, so runners who were a few miles ahead of me were coming in the opposite direction.

My empty stomach started growling after around 15 or 16 miles, and luckily within a few minutes there was a guy giving out candy and twizzlers. Bless his soul! Later on, there was another guy giving out chips and pretzels! The race organizers had arranged for water and gatorade supply every 2 miles or so, and it was perfect. I stopped at almost everyone of them and collected two half-filled glasses of gatorade to replenish myself on the way.

I was twittering frequently along the way, and quite a few friends sent text messages of encouragement during the race - that really made a difference giving me a boost in inspiration!! I even uploaded a photo of icicles forming on a rock face onto Facebook - thanks to Facebook Mobile on my iPhone!

The organizers had provided for a Runner tracking functionality on their web-site, which allowed for the family and friends to receive updates on their cellphone or pager or via email about the progress of the runners. I had signed up for the email updates, and got the following short messages:

08:09:46 Prakash Murthy, 00:34:21 (NET) @ 5K Pace 11:03 , Predicted 04:49:43.00.
09:09:52 Prakash Murthy, 01:09:29 (NET) @ 10K Pace 11:10 , Predicted 04:52:46.00.
09:16:41 Prakash Murthy, 01:48:11 (NET) @ 15K Pace 11:36 , Predicted 05:04:08.00.
10:38:33 Prakash Murthy, 03:10:03 (NET) @ 25K Pace 12:14 , Predicted 05:20:44.00.
12:21:58 Prakash Murthy, 03:51:06 (NET) @ 30K Pace 12:23 , Predicted 05:24:40.00.
12:52:58 Prakash Murthy, 05:24:25 (NET) @ 40K Pace 13:03 , Predicted 05:42:09.00.
13:11:29 Prakash Murthy, 05:42:56 (NET) @ Finish Pace 13:04
I did finish strong, overtaking a few runners in the last 100 meters or so. Felt great to hear "We have Prakash Murthy from Jersey City finishing up the race now"!!

The crowds were amazing all through the race!! People were cheering runners all along the 26 mile stretch. Amazing!! Students from Drexel University were standing outside their dorms with pots and pans and ladles making a lot of noise cheering the passing runners. One guy had made up a sign which said "No Stopping Here" and was holding it up for runners to see just after the 22 mile marker. Made me laugh, and also start to run.

I ran a very conservative race, and am proud of completing my first marathon successfully - still standing and still smiling!! All in all this was a terrific experience!!

The parting note on the marathon is a song which was played at around the 19th mile marker and was very inspiring to me. Here is Eye of the Tiger from Survivor!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

8 miles in 1h 37m in cold weather

Completed 8 miles in 1h37m in Liberty State Park today morning.

Started early - around 7:15 AM - to prepare for the 7:00 AM start in Philadelphia next week. It was cold and breezy! The temperatures must have been between 40 F and 45 F.

The first 3 miles almost were a big drag - warming up in the cold is a slow process! Also, without gloves, I could feel my hands getting frozen very quickly.

Will have to make sure I have a pair of gloves when I run next week. It will be mandatory to have gloves and a head band for the first couple of hours at least.

12 miles last Sunday

Forgot to record my 12 mile run last Sunday!!

Ran 12 miles two weeks prior to the Marathon as per the training plan last Sunday. It took me 2h 26m to complete the distance.

Monday, November 3, 2008

20 miles in 3h 53m at LSP

Ran 20 miles today afternoon! I am thrilled!

This is the longest run I have planned for before the Philadelphia Marathon on Nov 23rd.

Started running a little after noon; the weather was cold and cloudy - the temperatures must have been in the mid 50s - upper 60s. Since I had to take care of the vehicle inspection earlier in the day, I could start only at noon. It was kind of odd time to start as it wasn't yet time for Lunch when I started, and it was too late for Lunch by the time I finished.

Had planned to run at 5 miles per hour pace every hour and complete the 20 mile distance in four hours. Some of the milestones along the way are as follows:
10 mile - 1h 48m
13.1 mile - 2h 27m
15 mile - 2h 51m
18 mile - 3h 30m

I was wearing two layers of shirts and a single layer shorts - it was pleasant enough in the weather, though at some places where it was windy, I could feel the chill. I am expecting similar weather for the Marathon on Nov 23rd in Philly which is further south from here.

My car was parked in the free visitor parking lot near the kid's play area and the Columbus monument. This place is in the center and allowed me to create my own 2-3-4 mile long stretches for running and get back to the car for Gatorade and some cookies.

Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable run. Looking forward to the 26.1 mile run in 17 days!

Friday, October 31, 2008

5.1 miles in 55 minutes in the Gym

Put aside many other things and focused on getting back to running.

Got back home straight from work - picked up dinner on the way - and went to the Gym and started running by 8:00 PM. With a Gatorade bottle in hand! Took a drinks break at around half way through.

The running was easy; felt comfortable and energized through out the run.

Planning for a 20 mile run on Monday, after being in the second week-end of the Introduction Leaders Program. Have taken Monday off from work - to do the long run, recover, catch up on a few stuff. The 20 mile run will be the longest I will run before the Philadelphia Marathon on 23rd November. Thrilled about it!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

4 miles in 44 minutes on the treadmill

After more than three weeks break, got back to running today with a 4 mile run in the Gym. The rain and cold weather made it difficult to run outside. Nevertheless was glad to be running in the Gym on the treadmill. The three weeks break seemed to have made me really out of touch.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, there is less than a month for the Philly Marathon!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

18 miles in 3h 38m in LSP today morning

Ahhhhh, I ache all over! Put myself through an 18 mile run for the first time today morning, and it shows up in every part of my body :-)

After prepping myself mentally for a week (since finishing the Grete's Gallop Half-Marathon last Saturday) I was still very nervous and scared as I made my way to Liberty State Park this morning. Couldn't help laugh at the notion that I would be running for four hours today!

Started the run a little before 8:00 AM and completed a little before 11:40 AM. Had plans to start earlier - maybe around 6:30 AM or 7:00 AM - but was glad that it was 8:00 AM by the time I started as it was very chilly today morning. The temperatures were in the mid-50s and the Sun was just rising at that time.

The first three miles were a pain as with the last week's run. After that it became much easier to run. Started from the Parking lot close to the Columbus Monument, and ran along the various paved running paths in the park, always making sure that I come back to the Parking lot (and my car) every 2 to 3 miles. My car was stuffed with Gatorade bottles and some stuff for me to snack on and continue refreshed.

Completed the half marathon distance in 2h 36 minutes, which was much slower than last week's run.

The last three or four miles were a drag; just kept going - telling myself it is only a 5K I have to cover!

3h 38m was much better than I expected of my first shot at an 18 miler. I guess my first shot at the marathon distance will be a similar experience as well. One big difference would be that the watching crowd and fellow runners will motivate me to do much better at the Philly Marathon!