I met Skip about a mile from the start line of Philadelphia's second ever "Love Run Half Marathon". It was bitterly cold and windy. Needless to say I was already making some excuses for myself when Skip jogged up to me at quarter after seven. I got a decent warm up and I was able to leave my pants with Skip parents (who I hadn't seen since the wedding so that was awesome).
As the gun sounds I stayed conservative but shortly thereafter I took the lead. No one wanted it. The sun was strong and it was blinding me the first mile out. I traded the lead once with a guy named Shawn briefly and split 10:53 and 21:45 at 2 and 4 miles respectively.
To this point things were going well. I certainly didn't feel in form, like I was tearing off 5:20 flat pace BUT I was keeping to my goal of sub 5:30s and feeling okay. Unfortunately with no one now near me I was running straight into the wind. Miles five and six were slower. As we hit the hill I glanced behind me and noticed a Bryn Mawr runner closing. Shit, not good I thought.
I worked up the hill, around the park and back down the hill. I wasn't looking back but he was closing fast now. Finally he passed me on the far side of the road. My legs muscles weren't responding. I told him nice job but he kept looking straight ahead. At this point it was somewhere after eight miles and I was fighting to keep the pace in the mid five thirties.
Once we made the turn around after Strawberry Mansion bridge we had the wind at our backs. First place was increasing the lead and third was quite a bit behind. The guys had been out by the bridge but unfortunately my race was pretty much over by that point. I tried to force the pace faster while I paced slower runners cheering on their way out. I finished in second by a wide margin, glad to be done.
The race wasn't a disaster at 1:12:45. It was short of my goal but sill made a decent stepping stone. It's hard to lead a race for eight miles and be beat that badly but as anything it's a nice learning experience. Also it was a 21 mile day so there's that. I met up with Hayley who had a very nice personal best on the day and finished fourth for women. I enjoyed a few beers but for the day's brew I am counting is Hop Devil (6.7%) by Victory Brewing Co (Downingtown, PA).
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