Philly Marathon Race Report

Hey all! Thanks for the well wishes and advice on the marathon. Both the race and weekend went really well so now its time for the race report:

As for the weekend, Philadelphia seemed overwhelmed with runners. For being a big city race it was pretty unorganized and a lot of mass confusion with registration and race start. We (me, Liz, Jen and Roger) showed up on Saturday for the expo/check-in and had to wander around to find everything since there were no signs. My only real comparison with marathons is NYC and Philly kind of seemed like the blue collar child at the expo- a lot less big name companies and a lot more discount goods. Post check-in we grabbed a really good dinner at La Fourno on South Street (highly recommend) and walked around the historic sites for awhile. It was at this point that I realized race morning may be a little colder than planned...it was either the snow flurries or the wind chill in the teens that gave it away.

5:00 am wake up call on Sunday morning. Wind chill: 18 degrees. After some b'fast and a hot shower we walked down to the race start (Liz and Jen were starting line volunteers). My second complaint was the lack of pre-race goods (no drinks or food). After adjusting my goals I finally decided on 3h45m.

As everyone shivered waiting for the horn, we got an announcement that the horn had frozen and we'd being going off the loudspeaker countdown. It was really freakin' cold. The first 6 miles through the city were awesome. I really had to hold myself back from just crushing the start. It didn't seem like it at the time, but my HR monitor died between markers 5 and 6 and it was probably the best thing that could have happened. I quit staring at my watch and just ran off how I felt and got to take in the scenery. At mile 7 I passed the first out-of-city aid station and found all the drinks were frozen solid. Kind of sucked missing out on the drinks but the volunteers promised the next station was getting new "unfrozen" drinks. So after truckin' along another couple miles, I pulled up next to next station and was warned to slow down for ice. All the spilled drinks created skating rinks at the remaining aid stations and forced us to walk every time. Definitely fun watching the stubborn runners try to fly right by and instead eat pavement.

Anyways the day went really well and overall I'd definitely recommend the Philly race. I couldn't be happier with my time (3:47:32) and look forward to beating it the next time out. Thanks again everyone and a special thanks to Liz, Jen and Roger for making the trip down.

And nothing like Jim's cheesesteaks post-race...

jus finished with a net

jus finished with a net time of 3:47:23 which is an 8:40 pace. awesome job jus on ur first marathon. now on to ironman focus. :)

1 mile till the finish!!

1 mile till the finish!! not sure of time but lookin good

25k at 2:25 pacing 8:29

25k at 2:25 pacing 8:29 on track for a 3:42 finish go jus go its cold out here!!

Race Day Goals!

Being a first time marathon runner, I've been flip-flopping on what my goal pace should be come race day. Its ranged from the insanely fast- at least for me- (7:17 min/mi for a 3h10m Boston qualifier) to a straight sub-4hr run (9:09 min/mi). I've been so pysched up this week for race day that I constantly challenge myself to go faster- which is good and bad.

So here's what I've come up with so far:

Goal 1- I'll be ok with anything sub-4 hours.

Goal 2- Break a 3h53m (8:53 pace) to be the record holder for the Danyliw-Mikhalevsky rivalry. I'd be happy with this time or anything less. Sorry Jen and Liz but I have to stay competitive!

Goal 3- Finish in 3h40m59s (8:26 pace) this is the Boston qualifying time for women in my age group.

* On a side note- I need to call Joey out for backing out of Roxbury and signing up for the AZ Marathon so he can re-gain the family record on an easier course. I expect a 3h30m out of you and not a minute slower.

I'll be posting some pics from Philly throughout the weekend so keep checking in.

Race Count: 2 Days... Forecast: 26 degrees and sunny at start- 34 and sunny by finish!

Final Real Run

Today was my final real run before the marathon (a slow and easy 10 miler). Since the last post, I've stuck to the training sched and been eatin' pretty healthy. Yet still felt a little out of rhythm and slow all week. As you can see today isn't ideal weather but could be worse. Either way I was definitely looking forward to today's run to find my normal run moves and build a little race confidence- started off a little slow...knee hurt and legs felt really heavy but about mile 4 it came together.

Its amazing how one run can build you up or tear you apart. If today's run had continued to suck I would be really nervous about next weekend. Instead, I was able to spend the back part of the out-and-back thinking about what goals I have for my first marathon (will be shared in another post later this week). Only bad thing about today is the knee is really acting up...I've decided I'll finally get it checked out post-Philly.

I know Joey just wrote about this (ironjoe.blogspot.com) but I have to give huge thanks to Mark from Kilometers. I took Joey's recommendation a couple years back to check out the store in Ridgefield, CT and have been getting my run gear there ever since. Marks a great guy that loves what he does so I gave him a call when my knee was crapping out on me to get his thoughts. He took the time to call back after business hours to give some advice and encouraging words heading in to race week.

8 days and counting!!! Can't wait to see what I can do...I've started to get really psyched up so hopefully I'll fly. Current forecast: Low 32, High 44 and mostly sunny. Perfect!!!

The Good and the Bad...

So as everyone probably read about, Liz was one of three Danyliw's that completed the NYC Marathon. Unfortunately my season does not end until the Philly Marathon. In my mind I had great dreams about sticking to a very strict training/nutrition regimen and then allowing myself to gorge a little post-race (Thanksgiving the following weekend means I get to eat some pumpkin pie!!!). What I wasn't expecting was a perfect storm of excuses...a really crappy work week, Liz going through her post-race diet of pizza and ice cream, and a very worn out body. Should have seen this coming but I spiraled down into a few missed workouts this week and some excellent, most unhealthy meals.

As soon as I started my 20 miler on Saturday morning I knew last night's dinner of pizza and dessert was a poor choice. Determined to run 8 of the 20 miles at goal pace and 8 at goal pace plus 30 seconds (per my training schedule), I dug deep and pushed through. You'd think living in a city, people would be used to me yelling at my legs to hurry the F* up but apparently I just got a lot of scared looks. Lesson learned though and I'm looking forward to a 2 week taper before the race- I see lots of yoga and healthy food in my near future.

* The one benefit to only running twice last week was my knee finally feels normal again (small concession for such a crap training week).

These just in...thanks, Cork!

Taking the turn into CP - coming up on mile 24

hugs....

more hugs...

and some most needed post-race Nuts 4 Nuts!

Me, Joey and Jen...back at Joey's, um, being ourselves.

NYC Marathon Race Report

NYC Marathon was AWESOME. I loved every second of it, but I cannot express the relief I felt when I hit the 26 mile marker and saw the finish line ahead of me. A thousand thoughts ran through my head during the last .2 mile, it was a thrill.

Wake up call was 4:30am, in cab by 5:15 and on the bus ride over to Staten Island at 5:30. It was 6 by the time we got there and we had 4 hours to wait till start. It was cold. People were either in sleeping bags, curled up in trash bags or walking around with layers of clothing on. Jen and I grabbed ourselves two cups of hot water/coffee and a bagel and headed to a (non-heated) tent and made ourselves comfortable.

3 hours later, we started to prepare. Walking to the start, the cannon went off for the first wave. I got chills up my body as I looked over and saw the runners take over the Verrazano Bridge. 20 mins later, as we jogged to the start, I looked at Jen with the “OMG, this is it” look and we were off.

Jen and I hit the half marathon mark at 1:49 (8:22 pace). Awesome – on pace for a 3:40!

Not long after though, at mile 15 while crossing the Queensboro Bridge, we realized we could no longer keep an 8:22 pace. An aggressive goal, but a goal at that. Ok, time to adjust to our B goal time of sub 4. That was that. Keep on running…

The crowds were amazing – the noise was amazing. You could hear the cheering halfway over the Queensboro Bridge – WOOH, what a rush! An indescribable experience.

Mile 22 was a killer for me due to a cramp in my side. I told Jen to keep going as I slowed to a walk to stretch the cramp out for two minutes. I hydrated myself and started a slow jog. Within 5 minutes I was good to go. I knew from there on out, it was just getting myself to the finish line.

My favorite part of the race was the last mile. Nothing beats the feeling of running the last mile. I smiled the whole way.

I came in at 3:55:38, Jen at 3:53:47 and Joey at 5 hrs exact. Awesome job, Jen for improving her marathon time by 37 minutes and great job, Joey for completing a marathon while pushing 200+ lbs up all the hills. Thanks to everyone who came out to support! You all are great and helped push me through my first marathon and made it an awesome experience.

(Pictures: Jen and I at mile 18 – water bottle my dad has on the right of the first picture was like gold to me!)

finish times: liz- 3:53:49/jen- 3:51:46.

finish times: liz- 3:53:49/jen- 3:51:46. great job to liz, jen, and joey! race report from liz should follow in the next couple days.

jen and liz: 20k- 1:39:59

jen and liz: 20k- 1:39:59

liz and jen: 15k- 1:17:46

liz and jen: 15k- 1:17:46

1 day 00h 43m 20s to go

Last night was Halloween. Jus and I spent it in a car, driving to CT. It was by far the most exciting Halloween ever. Today, we head to NYC. I woke up this morning at 6am, wide awake. It's just past 8am now and the sun is just starting to show itself, Jus has left for an 18 mile run. At this time in Boston, the sun has risen and shining full force through our windows.

Today I am nervous. I have butterflies in my stomach. My appetite is non-existent. I'm anxious. My brother wrote Jenny a pep-talk e-mail back when she did NY for the first time...she forwarded the e-mail to me yesterday. Here's a piece of it...

"Boom! Mile 24, you are back in the park and the street is PACKED with people cheering you on. No doubt you will be feeling the mileage at this point. Hopefully you will be somewhat tired but feeling great and strong and ready to finish fast. Only 2.2 miles left, an easy jog for you. Don't burst as soon as you hit the park. If you feel great take the pace up gradually, drop it by maybe 20 seconds. You will be blowing by people at this point. They are shot - to hell with them. Nothing will stop you from crossing the finish line now, so sit back and enjoy the crowds a little bit.. There is supposedly no other marathon in the world with the crowd support like you get in the NYC marathon."

I'm ready.........LET'S DO THIS!