A review of the Philly "Cheesesteak" Marathon! Let me start by saying I wish the marathon and the days leading up to it were half as good as the cheesesteak, cheesefries and coke, that Chuck, Julie and I had after the race... man that was good! And if you're ever in Philly do yourself a favor and go to Geno's off Wharton Street and just about all you need to say is, with or without onions and then pick your favorite cheese, either american, provalone or cheeze wiz and we all agreed cheeze wiz wasn't even really food so we went with provalone... wow that was good.

Oh yeah, the race. Personally I felt like crap for two days before the race from the taper and this was worse than I-Man taper, I felt like I was coming down with something the day before so I just kind of rested. Race day I felt better but for some stupid reason I hardly had any breakfast and I didn't bring any energy drink... next time I run a marathon I'm not going to run on a bagel and two cups of coffee! But my plan was to go run 8's as long as I could and end up with something better than a 3:45 which would be a PR but secretly, just between us, I thought I had a 3:30 in me (probably, right next to the bagel I had for breakfast). Anyway I saw Robbo at the starting line and that perked me up because he was wearing a cut-off "Australia" bike jersey and a garbage bag (but I was wondering why he was wearing his normal attire?). Then Chuck "The Man" Totero pulled up next to me at around mile 7, and that proved I went out too fast right there. But we had the the same plans so we hung together, and worked it together until mile 19 or so when I started to hit the wall and he kind of hurdled it! It was fun while it lasted as we were drafting each other, it was pretty windy, and afterwards we told Julie we were breaking wind for each other and she said, that must have stunk!

Anyway those last 6 miles of a marathon, as you probably know, are a battle and I started to see my time goal dwindle from 3:30 to 35 damn!, 40 oh no! And then it was "when is this mo-fo going to be over?"

I liked this race because it was a great way to end the season and it really prolongs the season too, right up to Thanksgiving, so now I can put on the feedbag! Also it was put on nicely, well done by good people... but oh yeah, don't let anyone tell you this race is flat! NOT FLAT! I'm unfortunately one of the same guys that thought the Madison bike course was in the Praire too! Also a big NOT!

Anyway, congrats to Chuck, Don and Robbo for great races in Philly, WTC rules and it was a really great season... Thanks to all for all the fun!

Philadelphia is a great qualifier for Boston or just a good base marathon for Ironman races the following year. There is only 1 uphill section and 2 downhills. The out and back in Fairmount enables you to know how far you are from the finish. The crowd on the turnaround is great and being able to high five your fellow iron buddies heading in the other direction is an added benefit. Lastly, you can always find some other runners trying to qualify for Boston in your age group to work with. There are also some great Italian restaurants like La Buca for Pasta Loading.

The Philly marathon was probably the most perfectly paced race I have ever done. My plan was to run 8min/mi if I could hold it. I lined up with DS about 4 or 5 rows from the front. I quickly noticed the 5min/mi pace sign and moved a few rows back. The gun went off and I was over the mat in 40secs (it took 9mins the year I did Boston).

First mile was 8:22 and I got a little nervous since it felt faster and is downhill. The second mile was 8:05. I timed each mile from that point on and stayed on 7:50 to 8 up to mile 15. Felt very comfortable and hooked up with EdB around mile 5. This was a help running with one of the crew. We were stride for stride for 13mi. The 10mi mark and 1/2 marathon were dead on 8min pace. At mile 15 you're just into the second loop of the figure 8, heading down the river. That's when the 10-20mph wind hit you in the face. The wind really wasn't noticeable in the city. Its 5mi to the turnaround and I was suprised that I had only lost about a minute and a half to my pace by mile 20. The problem was the wind beat you up a little.

22 to 26 is back along the river. The wind mostly at your back. I knew I had lost about another minute to pace by mile 23. Not the wind, just starting to get tired. I knew I was very close. At that point I thought of Wisconsin. I knew that if I was going to qualify for boston I would have to hold pace or a little faster to be sure, from 23 to 26. My legs were pretty shot by then but the rest of me felt decent. I had run every step of the marathon to this point and had to keep going. I just tried to get my legs to keep up with my upper body. You can see the museum of art (finish line) from about 2mi out which helps. I crossed the mat at 3:34:50, with my 40sec chip time I knew I was safe. Without the wind we would have been on perfect pace for the entire race (I think!). Never saw phil or gary. Rob went by me at mile 1 in his australia jersey (he didn't have the colors!) and I saw him again at mi 19 for me. He was probably at 21 at that point.

DS and EdB both PR'd.

For all you nutrition geeks - I used a bottle of Hammer Sustained Energy with some vanilla extract for flavor about an hour before the race started. Carried a flask of Hammer Gel (cappucino - it has caffiene in it) which I took every 5mi starting at mi 10. Water/Gatorade in between. No GI upset or gas so considering my performance, I will probably use this system for IM next year. For the rest of you nutrition geeks, Geno's steaks in little Italy is the place for Philly Cheese Steak and Cheese fries. I would not use that for IM.

This race felt bad right from the start and went downhill from there. With a 3:30 goal in mind, Chuck and I started close to the front of the pack. Our first mile was 8:22 and the decline had already begun. Mile 2 was close to pace but from then on, I was unable to hold an even split. My pace varied between 7:32 and 8:15 for the first half of the race and each mile had a 20 - 40 second difference from the previous mile. By mile 15 I could hear people cheering for Santa Claus. Only later did I learn that my red shorts, white shirt, and salt-caked face made me look like the fat man from up North! A full compliment of Carboom, Exceed Tablets and Extran did nothing to prevent the inevitable and by mile 22 I was retching on the side of the road. The muscle soreness that followed made it difficult for me to bend my toes (a crucial element in running) and I was forced to walk, stagger and jog from 23 - 25. While split results showed an even 8:00 minute/mile pace up until mile 20, the reality is that my failure to hold a consistent pace was incredibly taxing on my system. I paid the price the last six miles and lost 11 minutes from the pace I held over the first 19 miles. Another disappointing race and another epic meltdown.