Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half Marathon - September 18, 2011

Last year, my running craze started with the Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half.  I had a good time at this race and wanted to return. For this race, I planned to meet up with my pal Shanonn from NJ.  I drove to her mother-in-law's house in a NJ town outside of Philly.  Her MIL drove us to the train station, and we took a train into Philly (as parking is a fortune in this city).  We stayed at the Marriott in Downtown.  

Shanonn and I spent quite a while at the Expo. Welcome!


The changing rooms...

Kara Goucher was at the Expo, signing autographs.  Although I didn't wait in line for her ink, I did snap a couple of photos.





 Then, we headed over to Reading Terminal to grab a bite to eat.  So many choices...

We chilled in our room for a while before heading out to dinner across the street at Maggiano's.  I've dined here several times, and since it was so close to our hotel - it was the perfect spot for a pre-race meal!

I didn't get to sleep much at all the night before the race...I was hacking all night due to a sinus infection. I felt terrible for Shanonn, as I probably kept her up, too!  I loaded up on all kinds of cold meds and hoped for the best.  I ran this race the previous year, and it was hot!  For this race, we had a more brisk start for sure.  We made our way over to Eakin's Oval to get staged for the race.  We stopped at the fountains in front of the Franklin Institute for a quick photo opp!

Shortly after the gun went off, I realized I would have to run the Gallo-way. I was having some difficulty breathing due to the sinus infection. My Garmin was set incorrectly, and I had to stop several times to fiddle with it.  Shanonn and I decided to do our own things this day, so I was on my own. It took me a while to figure out what was going on with my watch - a PR was probably out of the picture. So, I just settled in and followed the intervals.


I was able to do the intervals - pretty much the whole way.  Not sure I should have run this with as much coughing as I had done the days before, but all was well.  As mentioned early, no PR's were in store for the day - but considering my health and the fiasco with my watch, I was okay with it.

2:26:53