Race #43 - Philadelphia Distance Classic - 1:34:05

I made a rookie mistake today. I used new Asics that only had 7 miles on them and then tried to run 13.1. My old Brooks were wearing thin so I have been meaning to see the guys at The Running Company in Princeton, but was just to busy. I also decided to switch back to Asics which I used for many years. I was able to buy them just 5 days before the race and thought 2 days of running in them would break them in. Wrong!!!!!!!!

I have run this race the last 3 years and really enjoy it, but don't like the early wake-up. Race starts at 7:45 so it means I have to be on the road by 5:30 because with over 10,000 runners, you need to get in your corral early. John Liptak was doing the driving so he picked up Ken White and I at 5:30. We got into Philly at 6:40 which gave us about an hour to get ready. After a quick change into our running gear and a not so quick bathroom stop we headed over to the start.

John and I were planning on running together at a 7:15 pace and Ken was planning on running a 1:50. John and I were in corral #2 so we got going only 45 seconds after the elites. The initial pace seemed quick but John thought is was 7:45, but I knew it was quicker. Our plan was to go out in 7:30's for the first 2 miles and then gradually get to 7:15's. We hit the first mile in 7:08 and continued at sub 7:10's for the first 5 miles. It was faster than we wanted to go, but my legs and breathing was fine. My only issues was my feet, which were hurting because of the new shoes. It felt like I was developing blisters on the bottoms of both of my feet, but I knew it wasn't. The pain was under the balls of my big toes on both feet and I tried flexing while running to rid me of the discomfort. It seemed to go away for a bit, but hurt like an SOB the last 2 miles.

John and I ran together for about 9 miles but he pulled away and I had no answer. We held a the sub 7:10 pace for most of the race but when he pulled away I think I was running 7:20's for the last 3 miles. My time of 1:34:05 was the second fastest 1/2 marathon, second only to the 1:31 I ran in Virginia earlier this year.

John finished with a 1:33:20 and Ken with a 1:51:01. It was a perfect day for running. The temps were in the 50's at the start and by the finish the sun was shining and the ice foot bath felt great. My feet were fine after I took the shoes off so I am still not sure what the problem was.

We headed over to Jim's Steaks on South Street (which is where all the hippies meet) for our post race feast of Cheesesteak sandwiches. The steaks were average. I like Tony Luke's better.

Next up for me is a run in Delaware with my daughter Leigh. It is a race which benefits diabetes so I will make the 90 minutes to see and run with Leigh.

Reduce health care expenses, exercise 15 minutes per day.