2015 Philadelphia Marathon Expo

Race weekend is here!  

I felt crazy with anticipation all day today as I waited for the work day to end so I could take the train over to Philly for the expo.

As soon as 2:30 hit, I biked home to change, then headed to the train station.  Of course I wore my 2005 Philadelphia Marathon shirt, my first ever marathon and the last time they gave out cotton race shirts.

At the expo I picked up my bib and meandered around the booths, sampling various foods and talking with a few race directors.

I was really looking forward to seeing Bill Rodgers talk at 4 o'clock.  He's a legendary marathoner with wins at Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and many other major marathons on his resume.  All told, he's run 60 marathons.  I saw him speak at the expo 2 years ago, and his talk today was much like it was then: unscripted with no visual aids.  He has self-diagnosed ADHD, and his talk veered abruptly from advice to race stories to plugging his book to the current state of marathoning.

I couldn't care less how scatter brained his style of public speaking is, though.  I'm pretty sure that because he seems to talk off the cuff, no two talks of his are ever alike.

He fielded questions at the end, and I couldn't think of anything to ask him, though now I wish I had asked him how he dealt with nerves before a big race.  Now that race weekend is here, the nerves are starting to kick in to the point that I'm fighting back brief waves of nausea.

At any rate, I was first in line at his booth after his talk and bought a copy of his book, Marathon Man and had him sign it.  He was such a nice man and I can't wait to read the book. I'm sure I'll write a review of it soon.

I walked out and took one more picture for good measure, then headed back to the train to go home.

Less than 48 hours until the marathon.

2015 Rock n' Roll Philly Half expo and race goals

I took the train into Philly this afternoon to pick up my bib from the expo.  To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed by the whole thing.  It seemed smaller and less flashy than expos of the past, and I was surprised they didn't play up the Halloween theme a little more.  Gone were the goofy photo ops and the guest speakers that I enjoyed at Rock 'n' Roll expos of the past.

I did see this sign honoring the legacy runners, including my dad's longtime running friend Mike Geiger:

It's nice that Rock n' Roll honors those who started back when the race was still known as The Distance Run.

In case you want to know what a runner looks like:

I was in and out of the expo as quickly as possible to get back home.  Fatherhood calls.

I'm looking forward to this race because I'm going to try to PR, and I'm fairly certain I can do it. Normally when I run this race, I'm still towards the beginning of my marathon training regimen. But this year, I've had some extra time to get some solid speed workouts in as well as drop a few lbs.  

Also, conditions look like they should be perfect tomorrow.  The course has a few annoying turns throughout Center City in the early miles, but the majority of the race is out and back on both sides of the Schuylkill River, meaning I can take time to warm up and by the time the course straightens out, I'll be able to run at cruising speed and on auto pilot for a bit.

It's been over 4 years since I've last rung that PR bell in the half marathon, so here's hoping tomorrow is the day to make magic happen.

Philadelphia Marathon Expo

Went to the Expo directly after school today and got to see legendary US marathoner Bill Rodgers speak.  He showed up 15 minutes late, didn't have any notes or a powerpoint or anything, and his speech kind of rambled from anecdote to anecdote, but I still enjoyed hearing him talk.  He obviously has a ton of experience, and his stories were really interesting.

I got a ton of free swag while there, and also had my picture taken for good measure:

I'm wearing my 2005 Philadelphia Marathon shirt.  I got a lot of compliments on it.

2 days until race day!

Philly Rock 'n' Roll Expo

Headed over to Philly this morning for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon Expo.  Listened to John "the Penguin" Bingham speak, which was more of a group conversation between him and the few runners in the audience.  While we spoke, he said two things that resonated with me.

He spoke about amateur runners like us that tend to stress more about time, whereas the elite racers are concerned with racing each other and simply running as fast as they can.  This sounds pretty similar, but is the difference between racing based on how you feel, and racing based on what it says on your watch.  This is pretty much how I race every 5k, but have yet to do so in longer distances.

He took the time to ask each of us what we were concerned about tomorrow, and I mentioned that while I would like to PR, I am using the race as a gauge for my training for Boston.  He encouraged me to do just that and not stress over the PR.  If I don't PR, or I don't do well at all, it's just one stepping stone in the path to the BQ, and simply means I need to make adjustments.  This does help relieve the pressure of trying to PR, but what I didn't mention is that I really need a good race as a morale booster for the rest of my training.

The rest of the expo was the usual slew of free samples and crap for sale.  And this:

I regret nothing.

Say what you will about the Rock and Roll racing series, its exorbitant fees or its penchant for swallowing up beloved local races, but they sure know how to make an expo fun.

Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Expo

Tomorrow is the Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, so today I headed over to the Expo with Stevie to pick up my race packet.

Most big city race expos are like big running carnivals, and today's expo was no exception.  Started out with a photo op:

Browsed the merchandise, got several pounds of free food, was disappointed there was no free MGD this year, then tried my luck doing pull ups at the USMC stand:

                     

I did a total of 11 pull ups and earned myself a Marine Corps water bottle.  4 more would have earned me a hat, 9 more a T-shirt.

Tomorrow I run 13.1 miles.  I haven't run more than 5 all summer.

At the expo

Went into Philly this morning to pick up my race packet from the expo for tomorrow's half marathon.  Got to see John "the Penguin" Bingham speak, which I always enjoy.  

John "the Penguin" Bingham

He's made a name for himself by representing the back of the pack and encouraging people to take up running no matter how slowly they do it.  He wrote a column for Runner's World for many years and now writes for Competitor.  In addition to being a talented writer, he is a great public speaker.  I listened to his talk at last year's race as well.

Unfortunately Kara Goucher and Frank Shorter weren't speaking until later in the day, so I had to miss them.

Brooks took up half of the expo space with an old timey-syle carnival, complete with an automated fortune teller, a caboose of curiosities, and a vaudeville show featuring the Human Jesus Lizard.

God bless the people in charge of Brooks marketing

I've decided Brooks has won me over for life.

Running is big business these days, if the popularity of Rock 'n' Roll events is anything to go by, not to mention the size of this expo.  When one tires of guest speakers or the tomfoolery of the good people of Brooks, one can browse dozens of booths giving out free samples, promoting future races, or selling all manner of merchandise.  Sports drinks guaranteed to deliver more electrolytes, headphones guaranteed never to shake loose from your ears, books and magazines, athletes everywhere, all drawn to this cavernous space and its overgrown spectacle by the most elemental activity in human existence.

And then I saw this: