Summer 2017 Update

There were so many things I had planned to blog about in their own separate entries over the past few months that I just never got around to, so let's put up a few pictures and move on. Here are a few life updates in chronological order:

In May I had my year-end evaluation with my principal.  This is based on Student Growth Objectives (a series of graded assessments given to two of my six classes), a Reflective Practice Portfolio (digital documents uploaded to seven different categories with accompanying written reflections) and two formal in-class observations.  This year I scored a 3.65 out of 4, my highest score yet, placing me firmly in the highly effective range.  I was pretty proud of this given all of the problems I've faced in my personal life this year.

At the end of May it was my turn to bring the beer for Who's Up?, and I once again went with the South Jersey beer theme like I did two years ago.  It's amazing how many new breweries have opened in that short time.  Pictured above:

• Lower Forge from Medford
• Forgotten Boardwalk from Cherry Hill
• Devils Creek from Collingswood
• Eclipse from Merchantville
• Double Nickel from Pennsauken
• Tonewood from Oaklyn

The variety and quality went over very well with the beer nerds I run with.  South Jersey really has an amazing variety of breweries and it truly is an incredible time to be a beer enthusiast.

Global Running Day, as always, was on the first Wednesday of June, and as always, Dave Welsh of the Haddonfield Running Company outdid himself.  He put on a mini expo right on the sidewalk outside of his store, and raffled off 12 pairs of running shoes (runners were eligible for the pair they wore to the run).  Because I wore my Nikes to the run, I put a ticket in the Nike box and won myself a free pair.  I can't tell you how many times I've entered a raffle for a free pair of shoes over the years, and this is the first time I've ever won.  I was ecstatic.

Just a few days after school ended, I left for Germany with 14 students and one other chaperone.  As usual, we spent ten days in both Berlin and Munich, staying in hostels while visiting museums, churches, parks and plenty of beer gardens and beer halls.  Unlike many high school language teachers that plan trips abroad, I don't travel with a tour company, but instead plan the entire thing myself.  Planning the trip this year was like having a part time job, and the trip itself was no less exhausting.  But I'm proud to say we hit every single thing on the itinerary I built with no major snafus of any kind.  I'm pretty sure my kids had a blast while learning a little about German history, culture and language along the way, and for that I would do the trip again in a heartbeat.

While in Berlin, I got to meet up with Christina, an old high school friend whom I haven't seen in ten years.  She now lives in Berlin with her husband and dachshund, and we spent a night at a beer garden catching up.  Also my t-shirt says "it's lit" which was a present that day from my students, because teenagers are hilarious.

While in Munich I got to meet Henrik, who first started reading and commenting on this blog many years ago.  We spent a few hours drinking beer in downtown Munich while talking in German about running, politics, and life in general.  It's the first time I've ever met a blog reader in person, and he was an absolute pleasure to spend time with.  Henrik, if you're ever in Philly, let me know!

Just one day after returning from Germany, I joined some friends for the annual July beer mile.  Because this year's beer mile fell on Canada Day, I decided to go with Molson Canadian beer.  Last year I drank luke warm Budweiser because I had read it was easier to chug, which ended up being a terrible decision because it was so disgusting and was so hard to stomach, and I ended up finishing DFL in well over twenty minutes.  Ice cold Canadian beer was the perfect choice this year, and I finished just 22 seconds off my PR in 11:07.

Last week I took advantage of free passes for teachers and weekdays off in the summer and took my son to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden.  We had the place almost to ourselves for the first twenty minutes until the day camps took over, and it resulted in one of my new favorite pictures of Neale, trying to give a two ton hippopotamus a kiss on the nose.

Erik told me that the website Athlinks now lists your friends on the site as your "rivals," and lists any races together as wins and losses.  The one "loss" I have against him is the 2007 Distance Run which I ran in 1:49.

And there you have some updates from the last few months.  I hope to write more regularly in the future, but who knows if that will happen.  Until the next time, run hard, friends.

2017 Love Run Half Marathon: Race Report

I'm a creature of habit.  Once I find races that I like, I tend to do them year after year. Haddonfield Adrenaline 5k.  Wissahickon Trail Classic.  Philly Marathon.  Rock 'n' Roll Philly Half Marathon.  These races and I go back years.

A few years ago, a new Half Marathon debuted in Philly called the Love Run, and I've been wanting to try it ever since.  Because I was planning to drop down in distance for my long run that day anyway, and because I'm not doing the ODDyssey Half Marathon this year, and in an effort to try something brand new, I signed up.

It ended up being a great decision.  It was a very well-run and fun event, and I could definitely see myself doing it again in the future.

Like a lot of Philly races, this one started at the art museum, so I took the train across the bridge into Philly on Sunday morning, then walked out to the museum with several hundred other people.  I'm part of a large running group on Facebook called Run856, and they had a tent set up where people could drop their bags, so I didn't have to worry about official gear check.

The weather was supposed to be cold and rainy for the morning of the race; luckily we only had to worry about the cold as the rain held off.  I ran in just a long sleeve shirt and wool hat which worked out perfectly.

I started in the first corral and set off at what I guessed was about a 7:30 pace (I didn't wear a watch for this race).  The first few miles wound through Center City before returning to the art museum and bearing left onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.  I was feeling pretty good throughout, even during the climb up to the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and short detour around the other side of the Schuylkill River.  As I fell into the homestretch in the last few miles along the river, I started picking up the pace.  I finished the last tenth of a mile in a dead sprint, which made for a nice picture:

Side note: I love it when races offer free professional pictures.

My time wasn't too bad either.  I've been running long this winter in preparation for Boston, of course, but haven't approached anywhere near the intensity that I would like.  Going into this race, I told myself I would be happy with anything under 1:40, so the fact that I beat that and managed to finish the last few miles with a solid kick is a win in my book.

I had a full set of clothes to change into, thankfully, considering how cold it was.  I hung out waiting for others to finish, and then got talked into redeeming my free beer in the beer garden.  Because you're not living until you're drinking beer (Yards, natch) at 9:30am outside in 45 degree weather after running 13.1 miles.

I then went to a nearby bar to get out of the cold and meet a guy from Who's Up? for another drink, followed by walking back to the train to return to New Jersey.

If you're looking for a good half marathon in the Philly area, I definitely recommend this one. There was a great turnout for such a new race, the course was beginner friendly with just one challenging hill in the back half, the participant perks are solid, and there were no major snafus of any kind.  Race management was solid all around.

Dare I say it?  I just might love this race.

5000 Yards Dash Race Recap

This morning I raced the inaugural 5000 Yards Dash in Philadelphia, which was organized by Great American Brewery Runs, a company that pairs road racing with breweries in the Philadelphia area.  They have races sponsored by Flying Fish, Sly Fox, Fordham and Dominion, River Horse, and now Yards Brewing Company, hence the name and distance of today's event.

Each race also has a charity component, and today's race was in benefit of Philly Achilles, which "pairs disabled athletes with compassionate and trained guides who place an emphasis on safety to ensure that our disabled athletes reach their optimal fitness potential."

I was lucky that a friend from my running group won free entry to this race last Wednesday, but wasn't able to use it.  He sent an e-mail to the group offering up his entry, and I jumped on it.  Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch over bib swapping, he was never actually registered for the race. He just gave me the free code they issued him and I registered with it. I was also supposed to run the race with Erik, another friend from my running group, but he must have seen the rain this morning and bailed on me.

With race entry fee, tax, and online processing fee, the total came to about $55.  For that price, runners received a custom beer glass and coaster/bottle opener (seen above), bananas/beer/hard pretzels afterwards, a festival with live music and food trucks, and a course along Columbus Boulevard (and the only Philadelphia race permitted to run in Penn's Landing).  I was surprised there was no race shirt.  I thought this was a staple of all races.

The race started and finished at Yards Brewing Company, located on Delaware Avenue on the Delaware River Waterfront.  I had planned to ride my bike there because it's only five miles from my front door to the brewery and I didn't want to deal with parking, but the steady rain all morning made that a no-go.

I found parking on a side street close by, walked over to the brewery where a large tent was set up, picked up my bib and then stood around for an hour as more and more runners showed up.  By race time the tent was so packed with runners trying to avoid the rain that it was hard to move inside.

According to the announcer, there were 1,400 runners there (though if they went by registered runners, I'm pretty sure there were plenty who decided not to show up due to the rain today). When 8:30 rolled around, we all trudged out onto the road where I positioned myself close to the front.  My running group Who's Up? just got new T-shirts and racing singlets, and I decided to break mine in today, though it meant I was shivering uncontrollably while waiting for the race to start.  I was fine once we got going, though, and the singlet ended up being a good choice.

The race itself was rather uneventful.  We charged en masse down Columbus Boulevard, eventually made a left into Penn's Landing where the view would have been nice if I wasn't being pelted by rain, then turned back onto Columbus straight into a headwind.  Being 5,000 yards, the course was a little shorter than a traditional 5k, and I finished in 18:33.

I grabbed some water, high fived the runners who came in behind me, and immediately went over to the beer tent.  One of the men there asked to see my I.D.

Me: I don't have my ID, I forgot to bring my wallet today.  How much of a problem is that going to be?
Beer Guy: It's a bit of a problem.
Me: (probably looking wet and pathetic) Can I go look up my race results which will show you I'm 35?
Beer Guy: All right, you're ok.  Go on.
Me: Bless you, good sir.

The wet T-shirt contest was my favorite part of the race.

We got a choice of the pale ale or the Brawler.  I went with the pale ale, one of my favorites.

I was surprised that the brewery itself wasn't open.  I had brought a complete change of clothes, and had planned to hang out at the brewery for awhile with Erik and others, but instead I drank my beer and just walked back to my car.  I doubt the race had any control over it, but it would have seemed like a logical choice to open the brewery, especially on a day like today, but runners were confined to the tiny tent instead.

The race and/or brewery also desperately need to work out a system to dispense the beers more quickly.  Runners were standing in the rain in a line practically as long as the course itself just to collect their free beer.  It was also a very slow line.

All in all, not a bad race experience.  Tough luck that the inaugural race just happened to fall on a day with such terrible weather, but it didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits.

Were you out there with me this morning?  What did you think of the race?  And how long did it take you to get a beer?!

Second beer mile and first DFL

The beer mile: a race like no other.  Four laps around a track, each one preceded by chugging a beer.  The beer must be at least 5% ABV and may not be opened ahead of time.  Any runner who throws up incurs a penalty lap.  And that's about it.

Born in 1980's Canada (it has been joked that Canadians are to the beer mile as East Africans are to the marathon), it has since grown in popularity in recent years, with national championships and top beer milers earning endorsements and making appearances on national tv.

I've only ever done one other beer mile in my life, which I did two years ago completely by myself with Stevie spectating.  My only two goals then were to finish under ten minutes and not throw up.  I accomplished the latter but failed in the former when I quickly discovered how bad I am at chugging beer.  Still, I came reasonably close by finishing in 10:45.

Here's the post from that experience two years ago (includes bonus comment from a disgruntled former student):

My first beer mile.

Anyway, apparently my love of running and beer is becoming more widely known, because this year I was invited to take part in an annual beer mile with several others.  Many from Who's Up? would be there as well.  I put it on my calendar and immediately started "training".

My goal for this year's beer mile was to beat 10:45 whether I puked or not.  Spoiler alert: I didn't even come close.  I don't even know my exact time.  Maybe twenty minutes?  Let's just say you could have measured my performance last night with a sundial.

My two issues last time had been my lack of chugging ability, and how full I still was when I started.  So I spent last week practicing chugging beer, sometimes going out for my daily run directly afterwards to acclimate to the sloshing effect.  I also made sure not to eat as much beforehand.

But after drinking the first beer in respectable time, the carbonation immediately caught up with me, making it incredibly hard to stomach subsequent beers.  I had also decided to go with warm Budweiser as opposed to ice cold like last time, because I'd read that warm beer is easier to chug.  The only problem is that I may as well have been drinking rotgut fermented in horsepiss.  My gassy stomach made it difficult to chug beers 2, 3 and 4, while the foul taste made it all but impossible.

There was nothing I could do but stand there and take dainty, horrid sips while others lapped me.

Fellow runner: C'mon Scott, last beer!  You can do it!
Scott: Uh, dude, this is my 3rd one.
Fellow runner: ouch.

The winner finished in 7:33.  Like I said, I have no idea what my final time was but estimate about twenty minutes.  On my final lap, I was joined by another guy out of solidarity, and everyone clapped for me as I finished.  DFL.

Who's Up? was only a small faction of the beer milers

Surprisingly we all went out to a bar afterwards where we had more beer and discovered that one of the runners had to be disqualified.  He neglected to check the ABV on his beer of choice (Modelo) which ended up only being 4.4%.

I'm tempted to say this was my last beer mile ever, but let's be honest, the competitiveness with myself is going to kick in, and I'm already trying to think of how I can do better next time.

Until then, I'll keep the running and beer separate.

Running in West Virginia

Spring break only lasted 6 days this year, as opposed to the ten we've had in years' past. Stevie and I wanted to go somewhere during the break, just to get out of Jersey for a bit, but didn't want to break the bank doing so.  We settled on an Airbnb on a farm in West Virginia.

Cue the John Denver...

We had an entire house to ourselves that sat opposite a pasture with four enormous draft horses.  They were very friendly and we were allowed to feed them apples and carrots.  There were also four bloodhound puppies that belonged to a neighbor which frequently came over to say hello.  There were only a few other houses in the area; it was otherwise nothing but farmland and hills.  The town was about a mile down the road with a few basic amenities like a gas station, a grocery store, and a theater.

Almost heaven?  Sounds like the real deal to me.

On our first full day there we went hiking in the state forest surrounding the farm, and took in both waterfalls and cranberry bogs.

On another day, we spent the entire day hanging out on the farm, during which our hosts let me drive the tractor with Neale in my lap.  Just another day in West Virginia.

We spent a good hour that same day trying to catch frogs and rolling down a hill.  When in the company of a toddler, it's easy to slow down and appreciate the little things.

No trip would be complete without sampling the local beer:

And of course I ran every day that I was there on some very chilly mornings, up and down some very hilly terrain.

We returned last night, and tomorrow it's back to the grind.  It turned out to be an amazing, low-key vacation, and here's to the next one.

Fishtown Beer Runners meets Who's Up?

If you're a runner in the Philadelphia area, you've probably heard of the Fishtown Beer Runners.  As the name would suggest, they're a group that meets in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood to run and then - you guessed it - drink beer afterwards.

Founded by Eric Fiedler and David April in 2007, the club's concept is actually aided by science.  They had heard of a study conducted at the University of Granada in Spain by Professor Manuel Castillo that told of beer's positive effects following a run.  They decided to test the theory, and the rest, as they say, is history.

After the club's reputation grew, David decided to contact the Professor in something of a fanboy moment.  To his surprise, the Professor wrote back, and the two struck up a correspondence that has since led to several trips to Spain, where David eventually met the woman who would become his wife.

Today the group's name is trademarked, it has received endorsements from such heavyweights as Christopher McDougall, and even been the subject of a feature-length documentary.  Through it all, the group's activity remains the same: dozens of runners meet at David's house in Fishtown on Thursday nights, always running 3-5 miles, always finishing at a local bar and always raising a glass to toast the professor before the end of the evening, just as they have done since the beginning.

A few weeks ago, one of the guys in Who's Up? ran with the Fishtown Beer Runners and decided to organize a viewing of the aforementioned documentary at one of our own club meetings.

So that's where I found myself last night: after seven sweaty miles, we all convened in the basement of the Haddonfield Running Company for our club's first movie night.  David himself and a few others from his club made the trek across the bridge, and after a short introduction, we all sat with beer and soft pretzels to watch the film together.

The film was incredible, by the way.  It starts on a low note as David reels from a recent divorce, and quickly picks up steam as running begins to save him, all while capturing Philadelphia's unique neighborhoods.  The action transfers to various bars in the city before going international, tagging along on one of the group's trips to Spain as they meet the professor and participate in one of his ongoing studies.

In my humble opinion, it's right up there with films like Spirit of the Marathon in terms of inspiration and should be included in any runner's movie collection.  You can rent or buy the movie to stream on any device by clicking here.  I don't think it's available on DVD, though.

After the movie, we all toasted to the Professor:

And I got a picture with the man, the myth, the legend himself:

Huge thanks to the Haddonfield Running Company for letting us hang out after hours, especially to Shawn and TJ for sticking around to supervise us delinquents.  Also thanks to Tom for putting the whole thing together, and of course David and the Fishtown Beer Runners for making the trek across the bridge to run and drink with us and share the movie.  And of course for spreading the gospel of running and beer.  The world is most definitely a better place because of them.

There is already talk in our group of crossing the bridge to join them on one of their runs in the nearby future.  Until then...

To the Professor!

2016 Olympic Trials Marathon

It was a great afternoon to be a runner in South Jersey.

Local running celebrities Jen Miller (prolific author and running columnist), Dave Welsh (owner of Haddonfield Running Company) and Erin Donahue (2008 U.S. Olympian) put together a spectacular event today in honor of the first ever live televised coverage of the Olympic Trials Marathon.

About 15 of us met at the bar at 12pm and took off into a blustery snowstorm for 2.62 miles. Aside from my usual Wednesday night 7 miles, this was the longest run I've done in a month, and probably the coldest this season.

When we returned from the run, the first round was on the house, and an epic buffet had been set up for us.

The bar quickly filled up with people - runners on the left side, and random day drinkers on the right.  It was definitely a novelty to see so many people at a bar in the middle of the day to watch a marathon.

I was ecstatic to see Meb and Galen place in the top three, and as for the women, I was sad that Kara didn't make the cut but happy Shalane gutted it out to finish third.

Stevie eventually joined us and brought Neale, and the highlight of the afternoon came when Jen raffled off a copy of her book and I won.

Bonus photobomb from Stevie and Neale.

I've been following Jen's progress on the book for months now and have been looking forward to its release, so it was a pleasant surprise to receive a free copy today over a month ahead of its scheduled release.

I'll be sure to read it and write a review here soon.

All told, it was a great afternoon of running and beer.  Big thanks to The Irish Mile for hosting the event and for the beer and food.  Can't wait to watch the Olympic Marathon this summer!

2015 Philadelphia Marathon race report

I'll try to keep this one to the facts and save the emotion for a separate post.

Quick stats:

13th marathon
6th Philadelphia Marathon
3rd marathon in 2015
Finishing time: 3:01:06 (PR)

Here goes the long version...

Pre-Race

The race was set to begin at 7am.  I woke up at 4am and showered, which I always do before a big race to wake up and loosen up the muscles.  I got to the train station in time for the 4:40 train into Philly and arrived at the entrance to the secure zone around 5:20 and breezed right through security.  I'm told the security line stretched a half mile long as it got closer to the race start, so thankfully I showed up early.

I made it to the starting line by 5:30 and just sat around by gear check for awhile since I didn't want to warm up for the race so early.  I would have run up and down the art museum steps to psych myself up for the race, but there were about 400 security fences in the way.

At about 6 I started getting ready.  I taped my nipples (using duct tape, natch), applied Body Glide, stuffed Gu packets into my shorts pockets, and stripped down to what I would be wearing at the start: shorts, shirt, throwaway hoodie, gloves and hat.  I handed my bag into gear check and got in line for a port-a-potty, then ran about a half mile warmup and did some dynamic stretches.

To my horror, around 6:35 I realized I still had to go to the bathroom, but the lines were outrageous at this point and I never would have started the race on time.  I walked around and found a small group of port-a-potties hidden away with only a small line, but after getting in line I found out these were only for elites.  A large and loud woman started yelling at runners to show their bibs and that only elites were allowed in this line.  I managed to hide behind two other runners as she came by and was able to use the port-a-potty here after all.

Once in my corral I had to endure the usual banter between the MC, Mayor Nutter and other people onstage.  I really wish the Philadelphia Marathon would consider just playing music before the start.  They then announced that the start would be delayed due to a car accident somewhere up on the course.  Great.  I love getting myself psyched to start a race only to have it be delayed by 15 minutes (no I don't).


The Start

They sang the French national anthem to honor those affected by last weekend's terrorist attacks in Paris, then the American national anthem, then the wheelchair division started, then the elites, then my corral - the maroon corral.

The first mile was a nightmare.  My garmin told me I was doing a 6:28 pace, which I found hard to believe, then beeped well before the first mile marker.  This completely threw me off my game, and I ended up having pacing issues for the entire race.  I just could not keep a steady pace.  I would look down at my watch and see I was going way below a 6:50 pace, so I would slow down, only to see a second later that I was doing a 7:18 pace.


Mile 5

By mile 5 I could already feel a twinge in my shin, and around the same time I started to feel the familiar pain of a side stitch under my right rib, same as the half marathon three weeks ago.  Great.  So this is how it's going to be.

I saw a few people from my running club at mile 6, and a few employees from the Haddonfield Running Company at mile 8.  Also, Bryan from Twitter snapped a picture of me around this point.

I was sticking to the plan and keeping within my time goal, but it was anything but smooth and easy, and I was already worried about how I was going to fare in the latter miles.


Mile 10

The worst hills of the course were now behind me, and I knew I would have several miles until the next hill, so I tried to settle into a comfortable pace and take advantage of the relatively flat and straight course.

Around mile 10 I saw Brandon from the South Jersey Athletic Club.  We exchanged a few words and ran together for a few minutes, but he was doing the half and ended up picking up his pace.  I was trying hard to stick to my pacing and save some for the second half of the race, so I stayed behind.


Mile 13.1

Just before the halfway point, the half marathoners veer off to the right to the finish line while the full marathoners head left, past the art museum and out onto Kelly Drive towards Manayunk.  I passed the halfway mark in 1:30:17, which was exactly where I wanted to be.  I was trying to negative split this race, so I wanted to run a slower first half and save some for the latter miles.

At mile 14 I made a tactical decision and stopped to go to the bathroom.  I was surprised that I had to go at all as I hadn't had much to drink that morning and in addition to using the port-a-potties a few hundred times, I had also watered every nearby tree before the start.  I would estimate this cost me about 15 seconds.

Normally this is one of my favorite parts of any Philadelphia race, because gone are the hairpin turns of Center City and the hills of Fairmount Park.  Runners are sufficiently warmed up at this point, but it's still before the real pain begins, so it's easy to lock into a consistent pace.  Most runners hate this section, though, for its lack of spectators, but I enjoy the solitude and the chance to zone out.

But the wind.  I have never felt wind this bad in a race before, including last year's Boston. Heading along the Schuylkill, we were repeatedly smacked in the face with wind gusts coming off the river.  It was torture and incredibly dispiriting.


Mile 17

The worst part of the entire course.  The course ends its pleasant ambling along the river and hangs a sharp left across the Falls Bridge, down an incline, hangs a complete 180 in the middle of the street, then back up the incline and back across the Falls Bridge.


Manayunk (19-21)

The sidestich and the hills took their toll in Manayunk, and I purposefully slowed down to help ease the pain and keep myself in the game, if only for a minute.

I remember loving this section of the race the first few times I ran Philly, because it's one gigantic block party with music and food and screaming spectators lining the sidewalks.  But particularly in yesterday's race, it was all a blur as I was too deep into my own world of pain. My eye was on my watch as I desperately clung to the hope that my goal was still feasible. The math worked out in my head, but just barely.  I ditched my gloves and kept pumping my arms and legs as hard as I could.


Mile 21

I must have caught another wind, because this is when I really thought I could do it.  I was still running a 6:50 pace and knew the headwind coming out to Manayunk would now be a tailwind heading back to the art museum, and the course would level and straighten out again, allowing me to cruise to the finish.  It would be close, but it was doable.

I also knew that I had my two friends meeting me at mile 24, so I began focusing on them.

Imagine my frustration, then, as gusts of wind continued to blow in my face as I headed back. It would appear the wind had changed direction.


Mile 23.5

I had put out the call on Facebook two weeks earlier looking for someone to pace me in the last two miles of the marathon.  The catch was that this person would have to be capable of running two consecutive 6:50 miles, which limited the number of people.  Lo and behold, not one but two of the women from my Wednesday night running group Who's Up? volunteered to help out.

Robin and Kim met me earlier than expected and fell into step with me.  I must have been a peach to be around at this point, muttering monosyllabic complaints and negative thoughts, but both of them continued to tell me I was doing great and that I could make it.  They were an absolute Godsend, and I just can't thank them enough for the help they offered.  While I didn't make my goal of sub 3, I have no doubt I wouldn't have run a PR without them.

I was struggling but still hovering around 7 minute miles.  The math I was doing in my head told me if I kept up a 7 minute pace, I could make it, but I knew the .2 miles at the end would take at least a minute, and that that was probably going to make the difference.


Mile 26

As the crowds thickened and the security fences started, Kim and Robin veered off the course.  I had warned them ahead of time that they wouldn't be able to finish with me, so I knew this was coming.  I had to do the final .2 on my own.

I watched as my watch passed 3 hours with the finish line just around the curve.  Somehow, amidst the hundreds of screaming spectators and the emotion of the moment, I heard my dad call my name as I kept pushing, muscles screaming and all the pain, sacrifice and hard work of the last four months spilling forth onto the course.  I high fived Mayor Nutter as I crossed the line and keeled over, gasping for breath.  It was everything I ever wanted in a marathon finish, only a minute and 7 seconds too slow.

Post Race

After finishing I drank some Gatorade and collected my medal, and wanted to get some food but the line was incredibly crowded with half marathon finishers, so I kept moving.  I did manage to grab a cup of chicken broth and a bottle of some sort of fruit infused water, but no food.

I found my dad at the family reunion area in front of the Franklin Institute where we took some pictures.

Immediately post-race
Photo by Wayne Partenheimer

With my dad at Logan Square
Photo by some guy who recognized me from YouTube

People from my running group were all meeting at nearby Tir Na Nog for drinks, so we stopped in there for a few beers before heading home.  It was a blast hanging out at the bar swapping stories over beers with everyone and celebrating everyone's successes.

At Tir Na Nog with members of Who's Up?
Photo by Wayne Partenheimer

My first beer in 2 months!
Photo by Wayne Partenheimer

With my amazing pacers, Kim and Robin
Photo by Wayne Partenheimer

I was a little disappointed that I missed my goal, and by such a close margin, but I'll get more into why in the next post.

At the end of the day, I still ran 26.2 miles faster than I ever have before in my life, and got to bond with my dad and running friends afterwards.  Four months of hard work ended not in disappointment, then, but with laughter and friends and good beer.  Success.

And with that, the 2015 Philadelphia Marathon comes to a close.  Thanks for reading.

Photo by Wayne Partenheimer

Why I give up alcohol before a goal race

When I train for a goal race, I usually give up alcohol about two months out.  This is never easy, mind you.  I don't want to paint myself as a drunk, but a cold craft beer is one of the great pleasures in life, in my opinion.  So why deny myself the joy of an oat soda or two after a long day's work?

I do it for a few reasons:

1. It helps me cut weight.  I am not overweight by any means, but when training for a goal race I can always stand to drop a few lbs.  Not drinking saves me a lot of calories over the long haul, in addition to the temptation of eating greasy bar food when I'm out.
2. It helps me stay focused.  I may still go out during marathon training, but the temptation to stay up till 3am is gone when I'm drinking water all night.  This makes it much easier to get up early to run.
3. It saves me a lot of money, which I can then spend on races and other race-related things.
4. So much of marathon training is about sacrifice, and I like the idea of sacrificing something I love to help me keep my eye on the prize.

Tomorrow marks two months until the Philadelphia Marathon, so tomorrow I start my self enforced sobriety.  I'm saying goodbye to the boozy life tonight by enjoying one of the best fall beers I've ever had, which my dad picked out for me.  I'm pairing it with a dram of Woodford Reserve's double oaked bourbon.  The bitter hops pair brilliantly with the slight sweetness of the bourbon, and I'm in heaven.

It's going to be a long two months.  I'll catch you on the other side.