The Philly 10k

Racing is back in Philly*

I’ve showered, ate a bit and had a wee nap. Let’s talk about today’s run!

Pre-race rituals…do you have any? Mine are to prepare all of my race day wear, have a pasta dinner, watch a race themed movie (I settled on Brittany Runs a Marathon as Run Fatboy, Run WAS not streaming on Netflix as the Google advised) and I got seven (SEVEN!!) hours of sleep. I got up early and had some coffee (I’d regret that later) and it was go time!

Last year, as lockdown measures were in place, the Philly 10k was a virtual race. As soon as registration for the in person race was open, I signed up and set a goal. Originally I wanted to get a sub one hour finish time but something, something and I changed my goal to a finish time of under 1:05.

I met up with some of the Philadelphia area BGR runners for a pre-race photo and headed to my corral.

There I ran into all the people! I met Angel during a run with the Swagga House Runners, Julia is a friend from the Library and then there is Liz. Liz had promised to find me on race day to run with me and yo…she had me moving!

During the run Liz kept up a steady conversation to keep me distracted from the run and it mostly worked. I didn’t look at my watch…well I HARDLY looked at my watch and we only slowed down during water stops.

We were going at a good clip until mile five where all of the liquids o consumed during the day tried to make a reappearance. I think it was a combination of the coffee I had and running way faster than I had ever run.

I loved seeing all of my running friends cheering. I swear they got me through the last mile. I crossed the finish line and had a first…my insides wanted to see the outside and it wasn’t pretty. Runners are a lovely bunch. Someone handed me a cool cloth and no one even blinked at my guts spread all over South Street.

The race was great. Pickup…meh but Philly Runner can’t be blamed for Center City Traffic. Today’s weather was perfect; low humidity and cool temps after a week of disrespectful heat and humidity. The course was well marked with spectators cheering and yelling words of encouragement.

I’m going to spend some time with my massage gun and the foam roller today and then continue preparing for the next race. I think the slower paced runs helped keep me going physically even though mentally I wanted to quit.

Tomorrow is a new week with new goals. Looking forward to the next race: Philadelphia Distance Run, which is 13.1 miles?!

Eep!

Better stretch and get some hydration going!