Marathon training

The Philadelphia Marathon is in two weeks. Yikes.

Last weekend, we did what most marathon-ers say is the hardest run: 21 miles in a non-race situation. Sarah and I were out at her parents' house near Pittsburgh. We managed to find a nice, flat bike course through the beautiful hills and colorful trees of Western Pennsylvania. The run went amazing well, except that we made the mistake of poor hydration. Since we were what some might call the "boondocks", there weren't many water faucets to be found. We stopped at a town on our way home, but it wasn't quite enough. I had to do a walk/slow jog combo for the last three miles, and Sarah was more than understanding and comforting for me. I scarfed down a few funny-tasting apples in her car after we got back. Unfortunately, I puked them back up a half hour later. Besides that, it was probably our best run we'd had yet. Sarah and I both felt strong, and we managed to run 21 miles in less than 3 1/2 hours (I forget our exact time, however).

Today we ran a 2PM race with mostly other students run students. It was a simple loop around the Schuylkill River. What was surprising about it was that since there weren't many people in the race, Sarah and I both received medals for our age group! We arrived at the finish line at the same time (Sarah technically crossed a split-second ahead of me). Sarah got a 3rd place medal, and I got a 2nd place one. What's crazy is that I've never run in a race expecting to win or even get anything. So, it was a nice surprise.

The last two weeks before the marathon are supposed to be tapered--running less so your body is at peak capacity for the 26.2 miles. We're both nervously excited about it, and it seems that the students share our feelings. Since the course is long, we're looking for people to help cheer us on! If you're interested, please come!!! We'll be running from 7AM until probably noonish.