If you’re on the hunt for a good fall marathon, check out my Philadelphia Marathon Race Recap! This may be one to add to your must-run list!
Welcome to another great Wild Workout Wednesday Link Up where Annmarie from The Fit Foodie Mama, Angelena Marie from Angelena Marie: Happy, Healthy & Balanced, Michelle at Fruition Fitness and I bring you workout ideas, motivation, inspiration and recipes to try. Join us each week by reading along, linking up and grab the button to proudly display on your blog/in your posts!
I’m picking up today with part 2/2 of my Philadelphia Marathon race recap, but first things first, big thanks for all your kind words and support! You all are the best.
Ok, so yesterday we left off with me crawling into bed. Well before I knew it, it was 4:30am and my alarm was going off. I hopped out of bed, turned flat Nicole into 3D Nicole, made my pre-race oatmeal (Love Grown Foods Original Super Oats with sliced banana and almond butter) and was out the door at 5am to go pick up Angela and her family.
Getting To The Race
Getting into Philadelphia was very easy. I was nervous about race day traffic and road closures, but it was a piece of cake. I’d pre-booked us parking spaces using Parking Panda (the race recommended this app, and it was great!). We ended up less than a mile away from the security checkpoint. At that point, it was just after 6am, giving us plenty of time to get through security and get to to our corrals for a 7am start… or so we thought.
The security line was nuts! It was insanely long and didn’t seem to be moving at all. A ton of runners were legitimately running to another checkpoint, at which point I figured so many people were going to the other checkpoint, that we might as well stay at this one. That was big mistake.
Our families left us in the security line since it was for runners only and went to go find a good spectator spot. Angela and I waited. And waited. I’m so glad I brought a throwaway layer and gloves because it was chilly standing in that line (about 47 degrees). We heard the race announcer far off in the distance. We heard the national anthem. It was 6:55 and we were still in line. Finally, we started really moving. I think they finally gave up on doing a strip search on every runner (which is the only thing I can think they were doing that was taking so long). We got up to the front of the security line, they gave us a quick pat down, and we sped walked/slow jogged to the porta potties where we promptly got in, you guessed it, another line.
Despite this annoyance, Angela and I both remained pretty calm. Our race wasn’t going to start until we crossed the starting line, after all, so we just enjoyed chatting with all the other runners that were in the same position we were in. The worst thing that could happen would be starting in a later corral where we’d have to do a little dodging and weaving to get by some slower runners. No big deal.
The porta potty line was actually quite fun. We chatted with some folks and got a good laugh as one runner came out of a porta potty shouting in celebration, “I POOPED!!!”
The Start
Angela and I both paid our dues to the porta potty gods and rushed over to the corrals. When we got over there (just before 7:30am), we realized out corral hadn’t left yet! YES! We wedged our way in, and two minutes later we were off. It actually worked out pretty nicely because it didn’t give me any time to get nervous!
Despite the lack of security efficiency, the start of the race was great. We were in the perfect corral, and I felt like everyone was running at our exact pace (which was a nice, easy 10 min/mile). I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a start where I didn’t feel like a sardine. No dodging. No weaving. I had my own bubble. It was great! We saw our families for the first time right at the first mile mark, and it felt like we’d only been running for seconds!
The First Half
The first half of the race was incredible and so beautiful. We ran down Ben Franklin Parkway before turning down Arch Street, where we ran by City Hall and the Liberty Bell (I ditched my throwaway layers here). Then we ran down the Delaware River and through some cute Philly neighborhoods filled with fun shops. There was tons of crowd support, and we ended up spotting our families again around mile 6. Time was flying, and Angela and I were having a blast! I hadn’t even turned on my music yet. We were just chatting about life and maintaining a very consistent 10 minute pace.
I distinctly remember miles 7-9. I call them the smelly miles. They weren’t bad at all, quite the opposite actually, but miles 7-8 had us running by University City, aka frat row. All the frats were out offering support, but the smell of stale beer was lingering in the air. Oh, college. We passed the Philadelphia Zoo between miles 8 and 9, hence smelly mile #2. I wish some the animals had been out cheering for us!
The half marathoners broke off right before their finish line. I was kind of jealous that they were done, but I was still feeling pretty good! Angela and I were both still chatting and in good spirits. We even “ran into” a guy who was running his 70th marathon for his 70th birthday! I want to be like him when I grow up! For real. I’d never run so long without some form of audio entertainment, but I suppose a good chat is the best form of audio entertainment.
The Second Half
The second half of the race is were things started getting tough. The bottoms of my feet started getting a little tired at mile 14. Mile 14?! What are you doing, feet? You still have a ways to go! Suck it up buttercup! I refused to complain about it. Instead, I tried to push it out of my head and just kept talking to Angela.
What really made the second half of the race tough was the fact that the whole second half is an out-and-back course. We were at mile 16 when we started seeing the elites passing by on the other side. It was pretty cool and inspiring to see the elites, but by mile 17, we were seeing all the “normal people” runners – you know – those regular runners who just happen to be pretty darn fast. It’s so hard to see people heading toward the finish when you know you still have 9.2 miles to go. It’s such a mental game! There also wasn’t a lot of crowd support between miles 17-19, so that was tough. But Angela wasn’t complaining, so I wasn’t complaining. Instead, we tried to focus on the turn around point that was only 3 miles ahead. A 5k. We can do that! It was at this point that Angela realized that if we kept our pace, we could beat her Chicago Marathon time (which was her second best marathon time). Neither of us went into this race with a time goal, but now we had one. Game on, Philly. Game on!
Having a goal became exhilarating, and it exhilarated me right into a wall. Actually, it exhilarated me right into the never ending mile. You know that mile that must have been marked incorrectly by race organizers? The mile where they forgot to put up a mile marker. That mile you swear you passed 20 minutes ago, but for some reason your GPS watch says it’s only been 30 seconds. Mile 19 was that mile. I knew the turn around point had to be coming up, but I felt like it was never going to come.
Finally, we hit the turn around and Angela pointed ahead to the 20 mile marker! “Do you have an hour in you?!” she asked. “YUP!” I shouted back.
I have to tell you all, if I hadn’t been with Angela, I probably would have started taking walk breaks, but she really helped push me, and I’m so glad for it! She was so positive and kept me having fun the whole race.
I started putting on a little bit of music to push myself through the final 10k but kept pausing it to chat with other runners. Every time we hit another mile, Angela would shout out some more encouraging words.
“50 minutes! That’s a Netflix episode!” – “Ain’t no thang!” I’d reply.
“40 minutes! We do that all the time!” – “Yes, we got this!” I’d shout back.
In my head, I was struggling a bit. My feet were on fire and I was exhausted. I felt like I could close my eyes and fall asleep mid run, but Angela wasn’t complaining, so I wasn’t complaining.
At mile 23, I knew we only had about half an hour left. That’s a sitcom. I can run for a sitcom.
Mile 24. That’s only a few songs.
Mile 25, the crowds were picking up. I felt my calf trying to cramp and willed with all my will that it not.
Mile 26. SO CLOSE! We saw our families close to the finish line. I got a burst of energy. We were going to finish this race strong, and we were going to finish together.
We crossed! We high-fived. We hugged! We’d done it!
The Finish
I think the first words out of my mouth were, “So. Much. Pain.”
Angela said, “My feet our on fire!”
We were done. We didn’t have to fake it to make it anymore. After 26.2 miles of positivity, we could complain a little bit. Except one more time for the finish line photographer, of course! (I’m actually really excited for official race photos to come out, because we made sure to pose for every photographer!)
We got our medals, which are the coolest of all time (the bell actually rings!), wrapped ourselves in heat sheets, and got water, bananas, and some other finish line goodies. I loved that they gave us a bag to hold everything. The whole finish was very well organized.
Our families found us. The told us our official time. 4:21:35! An almost 20 minute PR for me and a second best for Angela! And! A negative split! Yup, somehow we managed to run the second half of the race faster than the first half. I have NO IDEA how. It sure as hell didn’t feel like it, but we did it!
Even though I was exhausted, I was happy to have the mile-long walk back to the car. I wanted to keep moving so that my muscles wouldn’t seize up. I did a little bit of static stretching before getting in the car, and then massaged my legs and feet the whole drive back to parents’ place (I even brought my massage ball into the car). My awesome medal dinged and donged the whole drive home.
Once I got home, I made a recovery smoothie and foam rolled for a good 20 minutes. Ahhh hurts so good. My calves were pretty tight the rest of the day, but by the next morning, I was feeling surprisingly good! My knees were a little achy, but otherwise, I was in great shape! I was even going up and down stairs like a normal human being. I’ll definitely be following up with a “how to recover” post because I’m pretty darn proud of how good I felt the day after.
I’m going to take it kind of easy the rest of the week,but I’m feeling good and ready to get back into training for Dopey. I’m coming for you, Disney!
Overall Race Pros:
Space at the starting line
Crowd support in the first half
Relatively flat, easy course
Coolest medal ever
Organized finish
Overall Race Cons:
Unorganized security line
Lack of crowds where most runners hit the wall
Mentally tough second half with out-and-back course
Thanks for bearing with me for the long recap! Now I want to hear about your wild workouts! Check out the Wild Workout Wednesday Link Up rules here and join in below! And have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING tomorrow!!
Let’s Chat:
Anyone else race this weekend?
Ever faced the never ending mile?
How do you recover post-race?

Way to push through and stay positive until the very end, that is no small feat! You’re amazing, my friend! Congrats again <3
Annmarie recently posted…DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Turkey Burner HIIT Workout
Woohoo! Thank you!
Congratulations! What a great race for you, and love that you are feeling so good after. That means you were smart! Out and back courses definitely can be tough–my “longest mile ever” was a mile that I didn’t know whas going to be a mile becuase I thought that the finish line was where the start of the race was. Nope, it was another .5 mi after that. So I hauled ass for a mile rather than .5. But I got a PR!
Susie @ SuzLyfe recently posted…Suzlyfe: Two Years Later (Blogiversary)
Oh man! That suckssssssss!! But PR – WOO!!!
Congrats Nicole!!! Philly is on my race bucket list. That medal is wicked!
Bri recently posted…Improve your health, fitness level and nutrition knowledge in Koru Personal Training’s January 2016 challenge group!
Thank you! It’s the coolest medal ever!
Congratulations on the PR!!! You did such a good job!! So proud of that push at the end!!
Julie @ Running in a Skirt recently posted…Happy Thanksgiving Y’all!
Thank you!!!
Congrats on that huge PR and the negative splits! Very impressive and it sounds like you’ll be more than ready for Dopey 🙂
Chaitali recently posted…What’s next?
Thank you!!
This sounds like a great race – Congrats lady! Makes me want to start lacing up my shoes and running again! 🙂
Thank you! And yes! DO it!
Congrats on that PR!!! What an amazing race for you. Those splits were so consistent. You should be really proud of yourself. And the medal is cool too!!!!
Wendy@Taking the Long Way Home recently posted…Beautiful bounty
Angela is the most consistent runner ever – it’s because of her we were so consistent and maintained energy throughout.
woohooo!!!! congratulations on the PR! I’m bummed we missed each other but glad you had such a marvelous race. I enjoyed this one for sure.
Mar @ Mar on the Run recently posted…Philadelphia Half Marathon Race Recap
I’m bummed we missed each other, too! Guess we’ll just have to do it again next year! ;-P
I love how you named your miles! And I totally use your time scheme when I’m running… oh ten more minutes is nothing! 2 more songs! 🙂 Great job Nicole
Cayanne Marcus recently posted…Soccer Pro VS 5th Grade Plateau Throw-down: Staying Safe & in Shape This Holiday Season + GIVEAWAY
Thank you!
Great job, lady! Shedding 20 minutes off your PR is an excellent feat! (And I hope your actual feet are healing!)
Thank you! And yes – all healed! 🙂
Congrats to you and Angela on a great race! I’m starting to realize how great it is to have someone to run with you so you can support each other.
Janelle @ Run With No Regrets recently posted…Annapolis Classic Half Marathon Recap
It made such a big difference!
Way to go, Nicole! And congrats on your 20 minute PR! What an incredible accomplishment, especially after facing a mental and physical struggle.
Thank you!!
congrats on your awesome PR! sounds like it was a great race – it’s always fun running with a friend! yay!
courtney @ eat pray run dc recently posted…Holiday Gift Guide for Foodies
Thank you!! 🙂 Running with a friend made all the difference with this one.
Congrats! Sounds like you had a blast. Philly is a great flat place to run. I sometimes think it is hard on an out and back course as well when the fasties are passing by. Nice job friend!
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner recently posted…Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you! The out and back was definitely hard.
Congrats on running such a strong and smart race. A negative split for a marathon is REALLY AWESOME! Too bad I missed you out there. It would have been fun to bump into you on course.
Lisa @ Lisa Runs for Cupcakes recently posted…Part II: 2015 Ragnar Vegas with Team Nuun
I know! I’m so bummed – I had no idea you were there!
“50 minutes! That’s a Netflix episode!” LOL! I love it! Way to go!
Carmy recently posted…The Perfect Gift Guide for Runners
That’s all Angela 🙂
Awesome job!! This post was totally making me want to sign up for another marathon.
Post race recovery – sit on my butt and eat good food for a day. Maybe two. 😉
Chrissy @ Snacking in Sneakers recently posted…Mocha Banana Smoothie
Do it!!
Congrats on the PR marathon! Now it’s time for a cocktail and a foot massage 🙂 Well deserved!
Oh. Yes!
Congrats on the PR. I want to run a Philly race sometime soon – they sound so much fun!
MCM Mama Runs recently posted…To streak or not to #RWrunstreak + #RWgo
Thanks! Let me know when you decide to run one. Maybe I’ll do it with ya!
Congrats on your PR!! Such an amazing accomplishment.
Daisy @ Fit Wanderlust Runner recently posted…Places to Run in San Diego: The Harbor/Embarcadero
Thank you!
Congrats on your your PR and your race! Cant wait to hear whats next!
AutumnPTW recently posted…Soothe Holiday Tension With 10 Familiar Ingredients
Thank you!!! Next is Dopey!!
Congrats! If I run a marathon someday, I want this to be the one. Thanks so much for the detailed recap and congrats on a super speedy time and on feeling great the next day!
Kristen recently posted…How to Combat The Winter Blahs (Otherwise Known as SAD)
Thank you! I think it would be a good first marathon, just prepare for that out and back in the second half!
I am pretty envious of you. Philadelphia is my old stomping ground. You actually passed where I used to live during the race. Congrats on your accomplishment
Nicole recently posted…Thanksgiving Day Survival Tips
Oh no way! Come on back and run it next year!
That medal is amazing! I’m impressed it actually rings. We could be moving to Philly next year so this definitely is now on my bucket list, thanks for sharing.
Becki S recently posted…CrossFit Holiday Hot Gift List
Isn’t it the coolest metal?! If you move here, we’ll have to meet up!
Brilliant! Well done Nicole, that’s an awesome achievement and to take so much time off your previous PR must feel like a huge bonus. Really enjoyed reading your race recap and I just love the medals- pretty AND fun! Enjoy the rest and your achievement 🙂
Fiona recently posted…The Little Things
Thank you so much!
nice job!!! so great you had someone to push you. Although my mom pushes me, since it is my mom I hav eno problem complaining and telling her I’m walking lol. that’s why I think I need to join a running club, so I have strangers who will push me bc I wont want to embarass myself haha.
The portapotty line when I did the half was ridiculous!! it was inefficient bc they had one line for each porta potty (as opposed to multiple lines for multiple sections). That was my main gripe. I do want to run it again though and give it another shot.
Were there as many spectators in the second half as the first? Bc I remember the first half had a crazy amount and I figured it would probably fade out for the marathoners.
Patty @ Reach Your Peak recently posted…Hotel Room Workout
When I stopped at the portapotties pre race, there were different lines for different portapotties, but throughout the race there was one line per portapotty stop (but to be fair there were usually only 1-3 porta otties at each “rest” stop).
There were definitely WAY more spectators in the first half – that’s another thing that made the out and back section SO HARD – there were really only spectators between 19-20, 23, and right at the end.
I would run it again, but only with a friend to make it through that out and back – and I’d get there extra early!!
Wow! A 20 min PR is AMAZING!! Congrats my friend! You are going to crush Dopey!!
Sue @ This Mama Runs for Cupcakes recently posted…Holiday Giveaway Hop
Thank you!!