4:25:05

was my official marathon time. I am very pleased, because I was aiming for 4:30 and considered it an optimistic aim. So, today I'm still feeling sore and exhausted, but here's a brief recap of the weekend. We arrived late Friday night and Teri picked us up at the airport, then we got the tour of her and Dan's new house in West Philadelphia (born and raised, on the playground, where I spent most of my days...), stayed up late chatting, and went to bed. Unbeknownst to Teri and me, we had each made each other mix CDs, and had both put two of the exact same songs on them from the Rushmore soundtrack, plus we each had a Pearl Jam and a Stevie Wonder song. Great minds mix alike, I suppose. Saturday, Teri took Carolina and me on a long walking tour of the City of Brotherly Love, and Dan joined us for a pasta dinner in the Italian section of the city.

Sunday was race day, luckily for us the weather was perfect, around 50 degrees and sunny. Miles 1 through 10 were fairly easy, and Carolina and I entertained ourselves by chatting, checking out the crowd for cute guys, and my retelling of the entire plot of Everything Is Illuminated. After that, we lost the energy to converse and just focused on the running and looking at the scenery. The course weaves in and around the city, and passes by the finish line around mile 13, then continues down the Schuylkill (yeah, say that five times fast) River to mile 20, then turns around and heads back to the finish. Right after we passed mile 13, the crowd was cheering like crazy, because the leader was already heading back from the other direction towards the finish. We actually saw him bust through the tape at the finish, which was really cool (I've never seen a marathon won live before), except for the fact that he finished in 2:20 and we were only halfway done. The longest mile was definitely mile 19 to 20, because we knew that we turned around at mile 20, and that signified the home stretch. It felt like an eternity had passed before we reached the turnaround. Around mile 22 or so, my legs started hurting, especially my knees. My thought process went something like this: "Don't think about the pain because that will make it hurt more. Don't think about the pain. Wait, don't think about not thinking about the pain because that makes you think about the pain." I found motivation in the knowledge that if I kept up my pace I would finish in less than 4:30, and even though my legs hurt, it still wasn't as painful as my last trip to the dentist. That, and Carolina was still running so I needed to keep up. When we finally turned the last corner, we saw the finish line ahead and my oh my, it was a welcome sight indeed. Teri and Dan were there cheering us on. After post-race showers, we partook of some celebratory Yuenglings then went out to the White Dog for some more food and beers, but I started getting dizzy on my second beer and had to cut myself off. The evening consisted of napping and more eating, and we left the next morning. Overall, it was a very satisfying weekend, with a goal achieved and quality time spent with old friends. I'll post some pictures when the race photos come online or Teri downloads the ones she took, whichever happens first.

The official photos are starting to come in. Check this link. Yes, it says Proof all over it. Sorry about that.