Love is in the air - Short Philly Report!

#4 Philly Marathon, #14 ...........#13 was AC Marathon and that was a bust. So going into this race I did a more aggressive taper and felt much more relaxed and at ease. Confidence was there but I was not sure if I had a PR in me.

I Chose to wear my Brooks T7s which are very light so was concerned that they would beat me up.

Dinner with Tim and family night before - Seth cancelled not feeling well

Morning - walked w/seth to start line (always nice to start with someone)

1-13.1 - Congestion first few miles kept me off pace a bit and tried to make up sometime but was still around 3:19:xx but did not feel I can go 3:18 at this point time was 1:39:XX at half.

13.2 -20 - Felt pretty good but losing some momentum around 18 and was just running by HR staying below 178. Thankfully this still put me around 7:40ish for the most part until the last 10k. I did know at this point that sub 3:20 was not possible based on legs feeling heavy and starting to hurt.

20-26.2 - I slowed down from 7:40 to 8:00-8:30 even as I knew I would not maintain a faster pace and worried about cramping and missing a PR. So goal was if I maintain this I can go sub 3:23. I did that for about the last 4-5 miles. I saw my wife and daughter the last mile which gave me some energy as I was gunning for sub 3:23 but as I went into faster running my hamstring tighten up and I was holding my leg with about 300m to go. I slowed down a bit and crossed at 3:23:15.

This is almost a 5 min PR and a 13 min course PR. I actually enjoyed the course this time knowing where the hills are and playing them quite well. The rolling aspect of the course is satisfying to me vs. flat.

Also notice my 30k time was pretty good pace if that is accurate so I really got hurt the last about 10k

The shoes served me well. ALthough sore for sure this morning my feet seemed to be fine while running.

Thanks for the support from this forum. Really wanted to bring back a new PR.

Awesome PR, Kenny. Congrats!

Congrats once again! Nice PR!

5 min PR...very impressive Kenny! Excellent job, recover well.

Nice PR, Kenny. Guess your hamstring overruled your desire to try one last burst of speed at the end.

I'd say you ran a pretty perfect race Kenny. Congratulations on a great PR. It was great sharing another marathon experience with you.

This is your race, Kenny. You have showed consistent solid PR over the years. Keep it up!

Congratulations on the PR Kenny! What a great way to end the year.

Great job, Kenny!

Congratulations Kenny!

Thanks for sharing the report, great job and congrats on the PR! Would you recommend the T7 shoes for racing in? I just ordered some Kinvaras and am anxious to see how they work for shorter runs.

Great job Kenny and an almost perfect way to end the 2011 racing season. Congrats.

Well done Kenny! A 5 minute PR is HUGE and you just keep improving. I knew you had it in you and you made us proud.

Congrats

This is wonderful! You certainly deserve a brand new PR! Congratulations.

Great Job Kenny!

I know you've been training hard for this one and it's great to see you've achieved such a great accomplishment!

Wow, PRs are hard to come by for someone who races as often as you do and you didn't just PR, you crushed your old time. Great job! Way to end 2011.

I think you ran a fabulous race Kenny. Congrats on a great new shiny time. I suspect that the 3:20 barrier will fall next year.

Many congratulations, Kenny! That was a great race and two well-earned PRs.

Ah a PR, very sweet indeed.

Way to go Kenny. Big PR. You continue to lop time off the PR. Great job.

Nice PR! Congrats.

Very nice job, Kenny!

Awesome race Kenny!! I knew that with all of the hard work that you were putting in that you would come home with a nice PR. Rest, Recover, Repeat!!

Some struggles, but managed a 5 min PR, there you go. Nice effort and woo hoo to that new PR, Kenny!

Love is in the air? Does that mean conditions were perfect in the City of brotherly Love?

Short report begets short comment: Good one Mr. Baldo.