We left Long Island right in the middle of rush hour traffic - which made for quite the eventful drive down on Friday afternoon. We eventually made it out of the city - at a snail's pace of roughly two hours - and it was smooth sailing down the NJ Turnpike and over to Gypsy Lane. By the time we arrived, Meg Sween/Rizzo had already headed out for the evening to an event that she had planned prior to our arrival, so SJ and I had a great evening with Walt, hanging out and catching up.
The next morning, SJ opted not to run in the 8k and we had a lazy morning, sleeping in and relaxing. We didn't really have any plans for the day except to pick up my number at the race expo, so we put on our walking shoes and headed into the city. Walt and Sween live just shy of a ten minute walk to the closest train station, which made our journey relatively easy - we were on the train and at the Expo within twenty minutes of leaving their front door.
After picking up my number and seeing the goods on offer, SJ and I trekked over to the Historical District to see some of the sights. We have both done the touristy side of things before so we opted not to wait in lines to see the Liberty Bell or Independence Hall, and instead we wandered around Old City and down by the water. I don't know all that much about Philadelphia - except the historical side of things - so it was neat to just wander. Unbeknownst to me - since I really hadn't study the course map all that much - we ended up walking almost the exact loop that I would run the next day - so it was sort of like a preview.
We did run into quite the bachelor party in the Old City part of town, though. Note to future stag party participants: if you hold a bachelor party in Philly, you should DEFINITELY require everyone to dress up as Revolutionary War-era dudes - complete with wigs and hats - and consult "ye olde scroll" when deciding what bar to go to next. It was awesome and very well executed. I have no idea where one gets a waistcoat in this day and age, but these guys found them - and pulled them off well. At 1:00pm they were well on their way to an epic day - I would have loved to have seen them later that evening.
Saturday night we all went out to dinner in Manayunk at a restaurant called Bella. We had reservations for 8pm, so naturally we didn't get seated until at least 8:45 (remind me again what the point in getting reservations is when you don't actually get seated at that time?) The food was delicious, even if half of the order was wrong - and I'm sure the Guinness that I ordered and that never came would have also been delicious had I been able to drink it. However, despite the mishaps from the service end of things, the meal was fabulous and the company was even better. Great conversation and lots of laughs - couldn't have asked for a better pre-race meal!
Sunday was an early start to the day and the race was great. I'll recap it in more detail in another post, but it was definitely a much less stressful marathon than New York City. The course had some hills in it, but the back half was pretty flat which made for a great finish. While the atmosphere isn't nearly as crazy as the New York City Marathon, there were quite a few spectators along the course to keep you motivated and moving. After the finish, it was an easy walk to the SEPTA station and a ten minute train ride back out to Sween and Walt's house to celebrate for the rest of the day. The best thing about an early race start was that it was also an early race finish, which meant more time to hang out with everyone. We were in such a festive mood that we even opted to stay over last night to continue the celebration rather than leave early to get home.
All-in-all it was a great weekend - so much so that SJ and I were seriously contemplating buying a house on Gypsy Lane just so every weekend could be as awesome. Now it's just a question of finding a job in Philly. Anyone down there need a personal trainer? (Just kidding, NYC friends - we aren't leaving anytime soon!)
I know I haven't done this in a few weeks so here it goes:
Total Running Miles: 36. That whole marathon thing yesterday really bumped up my running mileage, because this would have been a measly ten had I not done that. However, I actually swam more over the past couple weeks than I have in a while, so I'm slowly working my way back to the "tri" part of a triathlete. I still don't do enough biking or swimming to significantly broadcast either, but slowly but surely it'll start to creep up - especially swimming.
As for right now, I am taking a deserved couple of weeks off. Consider it an early Christmas present to myself. And since I don't have to worry about training for Boston until 2015 - and have no immediate goals in the first half of the year 2014 - the winter and early spring will be a nice slow down after this summer's intense training schedule.
Okay friends - later this week I'll have a Philly Marathon race recap for you, as well as a few other posts. I hope everyone had a great weekend and if you raced, I hope you raced well, and if you partied, I hope you came home with all your clothes.
VERY IMPORTANT! - Mark your calendars for Nov. 23rd next year: Wayne Swizzo will be taking on the Philadelphia Marathon challenge! You heard it here first!
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