Running in the Rain - Philadelphia Marathon Take Two

The out and back, Notice the elite runners on the left.
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The 2007 Philadelphia Marathon took on a rainy, charitable and humbling turn for me. After training for four months, I discovered it was sold out.  Who trains

for months without getting a ticket for the marathon. Who you ask? Well, Jenica, that's who :)

Well, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I decided to run the marathon for a great cause (instead of a 100 percent selfish one). I ran for an organization called  Back on My Feet - Moving the Homeless Forward One Step at a Time. http://backonmyfeet.org/main/index.html

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Their mission is to "promote the self-sufficiency of Philadelphia's homeless population by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem."

I know you are wondering "How Does Running Help the Homeless?" - My stolen from their website answer is this "...compared with sedentary individuals, active persons are more likely to be better adjusted, to perform better on tests of cognitive functioning, to exhibit reduced cardiovascular responses to stress, and to report fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression....Exercise training reduces depression in healthy older men and in persons with cardiac disease or major depression. Exercise also improves self-confidence and self-esteem…" Source: American Heart Association, Inc.

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Running has really helped me in the last few years, especially with getting through grad school, my brother being in Iraq and other stresses. I am so grateful for running.

This was all figured out a few days before I hopped on a plane and headed for Philly. I got there the Thursday before the marathon, giving me a few days to de-jetlag. Saturday I headed to the marathon expo and met the organization and felt very glad to be doing this with them. I wish I lived closer by so I could do more.

What mile 16 really looks like. Known by my family as "that's the Jenica we know and love."
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Sunday morning I woke up a bit late, as did most of my family and headed into the city. There was traffic getting off of the freeway (well, I guess it's called Highway when it's on the east coast) so I made it to the marathon 10 minutes late, recalling the Seinfeld episode! Luckily the whole marathon was late so I had a few mins to get in line and unwind before it started. It was also very cold and damp out, so I'm glad I had a few minutes left in a warm car.

The marathon heads out from in front of the Art Museum Area, down to Penn's Landing, down South Street to Fairmont Park, then back around the Art Museum through Kelly drive to Manneunk (sp) and back. The last 12 miles or so is out and back and it is the hardest part. People hand out brownies and beer but that doesn't seem to help the hardness of it all. I had shorts on, it was raining and 40 degrees, I kept pinching my legs to see if I still had any feeling in them. Two nice older men were being great sideline cheerleaders - one pointed to me and turned to his friend saying "See I told you there would be models here." It was the funniest thing I've ever heard and gave me a bit of energy to go on. Thanks guys.

At mile 16. This face should win an Academy Award for my acting abilities.
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My parents were supposed to meet me at mile 16, and my cousin was supposed to join me and run the last 10 miles. After some miscommunication involving my parents forgetting I wasn't an elite runner (they thought I was on the back part of the out and back), and some oversleeping, my parents met me earlier and my cousin didn't run with me at all. This depressed me only slightly, as the rain and lack of company made me feel hardcore with a sense of "we are all alone." I also almost convinced myself it was ok to take a nap on the sidelines, and that cold air was actually good for the bones, until I realized I was just going crazy. I also never got into a zone. I was always aware that I was running in very cold temperatures and my legs were going numb. Usually I hit a zone and miles just fly by but they never did. I realized how hard marathons are, even with it's your third one and you've trained fairly well. Just finishing is pretty amazing.

I finished at my worst time ever, 5:07. I also felt like I ran my hardest and was so happy to be done. My family met me again at the end and gave me strength to end strong (even though my cousin said my legs looked like the were moving but I wasn't going very fast). We went out for beers and brunch after and I recovered in just a few days, already wondering when I was going to do it again. Yes, I am crazy.