The race started at 8:30am. Plan was to stick to a 9:30 or so average pace for the first half with a 2:05 or so first-half and hoped to finish in the 4:10-4:20 range. I just ran comfortably and the clocks tended to ring-in 9:15-9:45 minutes per mile for the most part, so I just went with the flow. Ran through the water stops and had 2-3 cups of water/gatorade at each. Couple of early mistakes. Did not visit the porta-potty just before the start, and hence had to relieve myself at mile 2 or so. I also got rid of my gloves at around mile 8--was not a wise-decision for the temperature hovered in the mid- to late-30's and was visibly chilly along the river. Donned a poncho (from Chicago marathon 2000) for the first 2 miles and from thereon went with a long-sleeved T-shirt (over my singlet) and shorts. Had six Gus on-hand; ended-up having four and a half at mile 5, mile 10, mile 15, mile 20, and mile 23.
Was at the half-way point at 2:03:53 and was feeling pretty good. In and around mile 14 was the finish area; the route from mile 14 to the finish was an out-and-back along the Schuykill river. Told myself not to speed-up. Mile 15 to Mile 20 was for the most part downhill, and in fact I slowed down. The fear of quad tightening and/or cramps (Chicago nightmare) was still very much part of the equation, and I did not wan't to take any chances for the way back was going to be uphill. Was careful and ran comfortably until mile 20, which brought us to Manayunk. Only problem that cropped-up was at mile 18 when my feet began to hurt. A small hill greeted us at Manayunk, and we re-traced out route. It was slightly uphill for the most part. I felt fine, but my legs began to feel like ``lead'' and hence my easy pace was now more like 10:15-10:30. At no point did I feel confident that I c'd speed-up without possibly cramping. Tried to speed-up a little during mile 26 (down to 10:00 probably), and finished the race smiling. Chip time was: 4:16:31 (gun time was 4:18:37), which was a PR (ran 4:19:05 in Chicago 2000). Even in my wildest dreams I could not have imagined feeling so good at the end, and more importantly, not be confronted with any serious pain during the race itself. I guess I needed some luck, and I got some and more.
Since it would be sacrilegious to not mention my mile splits, here they are:
9:21 (01), 9:31 (02), 9:45 (03), 9:05 (04), 9:43 (05), 8:49 (06), 9:09 (07), 9:28 (08), 9:09 (09), 9:55 (10), 9:34 (11), 9:30 (12), 9:37 (13), 8:38 (14), 9:46 (15), 9:43 (16), 10:00 (17), 10:02 (18), 10:29 (19), 10:29 (20), 10:21 (21), 10:24 (22), 10:22 (23), 10:19 (24), 10:17 (25), 12:15 (26.2)
After the race, I was immediately able to go to the gear-check and change into fresh clothes and shoes. No major calf or quad problems. Soreness is there, but I can walk properly:) Only damage was two blisters (next to both my big toes--usual sore-spot), and feet were aching. Took my finisher photo after I changed, and then after some refreshments, I walked back to the hotel. Picked-up my car, and made it back to Princeton in about an hour. Under the circumstances, I could not have asked for a better marathon-experience in Philly.