Marine Corps Marathon: 10 Weeks Away

I didn't run at all during the week, so I really needed a solid long run to get myself into marathon shape. I started around 8 am, carrying a Nathan bet with two bottles of Gatogade and two Powerbar gel packs.
I was slow and sluggish the first two miles, and then there was divine intervention as I merged onto Martin Luther King Drive: Student Run Philly Style! This is a great three-year old program to enable Philadelphia inner city students to train and run the Philadelphia Marathon While in my head, I was cheering and rooting for these kids and their volunteer coaches, I also determined to pass them. I sped ahead to Falls Bridge. Didn't find any more distractions, so I looped back a mile, crossing paths with SRPS, and turned around. I started passing SRPS again when I crossed over to Kelly Drive. I did another sub-loop between St. Joe's boathouse and the viewing stand before heading toward Lloyd Hall.
The time was around 9:45 am, so I started seeing Frontrunners heading out. I was ahead of my conservative pace. Thus, instead of stopping at the boathouse row for a 13.1 mile run, I decided to continue. I went up the Rocky steps at the Art Museum, and then looped back behind the Art Museum long enough to give myself a 15-mile run.