Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon

This weekend the ING Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon came through Philadelphia.  What a blast! It was great to see so many people running the half marathon.  The course wound through the city and made it’s way up Kelly Drive, crossing the Falls Bridge and then down West River Drive back to the Eagan’s Circle.  I cheered on the runners by the Falls Bridge, cheering specifically a few people that I knew were running the race.

Watching the runners was a wonderful experience.  When a race like that is in town you see varied styles and fitness levels.  The bottom line is that they are all trying to get through the race and complete it.  Watching the racers made me very excited about November.  Knowing that they have all been putting in weeks of hard work to get to that day made me more motivated to keep up with my training program. 

I was very excited and motivated, which then came crashing down when I saw ambulances going by with people in them! I saw one runner on the side of the road being tended to by paramedics.  Running may seem like it isn’t a dangerous sport in comparison to skiing, for example, but this scene really brought into perspective that like any physical endeavor, there are risks! The training program that I am following is a slow gradual build, which is the safest way to begin running.  There was no way for me to know, but these runners were probably pushing themselves too far too quickly.  This is something that I have to keep in mind.

I hope that those that were taken away in ambulances were ok.  I was thinking about them as I completed my final run for week 3 of my training program.  This week I completed 19 miles (for those keeping score at home).