I wrote an entire blog post on why I chose to run the Philadelphia marathon so I won’t re-hash that here. There’s no denying that it’s been a really tough six months. A really tough year, if I’m honest. I am working on recovery. The weekend before the race, I had a Kintsugi party with a close group of friends. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with gold. Kintsugi celebrates imperfection. Kintsugi pottery is stronger and more beautiful, not in spite of the repair, but because of it. Perhaps I can become a piece of Kintsugi.
The marathon was well timed, but I also love the city of Philadelphia. When I ran the half marathon here in 2019, I wanted to make a return trip with the family to visit the Christmas markets and soak in the city. It was too late to plan anything for December 2019 and well, December 2020 wasn’t the time for a quick trip to Philly. This year, though, we enjoyed the city in spades.
When planning the weekend in Philadelphia, I knew I wanted to make it a special visit for Rose. We left home right after lunch. Despite hitting traffic, we were only four minutes late for our dinner reservations Friday night! We went to a restaurant called Spice Finch, upscale Mediterranean. The restaurant was wonderful. We got a trio of spreads, amazing “berbere chips,” fancy cocktails, mushroom pasta, chickpea wedges, and a tahini brownie for dessert.
After dinner, we went back to the car and grabbed our stuff. Our AirBnB had a great layout and a lot of space. That said, it also had a dishwasher full of other people’s dirty dishes. Yuck. We thought about going to CVS for a few things, but ended up reading the reviews of the nearest CVS and laughing hysterically instead. “The minute clinic is psycho!” had to be our favorite. We got successfully settled in and had a good night.
The following morning, I set out for my shakeout run. I was missing being with other runners. The entire weekend was going to be cold and blustery and it was a little hard to get going on my own. In my previous post, I wrote about calling on grit and grace for this race. Whatever the issues with the AirBnB, the entryway told me that we were clearly in the right place.
Once I got out the door, I quickly ran into the half marathon, which was already underway. Cool! I ran out Benjamin Franklin Parkway, got a look at the starting and finishing area, and jogged back. It was cold but I felt pretty good, probably the best I’d felt all week. It’s always weird to think – the next run will be the big one!
I got cleaned up and we set off for our tour of Independence Hall. It was a lovely sunny morning with lots to see. Independence Hall was a *huge* hit! We had watched National Treasure as a get-ready-for-Philly movie so we were all primed. It was surprisingly moving to see the actual place where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Of course, we also checked out the Liberty Bell.
From there, we Ubered to the Convention Center in an effort to save my legs. We met Nurse Runner at the expo. It was great to catch up. I miss running with her SO much! We got some swag for Rose and I picked up a pint glass and a magnet. The expo was still quite a lot smaller than it was pre-Covid. I hope we can get back to pre-Covid expos at some point.
We were getting hungry and it was time for lunch at Reading Terminal Market. Luckily I’ve been here enough that I’ve got a game plan because this place is crazy! I stationed Mervus near Molly Molloy’s to watch for a free table. I took Rose to scope out what she wanted for lunch. Chocolate butter cake and a pumpkin cupcake from the Flying Monkey Bakery. Good choice! I waited forever to get a pile of food from Molly Molloy’s. YUMMY. Plus, I got an extra biscuit, which came in handy later. Rose and I both love Reading Terminal Market, but it is a bit overwhelming.
Next up was the Love statue, which we could walk to. A quick glimpse of the Christmas market, but we were getting weary and there was one important stop left. Off to the Rocky Statue! So funny that in a city full of statue of famous historical figures, I suspect Rocky is the biggest tourist draw. Rose and I ran up the steps of the Art Institute together. That was probably my favorite moment of the entire weekend. Such joy to leap up the stairs with my girl just one step ahead of me! The view of the beautiful city from the top!
Then back to the AirBnB to relax a little. We still needed a pot for cooking pasta so Mervus went to fetch that. A former student came by for a visit, which was really nice. I love it when students stay in touch. She’s one of a very special group that got through the pandemic together.
We headed back out to hit the Christmas markets before dinner. That was also just so joyful! We rode the double carousel! We got some fresh Stroopwaffels fresh out of the press. So delicious!
Then back to the AirBnB again. Mervus got the pasta ready while I did a little last minute race prep. I taped a Tums tablet to each Maurten gel and laid out Flat Sarah. All the various meds at the assigned times. One last text to Coach Maverick. One last look at my confidence resume. We had dinner and went to bed.
