Spectating in Philly - the Perfect Cure for PTMD

Look for the green jacket and Mattie at mile 6 and mile 13 in
Philly this weekend; She won't have just run 5 miles.

One of the best ways to fight PTMD (Post Traumatic Marathon Disorder), is to not only put another race on your calendar (hello, Rock ‘n Roll DC Half Marathon), but to go and cheer on your fellow marathoners.

I’ve been moving through our house – and perhaps life for that matter – this past week with what seems like no purpose. My NYC Training Calendar still hangs from the fridge, but there are no unchecked boxes with workouts still to be run, no set eating schedule, and no compelling reason other than routine to lie on the floor in front of the TV every night and do ASI stretches.

With all this free time on my hands, I have started living vicariously through my friends and fellow Runner's World Loopers as they put the finishing touches on their training before taking on the Philadelphia Marathon this weekend.

Three of my Breakfast Club pals will run the full and Mrs. Onthebusrunning is doing the half. I’ve taken to engaging them on Twitter to see how their tapers are going and otherwise stalking them on the book of faces. My friend Paul who accompanied me to NYC has been having a calf issue this week so we’ve been swapping daily injury reports on its status, he’s feeling great after a sports massage yesterday, by the way.

I feel like a junkie who needs to get his racing and running fix. And so, it’s with great pleasure that I accompany my wife and friends to Philly this weekend to soak up some of that good marathon energy and move from point to point on the course to urge them on. It's the perfect way to get everyone back for all the support they showed me nearly two weeks ago. Not to mention the fact that I can take part in the marathon part of the weekend without actually running the marathon.

When I was in New York, my wife and friends essentially ate and drank their way through the Upper West Side, or made their best attempt at it anyway. Meanwhile, I lived a monk’s existence going in and out of sleep on the couch, hydrating with non-alcoholic beverages, and eating my carefully measured carbs while passing up thick, juicy burgers and the like. O me! O life! Of course, it was all worth it. But now I can simply go and enjoy myself.

Plus, with so many Runner’s World Loopers out on the course, I’m so excited to put actual faces to names rather than just profile pictures!

So, if you’re out on the course this weekend, I’ll be at 10K and 13.1 in a neon green Adidas jacket and my intrepid dog, Mattie who will be more lively than in the picture above. Come by and say hi! And good luck to everyone running Philly this weekend!