Looking back at 2011, I think it is fair to say I had my best running year yet. Actually, it is no competition...although everything through this point is interconnected. It started in 2007, but what happened in 2011 is something I didn't even think was possible, and it just hit me not too long ago.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Back in February - eight weeks before Boston - I ran a four mile trail race at a 6:50 pace. I was pretty pleased with that because it was the first non-training run I had done since the NYC Marathon in November of 2010, and I felt fast. To get ready for Boston, I was watching my diet and doing more speedwork than I had ever done. That run gave me confidence and started the year out right, and set the stage for three P.R.'s to get dismantled.
Boston Marathon
Less than two months later, I crossed the finish line in Boston...in Boston!...with a PR under my belt and probably the single most rewarding individual achievement in my entire life. It didn't really dawn on me until later in the summer, and I still catch myself thinking back on it from time to time. I put everything into it leading up to that day, and I may have run the fastest marathon I'll ever run.
Colfax Half Marathon
Yet, I signed up for the Colfax Half Marathon that was less than a month after Boston. I really did nothing to train for it, but I figured I could ride the wave of my Boston training for 13.1 miles. I was right. After having to make an emergency stop of about 2 minutes at Mile 8, I burst from the confines of the port-a-pottie and burned up the rest of the course. That ended up being a P.R. by about 24 seconds. Snow and freezing rain never felt so good.
BolderBoulder
Two weeks later, it was Memorial Day in Boulder, and my 10k P.R. came crashing down. All of the speedwork paid off, as I crushed my previous P.R. by almost a minute and a half and finishing with a 6:43/mile pace. As I do few marathons in the future and shift to shorter races, I may try to run a race...any race...this fast again, but that may not happen.
Through the summer, I found training to be difficult because of the heat, but mostly because I was tired and beat up. I lacked the energy necessary to motivate myself past the "I don't feel like it" stage, and did far less speedwork and total mileage leading up to a half-marathon trail race and the Columbus Marathon in October. I am not at all unhappy or regretful because I truly had pushed myself to the limit, and my body was starting to push back. I was pleased how I finished Columbus, actually. I'm about in the same place I was a year ago, which leads me only to wonder what I can do in 2012 if I try.
One more goal
Before I get to 2012, though, there is just one final accomplishment I want to achieve.
In 2008, as I started running and getting in shape, I ran a total of 57 times for 262 miles. With several short races and my first half-marathon and training for the January 2010 marathon, those numbers increased in 2009 to 108 runs for 718 miles. Three marathons and all my training in 2010 jumped the totals to 127 runs for 957 miles.
After 130 runs in 2011, I have 64 miles to go before I break 1000 miles. Nearly a month after Columbus and I have run a grand total of 5 miles (!), but I feel better and it will merely be an academic exercise to get in the last 64 miles before the end of the year. I just don't want to be out trying to grind out the last ten on New Years Eve or anything!
2012 is a new year, and one in which I plan to make an assault on my marathon P.R. in Chicago, and see if I can't qualify for another trip back to Boston. (That means a 3:15:00 or better...not an easy feat). But for now, or ASAP anyway, I am just going to relish 2011 with three P.R.'s and 1000 miles plus.
 |
| 115th Boston Marathon. April 18, 2011. |
No comments:
Post a Comment