Monthly Archives: December 2014

I am running the Paris Marathon this April. It will be my first Marathon in over a year. This March I pulled off the Reston Marathon in horrible conditions and sub par training, finishing in 3:09:51. Then, I learned a whole bunch of new stuff.

Reston Marathon finish in the snow, soaking wet. Boston Qualifier by NINE seconds. Yikes… hence my goofy smile.

2014 was a great year mainly because I wasn’t injured (as I was in 2013) and could openly race anything. It was fantastic! I did, however, tell myself I would take 2014 lightly, enjoying racing and training as I had in my early days (2009) of the sport. I was (and still am) coaching a number of people very seriously and really enjoyed all aspects of it. I learned even more regarding training.

Then, the Fall hit. Abbe and I took the Fall off due to our wedding and honeymoon. It was tough, but sitting out on the deck of our bungalow tracking friends in various marathons was satisfying enough. I also had a lot of time to reflect on my upcoming Paris Marathon and Louisville Ironman.

I want to nail this marathon to the wall. The Ironman, well those nail you to the wall so I am just training to do well for that puppy. But PARIS! I haven’t officially ‘trained’ for a marathon since Boston 2012. I needed to get an action plan in place.

In the past, my triathlon self cross trains during marathon training. It’s just always what I have done and been comfortable with. Not this Spring. I am officially 100% back to my original runner self. My training plan calls for me to run 6 days a week. Every marathon I have ever run, I have only run 3 days a week with a max mileage of maybe 35 miles. This will be a big change. This is a change I am excited for.

Not to worry my triathlete friends… as soon as May hist I am back on the bike for Ironman training!

I haven’t been this amped about training in quite some time. My plan has some peaks and valleys, very intense Saturday and Sunday long runs and of course a side serving of speed work.

I also want to held accountable. My goal is to break 2:50, a tall order, but I am going for it.

If anyone needs a running pal for weekend long runs, you know where to find me. Game on.

This is the 4th year in a row that I have said I wanted to run a Turkey Trot. The three years prior I have failed, mainly because of two factors… they aren’t close by my family’s house and we drink too much the night before. This year Abbe and I were determined to make it happen!

We arrived at my brother’s house the day before and had a pretty chill day aside from wrestling and chasing my two young nephews around. For dinner… beer and pizza!

Were we drinking? Yes. We were also very determined. My youngest brother Jeff made a bet with me. If I didn’t do the race I had to take a shot of Jameson at 10AM and also owe him $5. If I ran it, the bet reversed itself.

RACE DAY

Abbe woke up at like 5:30 or something crazy. I slept until 6-6:30 since we didn’t have to leave until 7:15AM.

It was a very cold morning, but the sun was shining and looked to be ideal running conditions.

We arrived, checked in and had 30 minutes to spare, so we sat in the car to keep warm. I drank more coffee because, well, I love coffee. I saw a guy wearing an Ironman NY hat and thought, ‘I wonder if I know him?’

We hit the bathrooms, got a warm up in and went to watch the 10k crew start. Although it was a local race, there were some legit looking runners.

As soon as the 300-400 or so of them dispersed the 5k group lined up in the corrals. Abbe and I were probably the oldest runners by 10 years or more up in the front. It was like the entire high school track and cross country team came out. Acne and racing flats everywhere. I looked off into the distance for a second and was kind of proud of my home town for breeding such serious runners.

The gun went off and we blasted away. I had no immediate plans other than to finish the race and not take a shot at 10AM, so I was just plugging along. The front runners were thick as thieves and maybe 50 deep as we ran down neighborhood streets. One thing I picked up from young runners is that they don’t know how to pace nor do they no how to dress when it’s cold out. So many clothes creating drag, my nightmare.

I ran up the right alley and made some progress passing people and just getting into my own pace. I had no watch, so I was just going by heart. As we hit the first mile marker there were 10-20 people ahead of me. There was no way in hell I was going to catch any of these young whippersnappers.

Miles 1 to 2 is a long out and back on a highway. It was here that my left shin started hurting. In my head I was like ‘What the hell? Why does my shin muscle hurt?’ Then it dawned on me. Tuesday I slammed my knee dead on into the corner of a cabinet while cleaning. I had a huge bruise on my knee cap and so most likely the patella tendon was agitated and pulling on my tibialis anterior muscle.

Abbe and I saw each other here and gave a wave.

The final mile was a mentally debilitating windy uphill through a neighborhood. The end was nowhere in sight.

The final half mile I was trying to catch a 15 year old to no avail.

I came in 13th overall and 1st AG with an 18:21. Fun fact: 5 of the people who were ahead of me were ages 15-17 and a 14 year old was on my heels as we finished.

After I finished I waited for Abbe who happened to PR (high five)! She also got 2nd AG! Double hardware coming home.

AND

Jeff took a shot of Jameson at 9:44AM and I am $5 richer! Happy Thanksgiving!

10 miles is a fun distance because it’s right on the brink of ‘not fun anymore.’

Abbe and I took the ol subway uptown into the Boogie Down Bronx and had loads of time to spare. Looking back on the 70 degree weather we had, I am completely jealous.

We found some of the Gotham City Runners crew, chatted, then set off for the corrals and a quick warm up. I saw my friend Rachel, then Ali and Jess all prepping.

This race was the weekend before our wedding so my mind wasn’t really set on a PR, I just wanted to have fun and see what the legs could do.

The gun went off and the large pack of front runners took off. I have no idea what pace we were doing, but it was pleasant. I juts kind of… well… ran.

At mile 3 or so I decided to pick up the pace. I was feeling fresh and had nothing to lose. I pushed forward, now passing the groups I had been running with, leap frogging between people.

The course was an out-n-back, so I got to see a lot of friends on the ride home. Everyone from the likes of Abbe to Maura, Tara, Kate and Beth!

Not much more to report other than getting fired up and running the second half faster than the first. I felt great right up to about mile 9, then I was like, ‘Okay, time for breakfast.’

At the Finish I hung with Tara, Kate and Craig before Abbe and Ali rolled up. We took the subway back to the Upper East and had breakfast with Maura, Bojana and Brian.