A year in review 2009

Here I sit with one day left in the year (1 day left in the decade for that matter). As I look over the last year I have had many accomplishments and a few disappointments.
A random list of accomplishments
• Survived a few minor injuries with no major injuries
• Ran 5 marathons
• Ran the Boston Marathon (2nd best time to date)
• 2 half marathon PRs
• Almost 2500 miles logged (training & races)

A few disappointments
• No Marathon or 5k PRs
• 3 of 5 marathons were poor efforts

My left heel was probably my biggest health issue. It had really bothered me for most of the first half of the year. Ironically it took two other injuries and moving, which greatly reduced my training, to allow whatever was bothering my heel to heal. Overall I’ve been amazed on how well I’ve held up. I’m not sure why that is because I’ve been pretty injury prone throughout my life.

I’ve had some really good races this year. Tops on that list had to be Boston.
Boston was easily my toughest marathon course but I was in great shape going in and the energy from the spectators carried me to a time that was just shy of a PR.
There was a tie for second best race between both of my half marathons. I had entered the Disney half early in 2008. Later in the year I decided to run RnR Arizona which was the following week. I still wanted to run Disney since I had already paid the (very expensive) fee but I decided to just run an easy pace so that it didn’t hurt my marathon the following week. Well that easy pace still beat my previous PR by 1 minute. Based on what I did at Disney I had high expectations for Gasparilla. My goal was 7 minute miles (1:31:42) which I felt very confident in doing. Unfortunately a front was coming through that morning and by the half way point the wind was a steady 15-20 mph with gusts of 35+. With all that I still managed to beat my Disney time by 1.5 minutes.

I was equally disappointed in 3 marathon efforts (Phoenix, San Diego, Hartford). At this point there is no reason why I should be running 3:40+ marathons and in all 3 I hit the wall prior to 20 miles. Of the 3 I am most disappointed with my effort in Hartford. It was the slowest of the 3 and the only one with no easy excuses (race the weekend before, visiting family or friends). I knew this wasn’t a PR attempt but I still pushed it and failed miserably. WPB was an example of how I should run a marathon in less than ideal conditions.

Although my friends and family would disagree, keeping my weight under control and reaching an ideal race weight has been a struggle. This year I managed to take off around 10 lbs and now average in the low to mid 160’s. I’ve kept that pretty steady since August. My low point has been 158 but I have also hit 170 after a day off and eating a little too much. I’m not sure if maintaining a weight in the high 150’s is realistic but I do want to keep myself under 165 which means maintaining an average weight of around 160.

My goals are many for the coming year. I have 4 marathons and 2 half marathons on my schedule. In addition I have plans to run 6-8 shorter races. My race results really leveled off this year after a big improvement in 2008. I really think that I’m on the verge of another big improvement in 2010 if I can keep motivated, race smart and stay healthy.
Goals for 2010 in no specific order are:
• 2500+ miles for the year
• At least 1 month of 300+ miles
• A marathon PR (and thus another BQ)
• No marathon crash & burns
• A 5k PR
• A sub 1:31:42 (7 min pace) half marathon
• Keep the weight down
• No injuries