Two Miles

I ran two miles today.  

I'd been hoping for three, and I'm not sure if it was my lungs or legs that let me down today.  My shins were ok, but two miles just seems to be all that I'm conditioned enough for at the moment.

This is frustrating to me, but I remember running the mile during my senior year of high school.  It did not go so well.  I ran an 8-minute mile, but I was completely dead.  I was a decent athlete in high school, with even a year on the (JV, I should say) basketball team, but  I couldn't run distances at all.

I remember afterward, as I sucked in precious oxygen as fast as I could, chatting with one of track (or maybe cross country) kids who was in my gym class.  He seemed utterly unfazed by the mile.  I asked him if he ran the mile in competition.  "No", he replied, "the two mile."

This distance was incomprehensible to me.

I ran two miles today.

2012: The Running Year in Review

Better late than never, right?  

My motto for 2012 was "Revenge!"  By the goals I'd outlined for myself, it was a total failure.  I deferred from both of the long races I'd signed up for (Shamrock Marathon in March and Atlantic City Half in October) and refrained from running for most of January, October, and November.  Injuries were really the name of the game in 2012.  

Because of that, I don't want to go month-by-month like I have in both of the other two year-in-review type posts I've done.  Instead, I'm going to borrow a format that my lovely wife, Chris at nevertrade.blogspot.com, used for a post.   

Best Race Experience
TowneBank Shamrock 8K -- J&A Racing does a great job with the Shamrock series of races in Virginia Beach.  I ran the marathon in 2011, and deferred and ran the 8K in 2012.  I think a lot of time it's (Whatever) MARATHON and oh, there's another race, too.  At Shamrock, 8K runners get really nice long-sleeve shirts, medals, and their own post-race beer party.  They really do a great job of giving all the runners the same fun experience (fun during the race itself may vary).  Not only does J&A put on a good event, the 8K course is scenic, flat, and fast and I ran the hell of it: 41:40, a PR by over a minute.  I was disappointed that I wasn't running the marathon, but still had a great time at this race and in Virginia Beach.  

Best Run of the Year
Hershey 10K -- this was a humid, miserable kind of day and definitely wasn't one of the more enjoyable races I've run (because of the weather and because I went way too fast out of the gate, it wasn't a bad event).  What it was was a 10K PR by over 5 minutes.  52:33.  I have no idea where this came from. If this time is to be believed, it's probably the best run I've ever had. I started too fast, up with the people that actually are REALLY fast, died,  and recovered to have a negative split that put me at the 8K mark below my PR time from Shamrock. This is a pretty huge outlier for me from any other 10K or 6 miles I've ever run, or the course was mismeasured.  Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if I never touch this PR.

2013 New Years Resolutions

Later in the week, I'll do a postmortem on 2012.  I'm not going to go month-by-month like I have the past two years, since this year contained large periods of time where there was no running, and I complain enough on this blog. Plus, this is New Year's Day, the day for making resolutions.  But before we get to this year's resolutions, let's see how I did last year:



1. 5:59 or better mile. -- Nope!  I didn't run the Harrisburg Mile because I hurt my tailbone pretty badly the previous weekend.  My personal rules are that this has to take place in a race, so that was my only chance.  I've learned that the York Road Runner's Club has timed miles before many of its races, so this year I know I have more than one shot.

2. 22:59 or better 5K -- Negative, but I did hit a new 5K PR, 23:20 at HACC Dash.  So maybe partial credit? No?

3. 4:50 marathon -- Didn't even run a marathon, much less hit 4:50

4. 10 races total  -- Got it: St. Patrick's 5K, Baltimore; Shamrock 8K; Hershey 10K; Sole of the City 10k; HACC Dash 5K; Armed Forces Day 5K; Druid Hill 10K; Spartan Race; Sasquatch Trail 5K; Jingle Bell 5K 

5. Lift weights 3x/week -- Ha.

1 for 5.  That's pretty bad.

So, for 2013:

1. Run Shamrock Half Marathon in March 2013
2. Under 6:00 mile (carried over from last year)
3. Run one marathon this year.
4. 10 races total
5. Lose 20lbs.  (I freaked out earlier in the year when I was 150. I'm 160 now. I feel best when I'm under 140.)

We'll see about this.