Monthly Archives: December 2007
A look back at '07
While December has been frustrating with being sick and then an injury, I’m not about to let that take away from an awesome 2007. The obvious accomplishment comes from finishing my first marathon in November, which is the whole reason for actually having a blog.
Before my blogging days began in April, I set a PR in a half marathon at the Shamrock Half Marathon in March. My chip time was 1:44:23, just under my goal of 1:45. That race made me really like half marathons a lot. With my foot issues now, it’s tough to set a goal for the 2008 race, but I’d really like to beat that time. I set the bar high for myself with that race last year, but I know I can be faster.
This year has also been a great year with my 5ks. Coming into the year, my fastest 5k was 23:49, which was also my only time under 24 minutes. I broke that time twice — in June I did a 5k in 23:03 and in July I broke the 23-minute barrier with a 5k in 22:42, “winning” my age group. (I was the only one in my age group that race.)
I saw set a PR in the mile (6:26) and 5 miler (36:59), although those two distances are very hard to find in races. I struggled though the extremely cross-country style James River Xterra 10k in May, and then had serious doubts about long distances by running a 30k in October.
I finished the year with 960 miles, well short of 1,000 miles, but much farther than I’ve ever gone before. I didn’t start logging miles until the end of last year — it was always time ran before that, but I know I haven’t ran this much in a year. Despite a bad December, I’ll take an average of 80 miles a month.
I’ve accomplished more this year in running since I started running again in 2004. It’ll be a year I’ll never forget, mostly thanks to the marathon.
As for 2008, I’m starting the year by giving my heel some rest. After I de-Christmas my house and get the boxes out of my way, I’ll be doing some weight-training beginning this week. I’ll probably hold off on running for just a few more days so I can heal my heel. The end of this year has become a lot like last year — I think I want to get through the winter/early spring before making decisions on another “big” race. I definitely have the urge to do another marathon, but I don’t want to stay hurt either.
Happy New Year everybody!!
Grrr!
My new shoes felt great today. My right heel, however, didn’t want me to go more than 2 miles. It’s frustrating that I took my body where it had never been before with the marathon and now I’m having this issue. It’s not as bad as last week and it hasn’t bothered me during the day too much, so I know things are slowly getting better … I just have to be patient. With a half marathon less than 80 days away, it’s tough to do. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m starting off 2008 in better shape than I did 2007 … but that’ll go away quickly if I can’t get back in a regular routine soon.
New shoes for a nearly new year
I was all prepared last night to buy another pair of Asics 2120 shoes when to my surprise saw that the Asics 2130 were available. I had been misled by the Asics Web site earlier in the day that said the shoe wouldn’t be out until January.
It wasn’t that my old shoes were completely done, but it just seemed like they weren’t supporting my feet as much. Following the marathon, I wore them more as everyday shoes and not solely running shoes, so that probably factored into it a bit. Plus they were becoming the smelliest shoes I had ever owned and washing them didn’t help too much. And besides, who would resist the next version of their favorite shoes? It reminds me of my video game-playing days when the newest version of Madden would come out — nothing was really that different about it, but damn, you have to have it!
So now that I have the 2130 pair, those will be used for running and running only until they wear out. My marathon shoes will probably get another wash and be for everyday use. Then my even older pair of 2120 shoes will be retired for yard work.
Running … for a cause
I’ve never been a person to donate anything besides worn out clothes, and I’ve never been one to take part in a fundraiser. That’s all about to change.
Today I signed up for the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k that’s in early April. It’s one of the largest 10k races in America. I also signed up for a 10-week training program that will hopefully help me train for the Shamrock Half Marathon. It’ll give me a chance to meet a few more runners as well, plus give me an opportunity to run with a group once a week. The timing of the 10k works well this year with it being three weeks after the half marathon. I wanted to do it last year, but the two races were too close together. I also signed up for it because I still hate the thought of running a 10k, even after doing a marathon. It’s a challenge I hope to overcome in 2008. Plus I wanted to do it just to do it — everyone tells me it’s an awesome experience.
But this race will bring on much more meaning to mean as I have signed up to do fundraising for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center. As I have talked about before, my life has been touched by cancer in the past few years with an uncle, my dad and grandfather all having cancer. To me, this is finally a chance to fight the disease. To contribute to my effort, click here. (Please let me know if that link doesn’t work!) I have set a goal of raising $1,000. Every dollar counts, so if you’d like to make a donation, please check it out. If I can give a few dollars ($50 to be exact), anyone can. I plan to give a little more as the race draws closer.
So there you have a second “big” race for me in 2008. My main focus will still be on doing well in the half marathon in March though. I hate 10ks, so here’s to hoping the Monument Avenue 10k will be the beginning of positive comments on that distance. I’m still hoping to do a 10k on Jan. 1, but don’t expect me to be happy about it. 
A Merry Christmas to all
Merry Christmas to everybody out there celebrating Christmas … and to those not, just enjoy the day off!
My running has been a bit off this past week with my heel issue (now on both feet), plus a trip to Ohio, where I did get a 3.1 mile run in. My feet are feeling better, but I’m going to wait a day to run again and hopefully get some new shoes. I bought some heel supports that help tremendously. My marathon pair of shoes seem to be losing their support despite still having good tread left on them. They’ll be a good pair of everyday shoes, while an even older pair will get some good use this spring in the yard.
As for 2008 … as promised, I’ll get to it soon, as in before Jan. 1. If things go well these next couple of days, I’ll be kicking off the year with a 10k. Nothing like a race that I’ll probably be slow in to get me motivated for the half marathon in March!
Injuries
In 8 months of blogging, I’ve been fortunate to not have any injuries. Since fall 2006, I’ve basically stayed injury free. I had some nagging heel pain back in March, but nothing major. My main goal as I trained for the marathon was to stay injury free.
So imagine my disappointment this week when my right heel started bothering me. It’s similar to what I felt back in March — it’s more of a major discomfort than a real pain. Since the marathon, I’ve had some discomforts here and there, but this is the first issue I’ve had in a while that actually made me not run for a day. This morning it was just too much. I opted to just walk my dog and by the end of the walk it wasn’t too bad. It’s been a day of where I can feel it, but it doesn’t feel major.
I guess it’s good that I have an upcoming trip to Ohio and that Christmas is right around the corner. I don’t want to ruin my chances of running in the Shamrock Half Marathon, so I’ll be doing a lot of not pushing it too hard for the next several days. That seems to be the story of my running life these last two months of the year. Some downtime is good, but I feel like I’m falling behind. But the way I look at it, I’m still in much better shape than a year ago when I was getting ready to start training for Shamrock. Rest did me some good with my knee issues then, so I’m counting on rest doing its thing this time.
So this will end all talk of hitting 1,000 miles this calendar year. Fellow blogger Danny suggested that I could still do 1,000 miles … just do it in a 12-month span. No need for the calendar. It’s a great idea and something I’ll consider.
As for my 2008 plans, let me get through this issue first to make sure I’m OK …
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