Post by dudesky1000 on Nov 9, 2017 9:34:48 GMT -5
Hey friends!
It's been a while. I wanted to let you know that even though my blogging has slowed down... I sure haven't! 2017 was another excellent year of improvement for me.
Here's a quick summary of my results this season:
Joe Kleinerman 10k: 38:31 (6:12/mile) was my first race of the year in January. It was my first time doing this one, and my first time doing a 10k other than the one that shall not be named in June... I went on to set a personal best in the Fred Lebow Manhattan Half with a time of 1:22:44 (6:19/mile) later that month. I placed 29th, my first time breaking into the top 30 in a NYCM qualifying race and won 2nd place in my age group! I also got 2nd in my age group a month later at the Al Gordon 4M where I ran a 23:38 (5:55/mile), my first sub-6 minute average pace for a race.
Riding high on an excellent winter of training, I went for another PR at the NYC Half and shocked myself. Not only did I crush my recent time– I came tantalizingly close to breaking 1:20 with a final time of 1:20:24 (6:08/mile). And by going sub-1:21, I earned my first guaranteed entry into the NYC Marathon through time qualifier! My time also guaranteed my spot in next year's NYC and Brooklyn Half's, which was also pretty sweet.
After a really tiring winter of training and working on set, I decided to take a month off to explore Europe. Yes, sounds crazy, but it was a much needed recharge. I hadn't given myself a vacation in... literally ever (I stayed home and worked during all of my summer and spring breaks in college) so this was a lot of fun and good for my personal growth. I did continue to run during my travels but without the consistency or rigor that got me those times in the winter.
I came home just about a week before my next race, the Brooklyn Half, and I had one goal: break 1:20. It didn't go too well. Finally, my streak of improvement that spanned 12 straight Half Marathons came to an end. I could barely keep pace by the halfway mark and clawed my way to a 1:23:01 (6:20/mile) finish... still a great time and a lot of reasons to be happy.
I took the lessons learned from the winter and the Brooklyn Half attempt and decided to shift my focus from racing to building a solid training block in anticipation of the NYC Marathon where I wanted to make a huge improvement. I spent the rest of May and all of June doing a lot of easy running, cranking up the weekly mileage, and decided to skip the 10k that shall not be named(!) this time around due to a job offer and... because I really hate that race lol.
In late July I decided to put my training to the test by running my first ever 5k, the NYRR R-U-N 5k in Central Park. It actually came during a week of work (I literally jogged from set to the start line and had my brother bring my racing gear!) and on a pretty hot day, but the training was clearly working. I ran my first 5k in 17:48 (5:44/mile), the fastest I had ever run anything. In August I experienced another first by running my first 8k at the France Run 8k. Another month of training had paid off! I ran it in 29:11 (5:53/mile), making it my third race of the year where I ran a sub-6 average pace, the longest such race, and even though I didn't place in my age group, I did place in the top 20 for the first time in a NYC Marathon qualifying race, which was a pretty sweet feeling.
The shorter races gave me a lot of confidence going into the bulk of the marathon training, and I was putting in more work than ever. I started doing my long runs at my goal pace of 6:52 for a 3-hour marathon (I'd do intervals of 3 or 4 miles at a time at that pace broken up by easier miles) and was feeling really strong going into the Bronx 10-Mile in September, where I ran 1:00:34 (6:04/mile). Things were looking good for the NYC Marathon!
Finally, the NYC Marathon came and I felt more prepared than ever. My goal was simply to annihilate my personal best of 3:38 by getting as close to 3 hours as possible, if not breaking 3 outright. I wore my highest bib number ever, 648, and started the race feeling very strong. I was comfortably ahead of sub-3 pace by the halfway point, and continued to hold a strong pace until Mile 21 when my legs had enough. I had a lot motivating me, so I fought as hard as I could to hang in there and finish strong. I didn't end up breaking 3 hours, but I did come pretty darn close with a time of 3:03:40 (7:01/mile), a 35-minute personal best and a Boston Marathon Qualifying time!!!
So all in all, this was an awesome year for me and I just thought I'd let you know! Blogging about every single race like I used to is really hard these days as it is time consuming enough to focus on the training on top of my career ambitions. Every finish line still feels as special as ever and I still have the passion to work harder and improve more and more. I see myself doing this for years to come. So stay tuned!
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It's been a while. I wanted to let you know that even though my blogging has slowed down... I sure haven't! 2017 was another excellent year of improvement for me.
Here's a quick summary of my results this season:
Joe Kleinerman 10k: 38:31 (6:12/mile) was my first race of the year in January. It was my first time doing this one, and my first time doing a 10k other than the one that shall not be named in June... I went on to set a personal best in the Fred Lebow Manhattan Half with a time of 1:22:44 (6:19/mile) later that month. I placed 29th, my first time breaking into the top 30 in a NYCM qualifying race and won 2nd place in my age group! I also got 2nd in my age group a month later at the Al Gordon 4M where I ran a 23:38 (5:55/mile), my first sub-6 minute average pace for a race.
Riding high on an excellent winter of training, I went for another PR at the NYC Half and shocked myself. Not only did I crush my recent time– I came tantalizingly close to breaking 1:20 with a final time of 1:20:24 (6:08/mile). And by going sub-1:21, I earned my first guaranteed entry into the NYC Marathon through time qualifier! My time also guaranteed my spot in next year's NYC and Brooklyn Half's, which was also pretty sweet.
After a really tiring winter of training and working on set, I decided to take a month off to explore Europe. Yes, sounds crazy, but it was a much needed recharge. I hadn't given myself a vacation in... literally ever (I stayed home and worked during all of my summer and spring breaks in college) so this was a lot of fun and good for my personal growth. I did continue to run during my travels but without the consistency or rigor that got me those times in the winter.
I came home just about a week before my next race, the Brooklyn Half, and I had one goal: break 1:20. It didn't go too well. Finally, my streak of improvement that spanned 12 straight Half Marathons came to an end. I could barely keep pace by the halfway mark and clawed my way to a 1:23:01 (6:20/mile) finish... still a great time and a lot of reasons to be happy.
I took the lessons learned from the winter and the Brooklyn Half attempt and decided to shift my focus from racing to building a solid training block in anticipation of the NYC Marathon where I wanted to make a huge improvement. I spent the rest of May and all of June doing a lot of easy running, cranking up the weekly mileage, and decided to skip the 10k that shall not be named(!) this time around due to a job offer and... because I really hate that race lol.
In late July I decided to put my training to the test by running my first ever 5k, the NYRR R-U-N 5k in Central Park. It actually came during a week of work (I literally jogged from set to the start line and had my brother bring my racing gear!) and on a pretty hot day, but the training was clearly working. I ran my first 5k in 17:48 (5:44/mile), the fastest I had ever run anything. In August I experienced another first by running my first 8k at the France Run 8k. Another month of training had paid off! I ran it in 29:11 (5:53/mile), making it my third race of the year where I ran a sub-6 average pace, the longest such race, and even though I didn't place in my age group, I did place in the top 20 for the first time in a NYC Marathon qualifying race, which was a pretty sweet feeling.
The shorter races gave me a lot of confidence going into the bulk of the marathon training, and I was putting in more work than ever. I started doing my long runs at my goal pace of 6:52 for a 3-hour marathon (I'd do intervals of 3 or 4 miles at a time at that pace broken up by easier miles) and was feeling really strong going into the Bronx 10-Mile in September, where I ran 1:00:34 (6:04/mile). Things were looking good for the NYC Marathon!
Finally, the NYC Marathon came and I felt more prepared than ever. My goal was simply to annihilate my personal best of 3:38 by getting as close to 3 hours as possible, if not breaking 3 outright. I wore my highest bib number ever, 648, and started the race feeling very strong. I was comfortably ahead of sub-3 pace by the halfway point, and continued to hold a strong pace until Mile 21 when my legs had enough. I had a lot motivating me, so I fought as hard as I could to hang in there and finish strong. I didn't end up breaking 3 hours, but I did come pretty darn close with a time of 3:03:40 (7:01/mile), a 35-minute personal best and a Boston Marathon Qualifying time!!!
So all in all, this was an awesome year for me and I just thought I'd let you know! Blogging about every single race like I used to is really hard these days as it is time consuming enough to focus on the training on top of my career ambitions. Every finish line still feels as special as ever and I still have the passion to work harder and improve more and more. I see myself doing this for years to come. So stay tuned!
