2013 Goals & Resolutions

Now that it is officially 2013, here are my athletic goals for the coming 12 months:

1. Qualify for and race well (AG podium?) at the World Duathlon Championship in Ottawa in August
2. Set a new marathon PR at the Boston Marathon in April (sub-2:51:03)
3. Break my half-marathon PR (1:17:43)

In order to accomplish these goals I have 3 resolutions to stick to everyday:

1. Train diligently and consistently
2. Eat better and stay hydrated
3. Stretching and strength work are important, do them!

If I can do those first 2 things everyday and the last when I am supposed to, good things will happen this year and I will accomplish all 3 of my goals.

Wrapping up 2012

I haven't written any race recaps recently, but that doesn't mean I haven't been racing. For a full summary of my results this year, see the "2012 Results" tab at the top of the page.

After my average performance at the SECTC Championship race at Rev3 South Carolina, I shifted my focus back to running intending to shoot for a new marathon PR at the Kiawah Island Marathon on December 8th. In preparation for that race I ran the Richmond Half-Marathon on November 10th and the Pequot 5 Mile Thanksgiving Day race (for the 6th consecutive year).

Richmond Half-Marathon

In Richmond I wanted to run fast, and felt that I was in reasonable shape but it was just not my day. After running a good pace (at way too high of a HR) for the first 6 miles or so I began to struggle. For only the second time ever I stopped to use a porta-potty in a race when my stomach rebelled against me. From there it was a struggle over the remaining miles but I eventually stopped the clock at a shade under 1:24:00 for a reasonable time. If you took off the 1:23 of my bathroom stop I would have run faster than my half PR as of 12 months ago.

Pequot Thanksgiving 5-Miler

After Richmond came the Thanksgiving 5 Mile race that I have run every year since 2007. I felt like I would have a reasonable shot at a course PR (29:07, 2010) and went out hard shooting for a sub-29 time. In the end I came up just a little shy of 29 minutes but stopped the clock at 29:03 for 29th place, which is considered an "Elite Finisher" (top 30) due to the strength of the field the race attracts. For reference, the overall winner was a varsity runner at Villanova, the runner-up is a New England HS mile champion, and various other elite finishers ran for good NCAA programs.

Kiawah Island Marathon

The Kiawah Island Marathon came too soon, and I was seriously undertrained, but I gave it my best shot anyway. Unlike in Erie in September, I was never really on pace for my PR of 2:51:03 but I was certainly on sub-2:55 pace through the first 18 miles. At that point I began to lose contact with the group with which I had been running most of the race and started to slow slightly. I kept it together with mid-7 minute miles until the final mile where I picked off a few extra places to make it back to 20th overall. With a huge kick - my last quarter mile in 1:29 I broke 2:58 for the third time ever, and for the second time in the last 4 months!

Holiday Run for Toys 5k

The weekend following the Kiawah Island Marathon I arrived home from Clemson for winter break. I decided on the long drive home that I would run a local 5k the following morning. The morning looked cold and slightly rainy, but I made it to the race ready to run. After taking off hard in the first mile I settled in to a steady tempo for the second mile with all the confidence that I could out-kick the one runner with me. Hitting the 2 mile mark under 11:30 I proceeded to blitz the remaining 1.1 miles in 6:10 with an ever-increasing tempo. I hit the line in 17:37 for the win by 14 seconds, my narrowest of my 4 victories this year.

Overall 2012 was a very good year for me. I succeeded on my mission to win more races including 2 incredible victories at the 2-20-2 Duathlon back in February and the Lightfoot 11-miler in August, and I also became significantly more confident about my running. In all 4 of my victories, I never doubted I would be successful, even in my 2 close wins where it took some outstanding last miles in both races.

To be successful given my goals for 2013, I will need to use all of that confidence and be far more diligent with training, something I've done very well over the past few weeks being home. I'll write a post with my 2013 goals following this, but it could be a big year!

Rev3 South Carolina Race Recap

Last week, I stayed in Clemson for fall break so that I could race just down the road on Sunday in Anderson, SC. It was my 4^th Rev3 race and I continue to be impressed with their organization and the production of their events. Prior to the race, my coach and I discussed the possibility of coming off the bike around the same time to start the run. He was competing in the pro field over the half-iron distance while I would be taking on the SECTC Collegiate Championship event over the Olympic course. We knew it would be fairly close off the bike and we’d be running about the same pace for the run.

My race started well, for about 5 meters I was actually leading on the swim! I had started on the far left of the field and stayed on the shallow side which meant I could easily run further than everyone else. My lead was short lived, however, and I rapidly faded to the back half of the pack, settling in for my longest swim in a long time. The swim ended up being about 1.1 miles – not too good when it’s the weakest leg for me. I was out in 35:54 and, with a decent transition, hit the bike course. I could feel the lack of recent cycling (and swimming) but I did my best on the bike passing a couple of teammates (Lee and Nick P.) along the way. I couldn’t quite hang onto a small group that formed early on but I entered T2 just behind one of the two other riders. In the end, I managed a 1:07:15 split which was just 33 seconds shy of my time last year and was good enough for the 3^rd fastest split by a Clemson Tiger on the day. I felt good starting the run and passed an Auburn athlete (Robert) early on who had seemingly thrown in the towel for the day. I knew that he usually ran sub-36 minutes off the bike so I should not have been catching him, but he was jogging along with one of his teammates well placed in the women’s race.

I hit 6:16 at the first mile and felt good so I continued along, passing several more runners on my way. Mile 2 in 6:27 brought me to the start of a very hilly out-and-back section that caused me to slow slightly to 6:45 miles for the next two. With almost no one near me – ahead or behind – at the turnaround, I became slightly complacent in the final two miles relinquishing to some fatigue and slowing further to 7:12 and 7:02 for miles 5 and 6. With about half a mile to go, I realized Robert had left his running companion and taken to running his best. I made him work to catch me, running my last few hundred meters in an ever-quickening 46 seconds (5:10/mile), culminating in an all-out sprint up the finish chute. Unfortunately, Robert got me at the line officially by 0.167 seconds, however having started the run a few seconds back, I can say I had a faster run split. My run of 41:09 was the 2^nd best put up on the day by my team, and is a significant improvement upon my disastrous 44 minute run at Rocketman back in August.

Overall, my race was average. I could have swum better, I could have biked faster, and I definitely could have run faster – but with almost no consistent training lately it was acceptable. Heading into the triathlon off-season my biggest goal is to be more consistent in training. I race okay with little training, but I know I can perform at a much higher level if I get out and put in the miles regularly. I made a good step in the right direction this week, logging my first 40+ mile running week since February.

I have some big goals for the next 12 months so stay tuned for a preview!

Erie Marathon at Presque Isle Race Report

This past weekend I travelled up to Erie, PA for the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle. I really can’t say anything bad about Erie or about the race. My goal heading into the weekend at a bare minimum was rather simple; qualify for the 2013 Boston Marathon.

As I posted in my post on Friday evening, the desire to run Boston again next year came about when I visited Wellesley over the summer. Driving along the marathon course made me want to run again. The only problem was that I didn’t have a qualifying race recent enough for next year’s race. The registration period for the Boston Marathon began last week and continued this week with their new rolling process admitting the fastest runners first. To be on the safe side, in case the race fills this week, I knew I had to run a race before this week to qualify. A quick search led me to the Erie Marathon and I soon signed up. 

Erie Marathon at Presque Isle Preview

It's Friday evening, I'm lying in a hotel room in Erie, PA ready for what will be my 4th marathon on Sunday morning. The decision to run a marathon in mid-September came suddenly about 9 weeks ago when I visited Wellesley, MA for the first time since the Boston Marathon back in April. Driving parts of the marathon course gave me the urge to run Boston again next year but there was just one problem, I don't have a Boston qualifying time in a race recent enough to count for next year's event! That meant I needed to run another marathon (well) in order to get into the 2013 Boston Marathon. I was, and still am, planning to make a concerted effort to break my PR of 2:51:03 at the Kiawah Island Marathon on December 8th, but there's a very good chance that Boston registration will close before then. The two-week registration period began last Monday and is essentially a rolling process for those who have qualified by more than x-minutes faster than their qualifying standard for the first week before being open to all qualified runners in the second week. If the field has not been filled by the end of the second week, then registration remains open on a first come, first served basis until the race is filled. To be on the safe side I chose this weekend as the last realistic chance I had to qualify and be guaranteed to get into Boston provided I run under my qualifying standard of 3:05:00.

So that leaves me here, in a hotel room in Erie, 9 weeks later.