It’s been a while, but I’m back to cover the second half of my 2017 running, particularly as I am having another crack at the NYC Marathon in November. More of that later. For now, here’s a quick recap of 2017 so far.
Goals
I started the year intending to run at least 1,000 miles (last year I did 652 and my personal best was way back in 2014 when I ran 952 miles. It’s been all down hill since then! With 452 miles logged since the start of the year, and my official marathon training yet to start, I am pretty confident that I’ll get to 1,000 by the end of the year, even if I am very slightly behind schedule right now.
Another goal was to run all of the New York Road Runners ‘Borough’ races, plus the Marathon, so seven in total. I have managed to run four out of four so far, although my pace and progress has been hampered somewhat by niggling knee pain (pretty much classic Runner’s Knee). I have seen my pace slowly improve over the hour races from a pedestrian 10:08/mile in the Fred Lebow Half Marathon as the start of the year, to a relatively sprightly 9:10/mile in my latest race, a 10k in humid Queens, New York on my 45th birthday.
Hitting 45 Years of Age
Is 45 a milestone? It’s not like 21, or 40 or some other round number, but it somehow feels significant to me. It’s half way through my 40’s, so I am officially in my mid-forties, something that sounds like a generic term for pre-middle age. I started running 5 years ago (and started this blog then too) and while I improved pretty significantly in my first two and a half years, I do feel like it’s been a slow steady decline since then. However there is plenty of evidence that late starters can be very quick runners, even faster than people who start in their teens or 20’s, so I am quite determined to reverse this trend.
My best marathon time was in 2014 when I completed it in 4:33:33, whereas in 2015 it took me 5 hours and 25 minutes, almost an hour more. This year I am targeting 4:15, and have signed up for a training plan starting on July 17th to hit that target.
Nutrition
One last thing is that I’m going to focus a lot more on nutrition than I have previously. Starting today I’m focusing on cutting refined sugars from my diet. I am pretty ill-disciplined with food – it’s not that I exactly eat badly consistently, but I am prone to buying sugary snacks at the work vending machine, or on the way home, or just devouring cookies or chocolates from time to time. Time to reduce the gut!
Strength Training
OK, here we go. I don’t know why I am some useless at this, but my lack of cross-training or strength training is almost certainly at the root of many issues I have with posture and injuries. I’ve had problems with my right leg for years. It’s either my ankle, foot, knee, hamstring or lower back, but always on that right side. So I will be adding planks, burpees, squats (including jumping squats) and my least favorite ever, pushups!
er… I’ll let you know how I get on.
OK enough typing for now… I need to go out for my 6 mile run, and it’s 79 degrees out with 80% humidity. Bring it on!
Composing Strides 