Snippets From The Past

Like New Year Resolutions, there is a sense of the obligatory "look back" onto the previous year and the posting of its summary. So, not to be left out, I hereby post a summary of 2005.

Year 2005 / 2004

Mileage 2,582 / 1684

Wkly Avg 49 / 32

Wks>100 4 / 0

Wks>70 14 / 6

Wks<40 21 / 35

So it looks like some improvement was made. A 53% increase in mileage, a two-fold increase in over 70 mile weeks and a 14 week reduction of under 40 mile weeks. Unfortunately, the increase in mileage didn't produce any amazing PR's but I did squeak a 2 minute PR at Holyoke last April over my '04 MDI BQ. The Cape Cod Marathon experience was memorable with my 7 mile blast to the finish cutting 8 minutes in those last miles to finish in 3:14:55. That was a function of running a smart race with Marc. Except for Holyoke, 2005 just wasn't my year for racing. I tanked at Boston and by summertime, I was too tired, overtrained, and suffering low motivation. Therefore I didn't race with any frequency. The one race I did run I was disappointed at how limited I felt. By the time I was back on the wagon, I didn't have much time (relatively) as Cape Cod was coming up fast. After that, I started to build the mileage again and ran no races through the end of the year. But if Joshua is right, I should be able to run 2006 using the mileage base of 2005. This bodes well.

One of the enjoyable things about going back through the log is re-reading the short comments written after some of the workouts. Here are a few that brought back the memory of the day:

January 7 "snowy run w/slippery footing. Ran w/eric who fell several times but wasn’t hurt. Leg feeling good."

January 17 "wx high wind, snow, cold. Very tough 3 loops of 5k. Pace at snails pace due to wind. Dog adopted me on last lap and ran with me"

January 20 "run with marc in blizzard. Lots of snow - good experience"

May 21 "aborted long run @ 6.7 due to severe pain in left leg"

June 4 "beautiful run. saw moose. ran w/eric. felt good."

June 20 "River Trail. warm run. annoying lawn mowing."

August 27 "Attempted long run. hit wall. harsh recovery."

October 1 "Great run! Felt good all the way through. minimal fatigue. 4 Powergels. Met w/Eric on 5th lap."

October 15 "Hard on legs. Needed to push pace a little to get cobwebs out."

November 30 "Felt sleepy until last 5 miles. Tried out new energy drink - upset stomach. Will need to dilute. Soreness abated from tough last two days."

Up and down. Feeling good then feeling bad. Let's hope 2006 is slightly more consistent. If it is, it'll be quite accidental.

One thing about 2005, it was the first year I trained straight through the winter. Boston was urging me on, but now that the deed is done, I can't imagine not getting out there in the cold, dark morning and attempting something that looks like a workout. I remember Eric & I doing hill repeats in the wee hours. I'd leave the car running at the bottom of the hill so we could get warm during the 5 minute recovery period. We'd also have to alternate the side of the street we would run up depending on the location of the snowplow. And then the lunchtime blizzard runs with Marc. More than once, our "short" 4.8 mile lunchtime run would take a very long time as we battled nature's elements. I particularly remember turning off Academy Street onto North Street and falling. The snow was so deep that I disappeared - emerging from the depths like a wild snow runner surprising unsuspecting motorists.

So from a good start to both good & bad marathons, through a tough summer (what with Marc moving and all) to meeting new friends like Mike & Steph and deciding on a more concentrated approach to training, the year passed by. I'd like 2006 be less haphazard, more consistent, but still full of the fine memories that make running special. If the first 8 days are any indicator, I'm off to a good start.