PR’s are really great, and should be savored.  They are just not easy to come by.  My running career is 18 years, and I’ve run dozens of races at the common distances.  To PR, it means I have to be better today than I have *ever* been at that distance in the past.  This is just harder and harder to do as time goes by.  Don’t get me wrong, my PR’s are all still “attainable,” as I don’t feel I have ever been so well trained as to not be able to get to that level of fitness again.  The surprise to me was that I have already reached the level of fitness where my PR’s are in reach again, only 6 months removed from injuries, and only focusing on speed in the last month.

With NYC Runs entry to the race scene, I’ve been reinvigorated to run races here in the city, as NYRR races are unwieldy big.  Yesterday’s race was the first of their Freeze and Fuhgeddeboudit winter series, a 10k in Prospect Park.  With the promise of hot chocolate after the race, and souvenir mugs, I’ve had it on my radar for a few weeks.

Based on recent training runs, and the success I’ve had so far in the three speed sessions done in January, I thought I could realistically run under 9 pace for the race.  I’m very familiar with Prospect Park, and the hills there don’t scare me very much.  With that understanding, my goal was 55 minutes.  Prior to the race, I casually checked my race results page, and saw that this would be my 28th 10k race, and that my PR was set in 2007.  I did not have a PR on my mind at all, and it barely registered with me that my PR was in the 52:xx range.

Pre race was definitely a chill scene.  First, race organizers emailed us to let us know the Q train had service changes this weekend, so I knew to get up a little earlier to take a different train.  I arrived at the race site around 35 minutes before race time, which was plenty of time to pick up my number, change my clothes, drop off my bag, and walk the half mile to the start.

The only problem of the day is that it was announced that the race would be untimed, due to problems with the new timing equipment that was to be used.  I was a little bummed, but didn’t really mind.  NYC Runs will certainly show some growing pains as they get bigger, and we’ll just have to be patient with them.

Crossing the start line, I had a hard time pressing the start button on my Runmeter, and so I estimate that I started it about 1-2 seconds late.  The start was about half way up the hill leading to Grand Army Plaza.  This was nice because it meant on the 2-loop course, we’d only have to run that hill 1.5 times, and the first being right at the start.  I worked hard up the hill and was noticing that I was having a hard time getting loose in the 2nd half of the mile.  I realized that I started out too hard and was running a pace I could never keep up.

I crossed mile 1 in 8:16, too fast.  I backed off the pace a bit and just focused on a good steady effort.  I was really surprised to see 8:24 in mile 2, almost the same pace as mile 1.  I backed off even more and hit 8:37 in mile 3.  By then I felt completely warmed up and loose.  Mile 4 would be the hardest mile in the race, for me, as it included the uphill into Grand Army Plaza, with then rolling ups and downs afterwards.  When I hit that mile in 8:37, I knew I had 2 mostly downhill miles to go and thought I would be able to average 8:30 pace for the entire race.

At that point, I started to do the math in my head and figured that an 8:30 pace would be 53 minutes, give or take.  I was hopeful I’d be able to finish strong and beat 53 minutes.  I thought my PR was close to 52 minutes, so again had no thoughts of a PR.  I stayed focused and was able to finish the last 2 miles in 8:31 and 8:25, with 1:49 rounding out the last .2 (Note that I think the 6 mile sign placement was short due to its placement in the middle of a construction zone, and the very slow time I manually clocked for the last .2).

I stopped my watch right at the finish and was super happy with the 52:41 it showed.  I knew I had to add 1 or 2 seconds to compensate for the trouble I had at the start.  First thing I did was check my race results page, and was beyond surprised to see that my old PR was 52:43.  Since I was slow getting my clock started, and the race was not officially timed, I just called it even and am saying that I tied my PR.

Was beyond elated.  Beyond the obvious of knowing that my training is in a great place right now, and has me in a position where my PR’s are within reach, this very strong and consistent effort on a hilly 6+ mile course gives me a lot of confidence in my ability, and gives me hope that it will be a great running year.  My last great stretch of running was in early 2009 when I set PR’s at the 5m, 5k and marathon distances over the first 3 months.  I’m optimistic that I’ve got another great stretch coming up, hopefully culminating in a strong Georgia Marathon on March 18…

My best marathons have come on hilly courses, NOT flat ones.  What?  Doesn’t make sense, you say?  If you think about it, it kind of does make sense, because on a hilly course, the flats, uphills and downhills make great use of a variety of muscles over time, spreading the damage, so to say.  Others have recently proffered their explanations:

1. Laura / Absolut(ly) Fit / 50 x 25 – you know, the first youngest female to run a marathon in all 50 states?  Yes, in her recent post on how to recover quickly from a marathon (great post by the way), she devoted a couple of paragraphs on her thoughts regarding hilly vs flat marathons.
2. Georgia Marathon Blog – my next marathon is the Georgia Marathon, and on their website they have a TOTALLY AWESOME BLOG that consists of a variety of (presumably) regular running people who write great posts on distance running.  How cool is that?  Other marathons should take note and copy… Anyway, a recent posting on that blog provided some additional insights on exactly the same topic!

In looking at my own history, some of my very best marathons were quite hilly:

1. Big Sur 2005 – Has a very hilly reputation, lots of big hills, and a monster hill in the middle of the race.  It was my 7th marathon, and can you guess what I did?  That’s right, a PR! 4:37:37.  This PR would stand for almost 4 years, through a few more marathons, lasting until:
2. Austin 2009 – Not nearly as hilly as Big Sur, but definitely a hilly course.  I had an unbelievable (for me) PR of 4:22:16,  The nice thing about this hilly race is that the last 6-7 miles are downhill, and in that particular year, those last miles had a tailwind.  While that combination of factors allowed me to cruise to that amazing PR, I believe it was the hilliness of the course that kept me relatively fresh at the end of the race.
3. First Light 2011 – While not necessarily billed as a hilly marathon, this race is interesting because the first 10 miles are pancake flat, and then miles 10-21 are very, very hilly, and then the last 6 miles are pancake flat.  I treated the first 10 miles as a warm up, and then attacked the hills, and honestly, this was the only marathon I ever ran where I didn’t feel like I hit the wall.  My finish of 4:37:10 was far beyond what I thought I was capable of that day.

Of course, there are other factors that go into a successful race, like the training leading into it, and the weather on race day.  Maybe it is coincidence that those 3 races I mentioned are the ones I feel are my best marathons, and were the hilliest ones I ever ran.

Also interesting to consider is my half marathon PR history, where FOUR TIMES my PR was set on the old Brooklyn Half Marathon course, the one that started in Coney Island and spent the first 8 miles on the boardwalk and on flat Ocean Parkway, and ending with 5 brutal miles twice around Prospect Park with LOTS of hills.  Yes, every time I ran that race between 1999 and 2008 (4 times), I set a new PR on that very hilly course.

While several of the worst marathons I ever ran were of the flat variety, interestingly enough, the weather was not cooperative for any of them: New Jersey 2002 (cold, windy and rainy day), Chicago Marathon 2010 (super hot),  Providence Rhode Races 2010 (super hot)

Another thought is perhaps I’ve always trained harder when I knew I had a hilly marathon coming up?  Possible, I suppose, but I usually approach my marathon trainings in much the same way.  Yes, my small sample of races certainly isn’t definitive, and perhaps many of my flat races were done in less than favorable conditions, but like I said, my best races have been on hilly courses and my worst on flat courses.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

My next marathon is the Georgia Marathon on March 18, which I hear is a hilly course.

Anyway, this post concludes the ‘highlights’ I wanted to point out regarding 2011.  Find Part 1 here.  Upon further reflection, this post is not so much about anything in particular I did in 2011, and so the ‘highlight’ title is a bit of a lie, as this is more a celebration of January running (for me), and my inverted bell curve of running over the last 13 years.

Below you will see my total miles per month, from the years 1999-2011, covering 13 years.

• Jan – 798.6
• Feb – 706.1
• March – 631.7
• April – 659.7
• May – 517.7
• June – 316.1
• July – 433.8
• Aug – 532.4
• Sept – 692.7
• Oct – 706.4
• Nov – 682.7
• Dec – 730.7

What is striking about this is that I ‘peak’ in Jan in mileage, generally decline through June, and then start another steady increase, peaking again in Dec.

For one, it is clear backup for the statement I keep repeating to anyone who might listen, namely, “I hate running in the hot weather!”  What more proof do you need?

For two, it is a clear indication of the other statement I keep repeating to anyone who might listen, namely, “January is the month I always renew my love for running.”  Partially it is the clean slate of a new year, and partially it is probably due to my birthday, which occurs early in Jan, but whatever the reason, January is the month I most consistently run.  I can only count two years where January was my highest total month of the year, so it is not that January is always my biggest month, however, it is my most consistent month, and every year is among the top few months in total miles.  Since 2005 (past 7 years), January is at least in the top 4 monthly mileage for the year.

If you look at the numbers above, the inverted bell curve is quite clear.  However, it is not perfect.  My goal for 2012 is simple.  March must have at least 28 more miles than April, and November must have at least 24 more miles than October.  If I can accomplish both of those, and keep the other months in their relative places, then I will have attained perfection!

I love my Excel running log, and sometimes I can get lost in it.  Tonight is the first session of the NYRR speed training class that I’ll be taking, which runs for the next 10 weeks.  My log tells me that this will be my 20th NYRR speed class session since 1/1/1999, and my 11th time taking the session in Jan out of the last 13 years!  I skipped 2011 because I was a bit burned out after training for a Jan marathon.  I’m not quite sure why I skipped 2003.  It most like was due to injury (?) as 2003 was my lowest running year on record with 123.2 miles.  I think that was the year I had a nasty case of plantar fasciitis that year that took months to heal.  Or was it the year I had patellar tendinitis?  Who knows anymore…

Anyway, my interest today was in the weather.  I can’t help myself, as a recovering numbers AND weather geek!  It has been interesting to see so many people comment on Twitter on both the exceptionally warm weather we had over New Years (highs in the low 50s), and the exceptionally cold weather we are having today, 20s and dropping. 

I took a look at the weather conditions for the first day of the Jan speed session I attended over the years, and was not so surprised to find it is pretty evenly split between cold, normal and hot:

1. 1-4-00 – 55 – rain
2. 1-2-01 – 21/2
3. 1-8-02 – 34 / 26
4. 1-6-04 – 28 / 22
5. 1-4-05 – 48
6. 1-3-06 – 35 – fr rain
7. 1-4-07 – 55
8. 1-8-08 – 57
9. 1-6-09 – 31 / 25 – fr rain
10. 1-5-10 – 27 / 15

Four times over 45 degrees, three times under 30 degrees, and three right in the 30s.  Tonite will certainly compete for coldest yet, as the temperatures might get below 21, but it is not very windy and so the wind chill should stay above the 2 degrees it was in 2001.

In this post, rather than bore you with lists of details of what I did, didn’t do, and want to do, I’m highlighting a particular accomplishment I am very proud of, which is participating in 16 races.  Yes, on the face, that’s a nice accomplishment, and something I’m happy about, but even more importantly, only one of those races (Brooklyn Half Marathon) was organized by New York Road Runners.  While they once were a staple of the race scene for me, times have certainly changed and I am just not interested in their races, for a number of reasons many of you are aware of, such as fewer races on the calendar, huge numbers of participants, race caps which creates inflated demand, among others.

For me, races are so much fun, and the motivation for all the training I do during the year.  Without races to look forward to, my training would most certainly dip significantly.  I know we all refer to them as ‘races’, but the reality is that I’m not a ‘racer’.  I’m out there to have fun, complete the distance, and depending on where I am with my training that day, if the result is a fast time or a PR, that’s just icing on the cake.

I (sort of) managed only a single running PR this year, which was at a 4 mile race by Long Island Road Runners on 3/6 which I completed in 34:03.  I say sort of because my old PR, set in Central Park on 4/9/2000, was in the days before we had chip timing.  My official time in that race in 2000 was 34:23, but the fact is that it took me 22 seconds to cross the start line that day, which I recorded on my Timex.  My net time was therefore 34:01, but in those days, net time was not officially measured.

EDIT: Sorry, after double checking some more, I see I also set a PR at the unusual 8k distance, which I had only raced once before, way back in 1998!

Here are my 2011 races, and where applicable, the host:

1. 1/9 – First Light Marathon
2. 2/12 – Cupid’s Chase 5k NYC
3. 3/6 – LIRRC 5 Miler (Long Island Road Runner Club)
4. 3/27 – March Madness Biathlon (New York Triathlon Club)
5. 4/2 – 13.1 New York
6. 4/10 – Tough Mudder PA
7. 5/1 – Flying Pig Marathon
8. 5/15 – Red Bank Triathlon (Sandy Hookers)
9. 5/21 – Brooklyn Half Marathon (New York Road Runners)
10. 7/27 – Fla-Vor-Ice 5k (NYC Runs)
11. 9/10 – East River Park 5k (NYC Runs)
12. 9/11 – War at the Shore Triathlon (Sandy Hookers)
13. 9/18 – Yonkers Half Marathon (NYC Runs)
14. 10/25 – Roosevelt Island 5k (NYC Runs)
15. 11/27 – Duck Run 8k (Long Island Road Runners Club)
16. 12/10 – Rehoboth Beach Marathon

I really spread things out, with three marathons, four 5ks, two triathlons, a duathlon, and numerous ‘small’ events, which I find I enjoy much more than the behemoth NYRR events.

16 races in the year equals my total from 2001, and is my 2nd highest yearly race total ever.  The prize for most races in a year is awarded to the year 2000, when I ran 20 races.  Of those 20 races, 19 were organized by New York Road Runners.  I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that currently runs 19 NYRR races in a year due to some of the reasons already mentioned, but I’m sure it was quite common in the past.

I’m really happy to see NYC Runs emerge as another option here in NYC.  I ran 4 of their races last year, and expect to run even more of them in the coming year.

In 2012, I already got my first race out of the way earlier today, and am looking forward to planning out another jam packed schedule.

For more info on my career race history, check out my Race Results page!

As for myself, I’ve run it 7 times and am pretty much over it.  That said, it is the most awesomest race in the world and still, by far, the most exciting marathon course I’ve ever run, out of 9.  Maybe I’ll try again some year, but, it is super expensive, and hard to get into unless you either want to raise money for charity or commit to 9 NYRR races the prior year.  It is also super big and crowded, and I’m finding I enjoy smaller races more.  The way I figure it, my not running the race gives an opportunity to someone else who otherwise would be shut out

My NYC Marathon History:

1. 1996 – 5:27:31 (PR at the time)
2. 1998 - 5:35:33
3. 2000 - 4:52:03
4. 2002 - 5:06:22
5. 2007 - 4:51:43
6. 2008 - 4:31:25 (PR at the time)
7. 2009 - 4:44:05

From the archives, my all of my 2009 marathon related postings, and my 2008 race report:

• 2009 - Expo, Pre Race Thoughts, Post Race Summary, Part 1, Part 2
• 2008 – Race Report

It’s a little (OK very) messy due to my inconsistent use of tags and categories over the years, but I’ve got other (sometimes interesting) marathon related postings in the Tag or Category.

I don’t think I’ll be able to spectate tomorrow.  If possible, perhaps I’ll get to mile 11/12 on Bedford Ave in Williamsburg which is easily accessible by the L train.  I have great spectator memories from the past.  In the end, my best strategy to watch from multiple points on the course, and hit spots that were less popular, was to watch at mile 7/8 on 4th Ave, then mile 14ish in Queens and then mile 21, just after the madison ave bridge.  Now with the wave starts, it is actually harder to watch from multiple places and still see everyone you want, because of the large gaps between the fast runners and the slow runners.

Again, for everyone running tomorrow, have a great one!

Races – 1 (Roosevelt Island 5k – 27:23)

Biking – 0 miles over 0 rides.  Taking time off the bike until the new year

Swims – 0

Gym workouts – Massive month here!  Worked out at the gym 4 times, saw my personal trainer twice, and attended 3 yoga classes – first time ever for yoga!

Softball – 2 wins!  My team was an undefeated 6-0 in the fall season!

Injuries – Severe lower back spasm cost me 2+ weeks of training.  Otherwise, both my turf toe and hip/groin/glute issues have lingered, but improved significantly

Sicknesses – 0 – Zicam continues to serve me well!  Just take it a bit when I feel a cold coming on, and it works every time.

Weight – Unfortunately, up slightly from Sept.

It all started two weeks ago, the day of the Yonkers Half Marathon.  In what was to be my final real training session, I rode my bike to Yonkers, ran the race and then rode my bike home.  In total, it was 38 miles on the bike, plus a hilly half marathon.  It was the perfect tuneup for what would be a hilly race in the Poconos.  I thought it all went well, and while the 2:17 half marathon was slower than I wanted, I was very satisfied.

Then the next day, I noticed my mid back was a little tight.  In what was a lack of judgement, (very clear in hindsight) I played softball that night, and aggravated my back even more.  At that point I was not concerned because it was mid back, which in my experience feels better after a couple of days, and is a much more mild injury than straining the lower back or the neck/shoulders.

And so I rested for a couple of days, and by Thursday my back was feeling better.  On that day, however, my left eyelid swelled something fierce, and I took it as a sign to take a couple of more days off.  That coincided with a road trip to Syracuse.  On Friday I spent hours in the car, first taking a side trip to Utica to see the Distance Running Hall of Fame (small, but very cool), driving home to NY, and then driving to my house in NJ.  I believe all the time in the car re-aggravated my mid back again, which started bothering me again on Saturday.  I again wasn’t too worried as it was mid-back and I was sure it would feel better within a couple more days.

On Sunday, it was feeling better and I started planning how I would spend my last week of training before the race.  However, during the night, I felt I strained it a bit again.  On Monday I stayed home from work as a precaution, and the extra time in bed really helped a lot and by Monday night it felt fully better.

Now I was getting really worried that I wouldn’t be able to race.  In my despiration, I decided to push myself hard on Tuesday.  The point being that if I strained it again then I knew I could not hold up for 70.3 miles and would skip the race.  However, if I felt good after working myself hard on Tuesday, then I would pronounce myself fit to race.

Tuesday morning I ran 4 miles and felt great.  Well, the run was rough but that was because it was super humid that day and it was my first run in 9 days.  However, I was very encouraged.  Tuesday night I got on my bike for about 45 minutes, and again felt good.  I thought I was good to go.

The proverbial ‘turning point of the game’ occured on Wednesday morning, when awkwardly sitting on my bed, I felt the muscle in my lower back go.  When the muscle in the lower back gets strained, in means immobility and pain for 2 days, and then another week plus before I’m able to run again.  I know the drill well, because I do this every 2 years or so.  The last time was just after the NYC Triathlon in 2009, over 2 years ago.

And so, my dream of my first half ironman was over.  Yes I was sad and bummed out about it, however, I know it is for the best.  Due to my hip/groin injury, I missed 3 months of training and so I knew I was not in the shape I wanted to be to run this race.  It is not the kind of race you want to go in without full preparation.  Also, I’ve been blessed to have run 15 marathons and raced 8 triathlons, and in the grand scheme of things, missing one is not a big deal.

So today, instead of racing, I spent the day hobbling around and getting a preview of what it will be like to move around when I’m in my 80′s.  Yes, I may be hobbling around now, but next week I’ll start running again, I will run a marathon in Dec (my sights are set on Rehoboth Beach), and I will be healthy enough next year that I will be able to toe the line for my first 70.3.

Races – 3 (East River Park 5k – 29:56; War at the Shore Triathlon – 2:20:24; Yonkers Half Marathon – 2:17:10)

Biking – 79.5 miles 4 rides.  Good quality rides, and again, good progression in preparing for my race.  Ultimately, I believe it was biking home after the Yonkers Half Marathon that initially aggravated my back, and ultimately causing severe injury.

Swims – 4

Gym workouts – 0

Softball – 1 (win!  And first time I felt healthy in softball all year, due to the hard work I did with my personal trainer to heal my hip / groin / glute)

Injuries – My hip/groin/glute issue is almost all gone!  I worked with a personal trainer all summer, and those injuries are slowly diminishing.  As a result, my running this month was completely pain free!  My downfall though was my back, which started acting up the day after the Yonkers Half Marathon, and ended with a severe lower back muscle spasm earlier this week that ended any hope I had of competing in Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains.

Sicknesses – 0

Weight – Down slightly, but honestly, I didn’t take enough measurements during the month to properly compare it to prior months.

As nice as these races were, I was more satisfied by what my watch told me my heart rate was during those efforts.  You see, ever since the Flying Pig Marathon on May 1, my watch / heart rate monitor was telling me that was heart rate was sometimes dangerously high.  I was seeing HR spikes during my workouts that were abnormally high.  It would spike at a high number and then go down to a normal number, for no obvious reason at all.  I was pretty sure it was on the fritz because sometimes the watch would report 200+ when I wasn’t even running, it would sometimes show a very high number when I ran at an easy conversational pace, and because my own personal test of my pulse during workouts did not agree with my watch was telling me.

It took me so long to confirm the non-issue because at first I was injured and stopped running, and second I was in a little bit of denial because when I started running again, I knew I was out of shape, and it was the summertime where my HR tends to be higher.  In the beginning, before it kept getting worse and worse, I thought that what the watch was telling me was reality.  Lastly, I balked at buying a replacement strap for my watch because it costs over $50, and I just didn’t want to spend the money.

In my first effort at debunking the watch, I ran on the treadmill at my gym, where the equipment contains HRM’s.  However, once your pace goes over 4 MPH, the machine stops telling you your HR – I guess a safety feature.  In my second attempt, I actually Read The Manual for my watch, and it said you should run the strap through the wash if it seemed it was not reporting accurate numbers.  So, I did that, and then it would report normal numbers for the first part of my workout, before spiking high again.

Finally, with a half ironman triathlon coming up in a few weeks, I knew I needed to bite the bullet and just buy a new one to confirm for once and for all if I had a problem that warranted seeing my doctor.  So I did buy a new one, and it arrived on Friday.  During my races on Sat and Sun, my heart rate showed very normal and consistent numbers with no high spikes at all, and so I am now satisfied in seeing that I have nothing at all to worry about.

In reflection, I think I figured out what happened here.  On April 10th, I participated in the Tough Mudder, and let’s just say that both my watch and heart rate strap got down and dirty and ended up with a lot of caked in mud that day.  I suppose I damaged it permanently, as in my workouts soon after, I can see these odd spikes that were not happening earlier.

Anyway, I’m happy that I have a clean bill of heart rate health, and while I will continue to keep a close eye on this possible issue, I think I’m fully in the clear.