2008 – the year in review

Had a fantastic year!

Started with a very strong 41:59 5 mile PR at the Fred Lebow Classic  (Hopefully I’ll be able to run it this year to see if I can improve on that), then half marathon PR’s at both Bronx (1:56:55) and Brooklyn (1:56:42), and ended the year with my marathon PR of 4:31:26, not quite the 4:30:00 I was shooting for, but very very close.

That’s all great, but what really made 2008 a fantastic year was my renewed dedication to putting in the time.  I ran 762 miles over the year, destroying my previous high of 608 set way, way back in 2000.  Also, in the first half of the year, I spent a lot of time on my bike and trying to learn to swim.  I participated in the March Madness Biathlon on March 30, when it was a frigid 28 degrees, and ran in the Philadelphia Triathlon (sprint distance) on June 20.  Considering I still can’t really swim, I was really happy with my time of 1:54:19.  I went to the gym 36 times, and biked 423 miles.

I ran all 5 Grand Prix Half Marathon events, AND the New York City Half Marathon.  I also took 2 sessions of the NYRR running classes, to make sure I got the dreaded speed workouts in.  In total, I ran 119 times, and did a better job running long – my average run was 6.4 miles, by far my highest ever.

My average weight dropped from 227.5 in Jan to about 225 in December, and my body fat percentage also went down, from 23.5 to 22.5.  My “diet” didn’t really happen, so at least I should be able to make good progress in that department.

Of course it could have been better.  As usual, my times slowed as the weather heated up, and could have gotten up earlier in the morning more often to get a few more runs in, and as mentioned, I could stand to lose some more weight.  Hopefully I can improve on my times again in 2009.  Coming up, I’ll be running the Austin Mararathon on Feb 15, and the New York City Marathon on Nov 1.  I’ll be participating in the New York City Triathlon, which still seems very scary to me.  I’ll also try to get another biathlon in, a training triathlon in the spring, and a bunch of NYRR races.

Finally, I started this blog, which actually makes me feel more accountable for my activites, and gives me a better focus.

Looking forward to a strong 2009!

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