One of the best people in this world is my dear friend Ed Hasse. He is just the greatest person ever. I treasure and greatly value the times when we are together. I especially love when we can run together.
Today we enjoyed our first ever “Social Distance” run. Ed came over to help me on my first three mile run since my surgery in January.
The mileage isn’t what matters here.
Well, I am falling onto a nice pattern, running every other day, just like when I first became a marathoner about 18 years ago. Back then I strictly followed the marathon plan in the great book The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer. That plan called for three or four runs a week – basically every other day. In the years since then I became a sometimes every day runner and other times a five-day-a-week runner. In my prime, when I set my marathon PR in Chicago (2006) (boy, that was a long time ago…) I was peaking at 50+ mile weeks.
But, for now, I am an every other day runner and my distances don’t compare.
It’s all part of the process.
It’s a good process.
At the end of December, I always look back and review the books I read over the past year. I have been keeping track of the books I have read since 1989. Keeping these lists has been wonderful for it allows me to look back over the many books I have read in my adult life. Through this exercise I get to remember great passages, great themes, and great ideas. When I look back, I also remember the titles and authors I have particularly enjoyed which often brings me back to read those same books again. I love reading and believe that our lives are infinitely richer through the books we read.
Here is a list of the best books that I read in 2018 with a short summary of each. (Quick note – not all of the books listed below are pictured in the graphic.)
MY FAVORITE BOOKS 2018
I ran my first marathon in 2002. Since then, in my running “career,” I have completed 21 marathons. That’s 21 marathons in 17 years, a pretty good rate.
I have run some races pretty quickly, with my PR taking place in Chicago in 2006 (3:25:16). But, as I have aged, I have (not surprisingly) gotten slower. I knew going into this year’s New York City Marathon that I would be very slow and that it would be a huge struggle for me for numerous reasons including the fact that I was coming back from an injury (Achilles tear) that kept me out of the previous year’s marathon and the fact that, while I was upping my mileage, I still wasn’t 100%, nor was I properly trained for a good showing.
You get out of it what you put into it.
I put in determination and heart. Those traits got me through the race. I din’t put in the necessary training miles. That resulted in my slowest marathon time ever (4:47:47).
While I am not overjoyed with that result, I have to admit that I actually thought I’d be a lot slower. I was concerned that 2018 would be my first ever five hour marathon. Determination and heart prevented that from happening because I was not, by any definition of the term, in marathon shape.
Now about a month after the marathon, I’m still not in great shape. But, I am determined that when I take the starting line for what I hope will be two marathons in 2019, I will be in much better physical shape. I have been on a cycle of poor showings for quite a while now…and I’m ready to break that pattern.
It is to that end that I designed this new marathon plan – a 10-month plan that (I hope) will get me to the starting line in my best shape in many (many) years. While I persevered and got through the 2018 New York City Marathon, I did it with a lot of self-doubt. Most of my most recent marathons have been run that way. I need to change that. Continue reading “My 2019 Marathon Plan (Part 1)”
I began my Labor Day weekend by pushing through the pain and self-doubt that accompanies any great effort and ran a half-marathon on my treadmill.
It took 2 hours, 17 minutes, and 32 seconds.
It’s not a marathon, but half way is a great place to be.
Most often, it’s not about the end result, it’s more about the efforts one takes to get there.
On November 10, I started my comeback. I was ready. I was fired up. I was focused.
I was still injured.
I just didn’t want to admit it.
I have run a countless number of races in my life. Yes, this includes 20 marathons. (I always keep an accurate count of my marathons.)
I love to run.
I have often stated that the marathon defines me.
(This post can also be found on NYY_Report (“Start Spreading the News”):
http://itsaboutthemoney.net/start-spreading-the-news/2017/11/6/saying-goodbye-to-matsui-and-meb)
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We are sports fans. There is something special and wonderful and unique about being a sports fan. We love our teams and certain players. We get excited by special moments.
And when disappointment hits, it hits hard – and it often hurts.
It has been the strangest autumn of my life. Or, at least the strangest autumn of the last fifteen years – since 2002.
I’ve shared on these pages before that I’m not running a fall marathon this year.
It’s an unfamiliar feeling. And I don’t particularly like it. The beloved New York City Marathon, the race I love and adore, will go on without me.
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