Since I’ve been pleased with where my running is at these days, it occurred to me that I should put an update on the blog!
About 3 years ago, in early May 2012, I pulled my calf, starting a downward spiral of injuries and since then I’ve had a hard time shaking a litany of injuries that had me mostly not running. In fact, in the years 2007-2011, I averaged 783 miles and 2 marathons per year, but in the 3 years since May 2012, I’ve run a grand total of 746 miles, with sadly no marathons.
My right foot had been the big issue, and last year it started feeling better, but not quite at 100%. I did a bunch of acupuncture therapy late in the year. Then I took another 2 months off, Dec and Jan, resuming running in February. Since the beginning of February, I’ve been running consistently, first once per week, and more recently twice per week. At this point, I feel like I’m running 100% injury free!
Even though I haven’t been running a lot, I’ve already logged 6 races this year. That was purposely part of a strategy to ensure both that I ran on a consistent basis, and that I’d start to get a feel again for running at a hard effort, rather than just going out for easy runs each time. I was very happy with the results, and pleasantly surprised that I was able to turn up the relative speed in the races, and saw a marked improvement in my race times over the weeks. While my training pace has consistently been in the 10-10:30 range, my races have all been in the low 9’s and under 9 pace. In fact, my spring racing season culminated with my 4 mile PR 2 weeks ago!
- Long Beach Snowflake – 4m – 36:46
- Run Nassau #1 (Nickerson Beach – 4m) – 37:06
- Run Nassau #2 (Seaford – 5m) – 44:32
- March Madness Duathlon (Central Park – 4.6 miles total) – 40:46
- Run Nassau #3 (Eisenhower Park – 5k) – 26:16
- Run Nassau #4 (Eisenhower Park – 4m) – 33:36 (PR!)
While happy to get a PR at the 4 mile distance, I’ll be the first to admit it was a bit of a fluke. For shorter distance races, it was easily my weakest PR and the distance I’ve somehow raced the least often. It was my 19th 4 miler, compared with 45 5k’s, 28 5 milers and 29 10k’s. And while not official races, I was able to count 8 times I ran a faster 4 mile run during speed work classes with NYRR on the hilly Central Park 4 mile loop. But hey, I’ll take it – a PR is a PR!
My focus now will be on increasing the miles, getting up to 3 days some weeks, and working in long runs. Yesterday I did a 10 mile long run, and while it was tough with the humid weather and hilly bridge run I picked out, I was very happy to get through it feeling relatively good and also injury free!
Looking forward to the coming months, increasing the miles, and eventually getting back into the marathon business!
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Congrats on your PR! I was just googling 4:30 marathon and found your blog. My current PR is 5:01 and I’m shooting for sub-5 (really I’d love to run 4:30). Do you mind if I ask what training plan you prefer? I hope you’re doing well.
Thanks for the comment! I’ve never done well with a formal training plan. Between working full time and having 2 kids and other interests, and working around crummy weather, I’ve always been a ‘play it by ear’ kind of runner. It might also explain why I have such a hard time getting under 4:30! But I do try to get in at least 3 long runs with distance greater than a half marathon, and my best improvements in time have come when I also mix in speed training once per week.
Good luck getting under 5 hours!