At the end of 2014, I sat down and wrote a little post on how my year of running had gone. I had come back from a significant injury, and writing that post gave me an excuse to reflect on the year. Well, this year I didn’t have that obstacle to overcome, but I’m going to reflect a bit anyway. As of this morning, I’ve run 1685 miles this year. I expect to put in about 8 or 9 more tomorrow. That is by far the most miles I’ve run in any given year. For comparison, it is 1688 miles from my house to the Texas state capitol building in Austin. 
Some of that mileage is because I went a little bit overboard with racing this year. I ended up running three marathons, three half marathons, two 10Ks, and two 5Ks. The row of race bibs in my cube at work got much longer, and pretty soon I’ll have to come up with a new system when I run out of space. To a certain extent, I was making up for time lost to recovery last year. And along the way I set new PRs for the mile, half marathon, and marathon.
While I didn’t have an injury slowing me down like I did at the beginning of 2014, the beginning of 2015 did bring quite an obstacle to overcome. Namely, we had the worst, snowiest winter on record. And I ran through the whole thing. It wasn’t easy… I spent a lot of time detouring around unshoveled sidewalks, ducking in and out of traffic, hurdling snow banks, and carefully picking my way across ice. In the middle of all that, I decided to run a marathon.
I registered for the Hyannis Marathon, which was scheduled for the last weekend in February. Then, of course, we got 100 inches of snow in a month. The race was cancelled, and I scrambled to find an alternative, so as not to waste the training cycle. I ended up registering for the Central Park Marathon, which consists of five laps around New York’s Central Park and was being held that same weekend. Nikki and I got a hotel, drove down the night before, and had dinner with our friend Rachel. The next morning I took the train to the park and ran a new PR, 3:44:37, despite some fresh snow and ice overnight and the mental challenge of running the same loop five times. That completely shattered my previous PR of 4:00:31, and I wouldn’t come close to it in my two subsequent 2015 marathons.
Finishing the Fool’s Dual half
There were a few fun races in the spring, once April hit and the snow started to melt a bit. In April, I ran my fourth James Joyce Ramble, an excellent 10K that starts barely a mile from home. My second race with the Yukan Run organization was also in April, the Fool’s Dual, combining a 5K with a half marathon a few minutes later. I set a half marathon PR there that stood until October. The Providence Marathon in early May, on the other hand, was a complete disaster. I hit the wall so hard that I nearly decided to hang up my running shoes for good.
Sunset at the track
After the debacle in Providence, I decided to spend the summer taking it a little bit easy, gradually extending my runs. I also vowed not to schedule peak marathon training during the height of summer, after flirting with heat exhaustion last year. Instead, I spent many summer evenings at the track right at or after sunset, building speed. That’s where I set my new mile PR, at 6:26. I’m no Roger Bannister, that’s for sure. The highlight of the summer season was probably the BAA 10K, which is a much bigger race than the 10Ks I’ve done before, and was held in the midst of a torrential downpour, which adds to the drama.
Finishing the BAA half marathon
I ramped my training back up this fall, with the cool days and later sunrise to my advantage. My third PR of the year came in October, at the BAA half marathon. It was a beautiful, chilly day, and a scenic course stretching down the Emerald Necklace from Franklin Park. I had a great run, despite still being in a porta potty when the gun went off. I finished up, trotted toward the starting area, discarding my space blanket and water bottle along the way, then hopped the barrier to join my corral right before the starting line. Otherwise, perfect, with a finish in 1:43:05, taking about four seconds off my previous PR. That’s definitely a race I’d like to run again.
THIS Liberty Bell actually rings!
My fall training built up to the Philadelphia Marathon, right before Thanksgiving. That was my first “big city marathon,” and a cool new experience. There were sections of the course where thousands of people lined both sides of the street, and you could make your hand go numb from giving high fives. Another beautiful course, past Independence Hall and Love Park, out both the Delaware and Schuykill rivers, and starting and finishing right by the Rocky steps. My performance wasn’t great, certainly not as good as Central Park. But I felt much better than I did after Providence, so that’s progress. Unless something dramatic comes up in the next two days, my racing days are done for 2015.
Although it’s been mild so far (we even ate Christmas dinner on the patio!), I suppose it’s winter again. This morning was my first snowy run since April. Only one more run before New Year’s, so without further ado, here are my best- and worst-of 2015 lists…
EPIC RUNS
- February 1: This run epitomizes the post-apocalyptic, post-blizzard world of Boston running in winter 2015. It was one of the last long runs before my taper for Hyannis Central Park, and I went out along the Southwest Corridor, through the Common, up the Charles, and back through the Emerald Necklace. Along the way I cross-checked one of a group of three runners who tried to force me off the path, hurdled many drifts along the Charles River paths, and cranked out about 26 hard miles. Just think, this was just the first of many blizzards!
- March 6: While there was still plenty of snow on the ground at home, Nikki and I jetted off to San Francisco to spend a long weekend with friends. One morning, I got up and ran from their apartment on the San Francisco/Daly City line, in through the Sunset, across Golden Gate Park, through the Presidio, under Golden Gate Bridge, and then along the waterfront all the way back to the Ferry Building. It was a good day.
Sunrise in the Outer Sunset
First glimpse of the bridge from the Presidio
This military-issue church is identical to the one on Boston’s Peddocks Island
Coming under the bridge
Along the waterfront - April 19: One day before the 2015 Boston Marathon, I ran from our house, out through Newton to Heartbreak Hill, then followed the marathon course over Heartbreak Hill and along the last few miles to the finish line. From there, I got on the Southwest Corridor and made my way back home.
- June 14: While we were vacationing in Provincetown, I ran a big loop through the dunes of the National Seashore, to Race Point beach, then back along Commercial Street for a latte.
- September 4: One morning during our trip to West Virginia, I ran over the big ridge behind my mother’s house. The back of the ridge is a very rough dirt road that goes past the Granny Guthrie place, my great-great-grandmother’s homestead site. After that, I went over an old wooden bridge, past a 19th century gristmill, and back to the house.
Epic Fails
- March 29: This was just your typical crash and burn long run. I got shin splints, I ran out of calories to burn, and I just felt miserable.
- Providence Marathon: I hit the wall hard just after mile 20. I got terrible cramps that forced me to stop and stretch. I walked several times. It took a long time to stretch out enough to be able to drive home. Overall, terrible.
- Zumix Run to the Beat: I was on track to set a new 5K PR in this race. It’s a course I enjoy in East Boston, and one I’ve run six times now. However, this year some changes were made, and IT WASN’T A FULL 5K!! Oh, how disappointing.
Top Gear
Visor: I got a free visor at a race this year. It has some promotional logos, and it’s bright lime green. I don’t even know why I put it on in the first place. But having done so, I fell in love. It turns out that visors are great for running: shade on your face, but ventilation atop your head. Perfect! Warning: you will definitely look like a dork.- Scosche Rhythm+: My mother got me an optical heart rate monitor for Christmas. I’ve been running with it for a few days, and I like it. It straps comfortably to my forearm, talks to my watch or phone, and gives me real time heart rate data. Next year, I have to figure out how to better interpret this wealth of data.
- Withings Scale: Speaking of a wealth of data, Nikki and I invested in a Withings WS-50 body monitor scale as a Christmas gift to ourselves. It gives us weight, body fat %, BMI, resting heart rate, and some other numbers. They get beamed to our phones and shared with whatever apps we choose. I’m liking it so far, but I need to get in the habit of weighing myself regularly. Maybe after my run but before my shower?
- Nomads: My beloved Brooks Cascadia trail shoes finally fell to pieces this spring. I replaced them with a pair of Saucony Nomad trail shoes. Now, at the moment I have had to return my shoes to Saucony for a replacement, but that doesn’t mean they’re not good shoes. I think my pair had a manufacturing defect. Overall, though, I have enjoyed them. They feel very much like my beloved Kinvaras underfoot.
- Optical goggles: Not running gear, but gear nonetheless. During the City Sports going out of business sale, Nikki and I each picked up a pair of optical swimming goggles in our respective prescriptions. I expect to see undersea worlds in great detail on our next tropical vacation.
