2010: The Year in Review

It's that time of year where us running bloggers take some time to reflect and to write about what we accomplished in 2010 and to look ahead to 2011.Overall, 2010 was a good running year for me. There were by far more highlights than lowlights. So here's how the year went:

• 2010 started out with bang with a shiny new 5k PR on January 1 at the Fair Lawn Sunrise Rotary 1st Day 5k. I didn't think I had PR in me that day but somehow I PRed and ran a 21:55, my 1st (and still only) sub-22:00 5k. A few weeks later, came another first, my first sub-1:50 half marathon. Elyssa and Amy paced me to a 1:48:46 at the Manhattan Half Marathon.
• The Manhattan Half kicked off my training cycle for the Pocono Mountain Marathon. I started training with Coach Jeff. We butted heads early on as I was getting used to his style of training. But once we got on the same page, he took me to places I didn't think I could go. I starting using words like "easy," "relaxing," and "pleasant" when talking about long runs at 8:15 - 8:20 pace.
• Passover presented some problems nutritionally. My usual long run fueling choices are forbidden on Passover so I had to get creative. Mrs. Ansky and my mom concocted a kosher for Passover sports drink. The combination of the sports and dates (in place of gels) fueled me through a 21+ miler in South Florida.
• After Passover, in late April, I raced the George Wodika Hook Mountain Half Marathon. Despite one doozy of a hill, I set a new PR of 1:45:21. I was peaking at the perfect time, 1 month before the Pocono Mountain Marathon.
• My "A" race for the year came on May 16, the Pocono Mountain Marathon. I knew I had trained well but the taper got into my head and started to doubt myself. A few days before the race I spoke with Coach Jeff about my race plan. At the end of the chat, he e-mailed me a link for a pace band and told me to set it for 3:39. He was right on the money. I left everything out on the course and ran a 3:39:47, a 13 minute PR.
• After some rest and recovery, it was back to the roads. I ran the George Washington Bridge Challenge (10k), the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge, and the Wall St. Run. All were fun in their own way. The GWB Challenge was my friend's, MB, first road race. He started to run a few months before and felt ready to run a race. I don't always have the nicest things to say about the JPMCC but it's always fun to do something non-work related with co-workers. Despite the heat, I enjoyed running the Wall St. Run. The post-race festivities were great. I met in person a bunch of NYC running tweeters.
• The dog days of summer were in full force. It was brutally hot and humid in the NYC metro area and, I, for one, was wishing it was winter already. My asthma was out control and it was impossible to put together a decent run. I ran the Van Cortland Park 2 x 2 mile relay with Joe. Even though and Joe and I finished ahead of Elyssa and Amy, they were the ones that left VCP with muffins (thanks for sharing Elyssa).
• My only goal for the Bronx Half Marathon was to have fun. I finished in 1:56:11 and was able to run in a part of NYC I don't usually visit.
• Sometime after the Bronx Half I started training with Coach Jeff again. I had taken a few months off from any sort of structured training to find my running mojo again after the Pocono Marathon.
• The initial plan for the Newport Liberty Half Marathon was to pace a friend to his first sub-2:00 half. About 5 miles in, my friend was struggling and told me to run the rest of the race at my own pace. I did and finished in 1:54:38. As for my friend, he finished in 2:02:35.
• Training became fun again and I targeted the Terri Roemer Paramus 10k Run as my "A" race for the fall. I finished in 45:22 which was a PR by 4+ minutes. 
• New York City Marathon weekend is always exciting. I picked up a pair of Newtons at the expo and spectated the race on Sunday. 
• After a 5k to benefit Lil Ansky's school's scholarship fund, I closed out my 2010 racing season with a 5 mile Turkey Trot. MB, who finished his first 5k just a few months earlier, ran and finished the Turkey Trot. His first 5 mile road race.

Wow! Now that I've written it all down, 2010 was a really good year. I hope that 2011 is just as good if not better. This post has gone on for long enough. I do have goals for 2011 which I'll share with you in an upcoming post.