8 Crazy Nights of Blogging: Night 1

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah, which means it's that time of year for another 8 part blog series. Last year I wrote about 8 races I'd like to run in my lifetime and the year before I wrote about 8 things I love about running. This year's series is going to have a different focus. Since Chanukah comes out late on the Gregorian calendar (on the Jewish Calendar, it's always on time), this year's 8 part series will be more like a review in review. 2011 had a lot of highs and a bunch of lows. I learned a lot about myself, about running, and where it fits into my life. So without further adieu, I present (in no particular order) 8 Things I Learned From the 2011 Training/Racing Season. 

Night 1: I'm a 1 Marathon/Year Runner

2011 was the first year that I attempted to train for a spring and fall marathon in the same year. I know many marathoners that run multiple marathons in a year. I am not one of them. Even if I had finished the Vermont City and Marine Corps Marathons this year (more on this in upcoming posts), I still would have scaled back to only 1 marathon per year again in 2012. Training for 2 marathons in year was way too taxing on me. Between work, family, and religious obligations, I found it difficult to stay motivated and training was no longer fun (more on this later as well). Sometime over the summer training became something I HAD to do rather than something I WANTED to do. At first I thought it might be a case of the summer time blues. It was hot and humid, I had to cut runs short, and my asthma was flaring up. I was ready to defer my MCM entry as early as mid-August, but I stuck with it hoping my racing mojo would come back once the weather got cooler. It never did. I don't know for sure what caused my calf strain which caused me to defer MCM until 2012 but I'm sure my lack of focus had something to do with it.

Happy Chanukah!