2008: What a Year It's Been

Now that my final run of 2008 is in the books, it's time to reflect on my running in 2008. All in all, it was a great year for me. I only started logging my miles in June so here is a summary of my running since June:

Total Miles: 629.8
Avg. Distance: 6.6 miles
Avg. Per mile: 8:37
Total Time: 90:26:53
Avg. Time:57:07

I set new personal records in every distance I ran:
5K: 22:51 (11/09/08)
4 mile: 30:45 (2/3/08)
10K: 49:47 (5/26/08)
1/2 Marathon: 1:53:19 (5/4/08)
marathon: 3:55:08 (10/26/08)

Here are some other highlights:

• I feel like this is the year I became part of the running community. I started doing my longs with a group to keep me focused. I started listening to running podcasts and reading running blogs. Even though I've never met any of the podcasters or bloggers in person, I consider them my friends.
• I started my own blog.
  
• I used my running to raise money for charity. I raised over $3,000 for a cause that is near and dear to me.
• With my wife's help, I've paid closer attention to what I eat before, during, and after a run and during my training as a whole.
  
• There's a co-worker of mine who signed up for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in D.C.. He mentioned to me the other day, that I had some influence in him wanting to run beyond the 10K distance.

So what are my goals for 2009?

• I'd like to be able to stay healthy through the winter so I can the New Jersey Marathon on May 3.
• I would like to race more. I think I ran 5 or 6 races in 2008. While the NYRR races are great and well organized I'm going to try and support some smaller local races if I can. In my opinion, those races need me to participate more than NYRR does. Without good participation, many local races will stop operating. It happened to 2 races in my town.
  
• Continue to focus on nutrition and overall good health.
• Get faster. Doesn't every runner want to set new personal or course PRs? I'd love to run a sub-1:50 half marathon and a sub-3:50 marathon. If I'm good about my speed and hill training, I think it's possible.

Happy New Year!

Sunday Run

What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday I was running through a small snow storm. Yesterday, my toughest decision was whether to wear a short sleeved or long sleeved top. I ended up erring on the side of caution and went with the long sleeved top. There was no question that I was wearing shorts. My goal for yesterday's run was at least 10 miles. I hadn't run double digits since MCM. Yesterday was the perfect day for me to start increasing the mileage. I didn't need to rush home, and the weather was great (temps were in the low 50s).

I met 2 other guys at Saddle River Park at 7:00, I started the run with gloves on. My fingers tend to get cold so I left them on until my hands warmed up. We started out slow and then started to pick up the pace. About half way through the run, my friends needed to slow down. One was having foot problems and the other hadn't run a in a while and needed to slow down. I went off on my own and kept my pace between 8:00 and 8:24. Even though I was running solo for a good part of the run, I didn't feel alone. There were plenty of runners out in the park. Almost everyone I passed either waved or said good morning. Clearly everyone was enjoying the good weather. I did 10.9 miles in 1:30:34 for a 8:18 pace. Mile splits and other details can be found here: Almost 11 in Saddle River Park.

At some point later in the day, I was looking at my run on MotionBased my wife peeks over my shoulder and tells me, "you're obsessed!" I played it down telling her that running is just a hobby. She says "no, you're obsessed!" I think addicted is more like it.

Runner's Recipe of the Week

It's baaack! Things kind of went awry after the Marine Corps Marathon. I'm going to try my hardest to post a new each week. This week's recipe is one of my family's favorite weeknight dinners, Bean Burritos. Beans in general are an excellent carbohydrate rich food that should be a staple in every runner's kitchen. It's also a great alternative to the standard pasta plate. The November 2008 issue of Men's Health had a great piece called "The Magic of Beans." Here are the highlights of the piece:

Navy Beans: high in folate, a B vitamin that may reduce the risk of stroke and cognitive decline as you age

Garbanzo Beans: help reduce your levels of the hormone insulin, lowering risk of diabetes

Black Beans: the dark skins of these beans contain potent anti-oxidants for fighting disease

Kidney Beans: contain anti-oxidants that may help prevent hardening of your arteries

Pinto Beans: eating ½ cup daily can cut LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) by 9 percent

Here is my family's Bean Burrito:

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans (or kidney)

1/3 cup barbeque sauce (your favorite brand will do)

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp paprika

2 Tbsp cheddar cheese

1 flour tortilla

2 Tbsp salsa

1 Tbsp Sour cream

Mix beans plus spices and BBQ sauce together in a pot with enough water to cover beans. Bring to a boil uncovered, then simmer covered for 1 hour—check to make sure that the beans still have enough moisture for cooking. Assembling burritos: 1/2 cup beans 3 Tbsp shredded cheddar cheese, 2 Tbsp Salsa, 1 Tbsp sour cream wrapped in a flour tortilla

Nutritional Analysis of the recipe can be found here. The next recipe I post will be a breakfast dish incorporating the leftover beans, B'Tayavon!

Christmas Day Run

My internal clock woke me up at 5:00 a.m. this morning and I seriously thought about getting out of bed and starting my pre-run routine as I would on Sunday morning. Then I thought better of it and went back to sleep. I can't remember the last time I got out of bed at 7:45. My wife had to work today, she is a dietitian in a long-term care facility. State regulations are such that there has to be someone from the management team in house at all times. Since we don't celebrate Christmas, my wife works every Christmas Day to allow those who do celebrate to be with their families. So with my wife at work and my daughter at a friend's house, what's a Jewish running addict like me supposed to do with himself? You got it, GO FOR A RUN!

With temps in the low 40's a put on my Addidas track pants and long sleeve tech shirt and drove over to Overpeck. When I got there I know I was in trouble. The were puddles all over the the running path. At first, I tried my best to avoid them but my feet were getting too wet. I then tried running in the parking lot but that too was soggy. I saw some people walking on the 1/4 mile so I went over there. The track was very slushy but there were no puddles. When all was said and done, I did 5.26 miles in 43:26 for a 8:15 pace. Not bad considering the conditions. More details of the run can be found here: Slushy Christmas Day 5+ miles on Overpeck Track.

I hope that everyone who was celebrating today had a merry Christmas!

Early Dismissal

Around 3:30 my boss comes out over to our group and says "What is everyone still doing here? Go home!" Knowing that my daughter was invited out for an overnight Chanukah party at a friend's house, and having plans later with my wife, I decided to put on my running gear and head outside for a run before going home. I wasn't sure what kind of condition the pedestrian paths on the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges would be like, so I head down Maiden Lane to the East Side running path. I headed south towards the ferry terminal and made my way up the West Side to Stuyvesant High School and back. I finished the ~5 mile run in 44:34 for a 8:53 pace. I'm not exactly sure why I was so slow. I felt like I was running at pretty good clip. It probably had something to do with some slushy and icy patches where I had to slow down a little. I'm not going to worry about it. It felt good to get out there.

Happy Holidays!

The Evil Empire Stikes Again! Yanks Sign Mark Teixeira

It turns out that the discussions surrounding Manny Ramirez were all smoke and mirrors. The Yankees shocked the baseball world by signing first baseman Mark Teixeira to a 8-year $180 million contract yesterday. Brian Cashman proved once again why he is a great GM. He waited for the Sox, and Angels to drop out and then made Tex an offer he couldn't refuse. Hank and Hal clearly wanted to have star-studded team when New Yankee Stadium opens for business.

This is an awesome acquisition for the Yanks. They get younger and better offensively and defensively. Lee Jenkins wrote on SI.com yesterday that Tex should fit right in to the Yankees clubhouse. He's clean cut, professional, and plays hard every day and most importantly avoids controversy. Manny's antics would have driven Joe Girardi crazy. Bob Klapisch, from the Bergen Record, summed it up best in his Dec. 21 column.

The question now becomes does getting Tex make the Yanks the hands-down favorite to not only win the AL East but also win the World Series. Steve Phillips said on SportsCenter last night that while getting Tex is a huge improvement for the Yanks, they are neither a lock to win the division nor the World Series. As I said when the Yanks signs CC and A.J., baseball is a marathon not a sprint. There are a lot of "ifs" that go into predicting the outcome of a baseball season. I'll refrain from doing that. For now I'm going to enjoy this acquisition.

Running in a Winter Wonderland

Woke up this morning around 5:30. When I came downstairs to get dressed I some pitter patter on the air conditioner. I prayed that it was not rain, luckily it was just sleet. I went through my pre-race routine and left the house around 6:45. Because of the weather, I decided to stay close to home and run in Votee. Usually I run to the park, but because of all the snow, I decided to drive. Last thing I needed was to get hit by car that was sliding on the road. The town does a pretty good job making sure the walking/running paths in the parks are plowed so when I got to Votee, there was light coating of snow on the path. When I started the run, it felt like it was sleeting. About 1.5 miles in, it changed to snow. The rest of the run was very peaceful. I love the sound of my foot striking fresh snow. I decided not to push myself too hard, both in pace and length of the run. I did 7 miles in 58:54 for a 8:23 pace. You can view the run details here: Snowy 7 in Votee.

Here are some pictures:
I had to my glasses off about half way through the run because they were covered in snow and I couldn't see.

This is a picture of the local community/recreation building.

We'll see what old man winter has in store for the rest of the season, but so far so good.