Looking Back (briefly) at 2012 and Looking Ahead Towards 2013

I'm hesitant to call this a "Year in Review" post because, quite honestly, there isn't much to review. From a running perspective, 2012 was one of my most inconsistent years. For the first time since I started keeping track, I finished a year with fewer than 1,000 miles (977 to be exact). I didn't set any PRs in any of the races I ran. I did finish my marathon #5 but I was severely under-trained and ran my second worst time. If I had to sum up 2012 in 5 words they would be  life got in the way.

With that said, I do have some goals for 2013:

• Focus on shorter distance racing - I wrote in my last post that we will be celebrating Lil Ansky's Bat Mitzvah in 2013. I don't want training for a full marathon to get in the way of preparing and celebrating this important family milestone. My goal race will be a spring half marathon (still not sure which one yet.). I can put in the time and work at the beginning of the year to train well for a spring half. Coach Jeff has already put a lot of tempo work on my calendar to get ready for the half and for some tune up race. After the half, I will continue to run and bike but with no goals for the summer or fall.
• Cycle more - I started cycling in 2012 and completed my first multi-sport event. If 2012 was about getting to like cycling, I'd like 2013 to be the year I learn to love cycling. I may or may not do another multi-sport event in 2013 but at the very least, I'd like to get out on the bike more often after my half and become a more confident rider.
• Focus on healthier eating - believe it or not, I'm not the healthiest eater. I'd like to make a better effort in 2013 to eat better including finding a way to suppress my sweet tooth.
• Commitment to Consistency - that's Team PRSFIT's mantra for 2013. I'm the first to admit that I skip my strength and core workouts more often than I should. They really do help in becoming a stronger athlete and I need to make a better effort to not blow them off.
• Pay it Forward - I have a lot of people to thank for helping me accomplish my goals. In 2012, I helped a friend accomplish a goal by pacing him to his first half marathon finish. Not every race needs to be about me gunning for a PR.
• Explore - We all have our tried and true running routes. I, for one, am guilty of not liking to drive to start a run and therefore start and end many of my runs near my house. I'll admit that these routes are starting to get boring. They're not very scenic, many of them are through neighboring towns which look a lot like mine. Everything about these routes is familiar, the terrain, the hills, where I can make pit stop, where the convenience stores to refill my bottles. There are so many places in northern Bergen County, Passaic County, and Rockland County (NY) that I'd like to explore and are not too far from my house.

• Have Fun! - let's face it, I'm not getting paid to toe the line at a race. When I commit to race, I often put a lot of pressure on myself during the training the cycle and if I under-perform at race I get disappointed. I guess it's OK to get disappointed if you put in the work but the important thing is to learn from it and move on. I'd like to be able to continue running for many years to come and if it's no longer fun, then I won't stick with it.

So there you have it, my goals for 2013. As you can see, I have only 1 time based running goal for 2013. I think the rest of them are more about keeping things light and fun while planning for and celebrating a very important family milestone. Happy New Year! 

2011: The Year in Review

Even though 8 Crazy Nights of Blogging captured a lot of how 2011 played out, I feel the need to write a year in review post. Let's start with the yearly totals:


Running
Total Distance: 1,288 miles
Average Distance: 8.31 miles
Average Time: 1:10:26

Cycling
Total Distance: 118.38
Average Distance: 11.84
Average Time: 1:02:84

In previous years, I would recap the year month by month reminding myself and whomever is still reading this blog what went well and what didn't. I'm not going to do that this year. I've done that a lot already and I don't want to beat a dead horse.

I'll recap 2011 by saying that I've learned a lot about myself and about what type of athlete I am. Not finishing in Vermont and deferring Marine Corps reminded me that first and foremost, running and cycling should be fun. That's the only way I'm going to stick with it. I'm not going to beat myself up if a run doesn't go well. Not every race is going to be a PR. Finally, Boston is just a race. I'm ending 2011 feeling good about running, cycling, training and racing.

So what's up for 2012? My race schedule is coming together. I have some exciting things in the works and I'll share them once I finalize everything. One thing I'm not going to do, is set any specific time goals for certain distances. I think that's what went well in the early part of 2011 when I set new PRs in the 15k and half marathon. The only goal for 2012 races will be to run the best race that I can on that day.

Happy New Year!

Totals for 2010

 

Total Number of Runs: 188

Total Time: 192:30:53

Total Distance: 1349:6

Average Time:1:01:26

Average Distance: 7.18 miles

Average Pace: 8:33/mile

I know what you're asking, "Ansky, couldn't you have run an extra 0.4 miles to get to an even 1350?" When I ran my last miles of 2010 on Friday, I had no idea I would that close to 1350. It is what it is. Taking a cue from Claire, 1350 miles is the distance from Teaneck, NJ to Key Largo, Florida. 

2010 was a really good running year, thank you for coming along for the ride. Hope you stick around for 2011.

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.

Totals for 2009

I ran my last miles for 2009 yesterday. I closed out 2009 by cross training at the gym today. So here are my totals 2009:

Total Number of Runs: 157
Total Miles: 1,026.1mi.
Total Time: 142:09:36

Avg.Distance 6.5mi.
Avg. Time: 54:19
Avg. Pace/mile: 8:18

I'm still working on my goals and racing plans (at least for the spring racing season) for 2010.

1,000

While many of you were sleeping soundly or unwrapping presents Friday morning, this Jewish running addict ran his 1,000th mile for 2009. I consider this a pretty big accomplishment considering I took a week off in January (family vacation), a week off to find my mojo, a week off to get over the summertime blues, missed 6 weeks in September and October with a fractured rib, and missed other runs because of religious observances. I also only ran 1 marathon in the spring so my weekly mileage was not as high during the second half of the year.

Thanks for coming along for the ride. I can't wait for 2010.

2009: The Year in Review

At the end of 2008 I laid out some goals for this year. Let's see how I did:

Stay healthy through the winter so I can run the New Jersey Marathon on May 3.
CHECK! Aside from a minor calf strain 4 weeks before the marathon I did stay healthy, no other injuries or illnesses to speak of. My training went very well. I started doing winter speedwork with the Nike pacers and got to race day feeling strong and confident.

I would like to race more.
CHECK! In 2008 I ran no more than 5 or 6 races. This year I ran 8. All but the Achilles Hope & Possibility 5 miler were non-NYRR races. A secondary goal was to run more local run races, so CHECK to that as well. I set new PRs  in the first 4 races that I ran: Fair Lawn Sunrise Rotary 1st Day 5k (22:46, 1/1/09), Prospect Park Track Club Cherry Tree 10 Miler (1:19:50, 2/22/09), New Jersey Marathon (3:52:54, 5/3/09), and the Achilles Hope & Possibility 5 miler (36:55, 6/28/09). In September I bested my 10 PR by 2 seconds at the South Nyack 10 miler (1:19:48, 9/13/09).

Continue to focus on nutrition and overall good health.
CHECK! With the help Mrs. Ansky, RD I practiced better eating habits (the occasional bowl ice cream included). I learned what foods work for me before a race or long-run (whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter) and for recovery (oatmeal, choclate milk, omlets).

Get faster
PUSH. I did set 4 new PRs this year but...I didn't run a sub-1:50 half or a sub 3:50 full. I'm hoping that I'll be able to accomplish both in 2010.


Other Highlights and Lowlights of 2009
Excluding the PRs, the highlight of 2009 was my run to Yankee Stadium. I decided to have some fun on that Sunday in August. Rather than going with my buddies in the car, I traveled to the Stadium on foot and met them in the parking lot.

The other highlight was meeting some amazing new people.At first we were all like minded runners writing about our running in and around New York City.We only knew each other in the virtual world, Blogspot, Wordpress, Facebook, and Twitter. Then we decided to meet up in person, at Nike Speed, at races, and then at Tweet-up runs. Now, we are not only fellow runners, we are also friends.

The big lowlight of 2009 was my fractured rib. I missed about 6 weeks of running and had to drop out of my fall half-marathon. I learned a lot during that time. I was beyond frustrated that I couldn't run but my time off the roads allowed me to help others accomplish their goals. Trea was training for her first half marathon during this time and she was very nervous about being to finish what she started. This was a way for me to stay involved in the running community while not running myself. BTW...Trea ROCKED her first half marathon, finishing in 2:00:xx.

Lesson Learned
I learned to listen to my body this year. During the year, I lost my mojo and had the summertime blues. Both times, running just wasn't fun. I was going through the motions and felt like my running had no purpose. I took a week off both time to re-focus.

I also took a week off while on vacation with my family. I wanted to enjoy the time with my family and not worried about getting my miles in. Bottom line, it's OK to take a week off. Nothing will happen.

So there you have it. 2009 certainly wasn't perfect, it had its highs and lows. The important thing is, I'm ending 2009 on a high note. It took me a while to fully recover from my rib injury but I'm finally feeling strong heading into 2010.

Thank you all for reading and commenting on the blog. Best wishes for a Happy Holiday season. 2010 should be a safe, prosperous, and healthy year for all of us.

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!