One more orbit..

Sunbeams over Kohala

Toni and I are back from a wonderful trip to Hawaii, (the Big Island, that is). 


Now that I'm back and before it's too late I want to recap some of the events of the year. 




2010 Running Related Recaps

• I finally learned how to keep Achilles Tendinitis at bay.
• Ran 4:06 PR in San Francisco! In retrospect I was pretty well peaked for this race (but not perfectly....)
• Did not race my yearly all-out 10k....caught a bad cold. A bunch of peaking for that was wasted.
• Tore my left calf while stretching 6 weeks before Long Beach and didn't get healed up fully ...my first cramp-up during a race at mile 20-ish.. pulled off a 4:25.
• Ran the Zombie Runner Trail Marathon in mud, rain, wind..took it easy..slowest race ever at 4:42 but second place in age group (50-59)!
• I completed my 55th orbit of the Sun 8)
• My weight and cholesterol numbers are still fine with diet and exercise...

I'm reasonably happy with this year's running. Obviously one can't fret about catching a cold but I can fret about being a moron and tearing my own calf muscle...oops....

I ended up not running *any* short (i.e. less than marathon length) races in 2010. I didn't intend to do this consciously...but I do find running marathons ever so much more interesting. 

I guess I'm a bit scared of getting injuries trying to push myself to run short, fast races for a  PR..and push come to shove I love being able to run a lot more than setting PRs. 

This has been the year I started reading a lot more  running blogs and I was struck by how many people (basically eventually everbody) gets injuries. I know how crazy and miserable it is to not be able to run and to lose this ability for a time just to run 10% faster on one race seems really, really dumb to me right now.

So, as I mentioned in my Marathon of Marathons posting, I'm turning away from peaking for any of my races until after spring 2011...instead I'm slowing down a bit and having fun running them. Marathons are a challenge at any speed! (Ultras coming next...?)

2011 Goals

• Run Surf City and finish California Dreamin' Series trifecta with 3xfull.
• Run LA marathon with my brother-in-law and have a great time and make sure he has a great time ;) Love those point-to-point courses! 
• Run my first 50k trail run (Skyline-to-the-Sea?). Think about a 50 miler if that goes well? (?!)
• See our old friends and run Copenhagen marathon in May.
• Run a June/early July marathon to get 8 marathons in 12 months for Marathon  Maniacs silver level.
• Rest, then peak for a marathon in the fall...run a few halfs or 10ks in process of peaking for a fall marathon
• Stay uninjured....slow down and run long!

Have a great 2011!

PS: Congrats to Jenny a.k.a "Running Bubby" on her first marathon!!!! You are now a marathoner.