2011 Review

I was on the road to another record-shattering year of running until injuries and surgeries caught up with me at the end of the third quarter that persisted through the fourth quarter of 2011. The knees have objectively recovered as evidenced by a new three mile record set on Christmas Eve, however they still don't quite feel 100% yet. Sometimes I run with braces and the knees hurt anyway; sometimes I run without braces and feel no pain at all.

New Year Resolution: No more basketball without basketball shoes!

The Personal Records section is getting wiped out for the new year, here is its final standing for 2011:

Personal Records
1M: 7:45 (-0:02), 9/17/2011
2M: 16:29 (-0:03), 4/2/2011
3M: 25:32 (-1:15), 12/24/2011
5K: 27:32 (-1:52), 1/23/2011
4M: 35:38 (-0:44), 4/22/2011
5M: 47:06, 11/3/2010
6M: 55:58 (-0:28), 3/5/2011
8M: 1:28:09, 4/17/2010
15K: 1:31:18, 10/10/2010
10M: 1:41:59 (-17:01), 2/5/2011
13.1M: 2:13:56 (-9:42), 3/27/2011
26.2M: 6:09:39, 5/21/2006

The above represents 31:06 shaved off of personal records across all distances, some of which were set multiple times.

2011 Goals, Performance

1. Total Mileage: 750 (62.5 miles/month)
Performance: 493.8 (41.2 miles/month)
750 - 493.8 = 256.2 short
Vs. 2010: 493.8 - 546 = -52.2
66%

2. Total Runs: 180 (15/month)
Performance: 143 (11.9/month
180 - 143 = 37 short
Vs. 2010: 143 - 149 = -6
79%

3. Weight: 265 (-22.4 pounds, 1.9 pounds/month)
Performance: 271.4 @ 8/28/2011 (276.2 @ 12/24/2011)
22.4 - 16 = 6.4 pounds short
71%

4. 2 Miles: < 15:00
Performance: 16:29
16:29 - 15:00 = 1:29 short

5. 10+ mile run monthly
Performance: 3/12
12 - 3 = 9 short
25%

6. 100+ miles logged in a month
None (Closest month: 7/2011 @ 69)

7. PR the 5K
Done, 1/23/2011 @ 27:32

8. PR the Caesar Rodney Half Marathon by 10+ minutes (< 2:16:44)
Done, 3/27/2011 @ 2:13:56

9. PR the Marathon
Did not attempt

10. Quarterly Updates
3/4

A lot of the shortcomings can be directly attributed to lost capacity in the last third of the year, though not entirely. The first four months of the year were not as strong as they should have been -- a lot of ~40 mile months with 12-ish runs that should have been 60 and 15 or better, respectively. There is not enough moderate-distance runs (4-6 miles); there is a total absence of long runs (8+ miles) after the CR in March. To bridge the gap and perhaps even address the injury issue as I've noticed it takes me a while to recover from setting a new record at 1-4 miles, most of the focus in 2012 will be on endurance and NOT speed.

July was my best month in terms of miles and total runs (69 and 17; this is what an average month should look like, ideally). For setting new records, February saw new marks set for three and ten miles that represent an impressive span between endurance and speed.

2012 goals to follow!