By all means to measure, it has been a successful winter of training. There was no significant snow to prevent me from training, and I was able to hit all of my speed work. The year started off well with my second-fastest 5K on New Year's Day (18:45) and a later in January I set a personal best at the JFK 20K (1:22:06). Then I hit a bump in my club's 8K with a 38 minute result, but the asterisk there is one of the lead runners took a wrong turn and the rest of the race followed, adding on close to a mile. But, I responded with a very solid Club Challenge 10 Miler at Howard Community College in late February with my second-fastest ten mile time and course PR (65:10). My two races in March were solid efforts as well. I broke 30 minutes in the St. Patrick's Day 8K (29:49) for the first time. That race really impressed me because I never thought that I was capable of pushing past that time barrier. Then yesterday, I ran a respectable 1:28 in the Rock N Roll Half Marathon - a time I know I can improve upon but still a solid effort considering I raced while still sick. While it is three minutes slower than what I would have liked, I can't be too upset about that finish since I did finish, but I really thought I was Superman and could have run better.
All of these races have been in preparation for the Boston Marathon.
Since I finished last Boston in near 90 degree heat, I've been singularly focused in returning to Boston and running a faster time. Of course I believe I'm capable of a sub 3 hour marathon, and I hope the weather and my taper cooperate. With four weeks to race day, I'm excited and nervous. All that is left on my race calendar is the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler on April 7, which I will not be "racing" since Boston is so close. Rather, I'm likely to be jogging it or running it at race pace.
This year's Boston has extra meaning as well. Two of my uncles, Ronnie Berger and Evan Raine, passed away in 2012, and they will be on my mind. I've been wearing Uncle Evan's mezuzah since and many of Uncle Ronnie's clothes (he was a sharp dresser and we both are the same size). I'm also looking forward to seeing friends and family along the route. And, my girlfriend, Laura Goldin, will be there for the first time! (In fact, she has started running and raced two very impressive 5Ks so far.)
Four more weeks of training and taper until the big race. I can't wait!
