This will be a retrospective post as well as a look ahead.

First, this week. Unseasonably mild for the last week of December. I was able to run in shorts all four days I ran and only pushed it with the temperature one day.

• Mon – 5.09 miles – 10:19 pace – 45F and breezy
• Tues – 5.03 miles – 9:40 pace – low 40s (brisk but nice); Rowing Machine and Strength Circuit at YMCA
• Wed – rest
• Thur – 5:07 miles – 10:31 pace – mid 30s!
• Fri – Rowing Machine and Strength Circuit at YMCA (moving over 3400 pounds per workout now)
• Sat – 10.52 miles – 9:58 pace – high 40s and beautiful (see photo)

2011 in Review…

Some ups and downs this year. The B&A Half Marathon was great and I’m psyched to go back this coming March. I didn’t PR but had a respectable time of 2:12. After that was the Get the Lead Out 10K and the birth of the Shoe Bomb. Broad Street was fantastic — I got a PR with 1:29 and hit my target pace milestones throughout the race.

However, I may have overtrained or pushed too hard in the race because the following week I had pain in my left shin and got the diagnosis of a stress reaction in the tibia — shut down for a little more than 3 weeks. That made me miss the ODDyssey Half Marathon in June. In July I did the Broomall Rotary Firecracker 5K on the Fourth, then the Midnight Madness in mid-July (Schuylkill River Loop), and finished up with the race I helped direct — the inaugural Philly Folk 5K which I ran with my oldest son.

August was devoted to serious training for the Rock n Roll Half in September and Philly Marathon in November and I racked up 155 miles and a good, solid 20-miler. But early in mid-September, just before the Rock n Roll Half, I started having pain in my right foot when walking (but not when running). I got the diagnoses of a stress fracture of the second metatarsal only 2 days before the half. I ended up in a boot for 3 weeks and an additional 3 weeks of no running.

Fortunately, I was able to ramp up with just 3 weeks before the Philly Marathon and run the half instead of the full. Since then I have slowly built up my distance to try to avoid any more injuries and, as of the end of the year, I am running a solid 25 miles per week with a 10-mile long run.

I was hoping to get a PR in the half and full this year, but with the two injuries that was not possible. I also wanted to get to 2500 miles before the end of the year. I just missed that by less than 11 miles (next week!). I did manage to log more miles than last year — 1,113 — even though I missed 9 full weeks of running.

Looking Ahead…

So my goals for 2012 are:

• sub-2:00 Half Marathon
• sub-5:00 Marathon (New Jersey Marathon in May)
• log 1300 miles
• run all year without any major injury that stops me from training
• drop to below 180 pounds and stay there (which should help me make get my PRs)

Looking Further Ahead…

By the time I am 65 years old:

• log a total of 5000 miles
• run the Goofy Challenge for my 65th birthday (Jan. 2014)

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!