So, it’s been a while since I’ve written about my running. Let’s get started with a long overdue post.
About 10 days after running the Columbus Marathon last fall, I had to get the hernia repair surgery that I had put off in order to run the marathon. That surgery went well, but it also brought with it an edict from the doctors: no running for a month. At the time, that seemed hard to swallow, but looking back, the time away did me a world of good. And perhaps even better was the admonishment to come back slowly. While I did a bit of base building and a lot of cross-training, I didn’t really start training in earnest again until mid-January.
The first part of this training cycle was a little tough. I had gained a bit of weight, and lost some fitness in my time away, so the first few weeks felt harder than I expected/remembered. But sure enough, by February, I was starting to feel a little better, a little faster each day. The brutal winter in Ohio (record snowfalls and record low temperatures) kept me inside on the treadmill way more than I had ever had to in previous winters. In the past, I’d retreat indoors just once or twice for the whole winter, but this year it seemed to be once or twice a week. In late February, while running after a fresh snowfall, I came down on a hidden chunk of ice and rolled my left ankle pretty badly. When it swelled quickly (and colorfully), I had it XRAY’d, but thankfully, no break. The winter training was leading up to the Capital City Half Marathon on May 3 in Columbus, Ohio. Along the way, I also ran the Heart Mini Marathon, a 15K, on March 16th, where I set a 12:24 PR for that distance on a bitterly cold, windy day. Training for Cap City continued and I managed to keep healthy and strong throughout, so that time off at the end of last year helped a ton.
The Capital City Half went very well. My younger son came to race to cheer me on which was a ton of fun for us. The temperature for race day was perfect, and the mostly overcast skies helped keep it comfortable as well. A spot of rain here and there, but nothing major at all. In the end I ran a 1:36:56 which was a PR of about a minute and half and spot on to where I wanted to be.
After the half, I took it easy for a week, then went back to base building with some easy runs. My goal is still to run a BQ of 3:25:00 at the Columbus Marathon this October, so that training started in earnest in June.
Earlier this month, I ran a 10K on July 4th, the same race I had run in 2012. Once again, my younger son came to cheer for me tell me to get my butt moving. I ran a solid race and finished in 45:46 which was good for 2 minute PR. The next weekend, I did a 5K race to support a great cause. It was the first 5K I had run since 2009, the first year I started running, so a PR was a foregone conclusion. The great part about that race was getting to run with my nephew, Danny, whom I know could have run an even faster race if he wouldn’t have had me to drag around the course. Still, lots of fun and an 8:42 PR.
With a strong year behind me so far, I have the rest of the summer to put in the hard work toward my marathon goal in the fall.