Reflection on 2011

Although Mike's Marathon Blog is long retired, I feel compelled to write a reflection post for 2011 like I did for 2010 (actually, the last blog post I wrote was exactly one year ago this week!)

Last year, my goals for 2011 were:

• Lose the weight. When I weighed in at the gym in January of 2011, the scale showed 182 pounds. I got that down to 166 pounds in early July and I'm now hovering in the 168-170 range. It is definitely progress - not back to the 160 pounds that I was 5 years ago...I'd love to get back to that number, but that would take some serious commitment!
• Stay healthy. In 2010 I suffered from three bouts of respiratory infections/inflammation which ceased my running for 3-4 weeks at a time. In 2011, I started working with a pulmonologist and later in the year an allergist to get to the bottom of the issues. I still had the incidents, but I have decreased the amount of time I'm on the shelf when it happens. For 2012, I will be trying allergy shots to see if I can desensitize my system to the triggers of these events so they don't happen in the first place!
• Run More. This is one goal that I fell short. My total mileage for the year is 552 miles - 21 miles LESS than 2010. Again, the main culprits were travel and health. Although I did have a few stretches of a few 20 mile weeks in a row. It's not marathon mileage, but it is definitely what I need to feel like a runner again.
• Schedule more races. Another goal where I fell short. I ran in two races this year - both low-key races from MCRRC. A 4 mile run on Memorial Day and a 8K run earlier this month. Both were PRs (since I had not raced those distances before!!). However, the pace of these were below my PRs for longer distances, so they're really only PRs by default.
• Schedule more time off from work. This is one where I excelled this year. I ended up teaching Israeli Dancing at a BBYO Leadership Camp for Teens for two weeks this summer, which got me away from my work responsibilities (and many other responsibilities) for about 17 days. I brought Sherry and the kids up for the first 8 days I was there - and it was great having some quality time with them.

Other highlights from 2011:

• My big birthday - I turned 40. I still can't believe it. At times I still feel like I'm 20 and just happen to have a 9 year old and 6 year old in the house (yes...I know the math doesn't make sense there!)
• My Israeli Dance group continues to grow! I am now getting between 40-50 dancers each week at the group and word of the group continues to spread. I actually just started a new blog for the Israeli Dance group at http://markidmike.wordpress.com and a Twitter account @MarkidMike
• My day job at Ericsson also continues to go well. I was extremely busy this year with a huge project in 1H2011 in East TX and a bunch of smaller projects in 2H2011 in Georgia, Mississippi and the Carolinas.

My goals for 2012 are pretty much the same as 2011. I would love to put the commitment in place to get back down to my ideal weight of 160 pounds (my doctor says 150-155 would be ideal for me, but I haven't seen numbers like that since I was 17 years old). I want to find a way to stay healthy - I'm hoping the allergy shots will help with this. If I can keep healthy, then I should be able to run more...I'm going to shoot for 750 miles for the year (14-15 miles per week if I can run every week...see not getting sick!). I would like to run a Half Marathon in the Spring and the Fall (see run more which depends on stay healthy!). Finally, I should be able to take more time from work - I will hit my 19th anniversary of working at Nortel (Ericsson bridged my service from Nortel when they purchased my division), so I will get an extra week of vacation.

One other goal - I want to try running with others more often this year. Running has been a solo venture for me most of the time, but I always enjoy when I run with other people. I'm going to try to run a race or two with my 9 year old son. I would love to run more with Sherry. I may also try to arrange some type of pub crawl / beer run with friends of mine. I don't think I'll ever be one to only run with a group, but I'm hoping more of my runs in 2012 will not be solo.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Reflection on 2010

Although I officially retired the blog earlier this year, I did mention in my final post that I may still post updates to the blog.

As the end of 2010 draws near, I feel I should reflect on the past year and set some goals for the year ahead.

• In 2010 I ran fewer miles than in 2009, 2008 or 2007. You need to go back to 2006 - when I first started running seriously and trained for my first half marathon - to get a lower mileage total. Right now I have logged 573 miles for the year - and it is doubtful that I will get another run in during the next week as I'm battling a sinus infection.
• Ironically, although I have run fewer miles this year - I set PRs in the 10 mile (1:29:43) and half marathon (2:11:41).
• I travelled more for my job this year than ever before. My project for the first three quarters of the year was based in Souther California - and I spent one week of every month in Irvine. Since September, my projects have been based in East Texas and the group is based in Atlanta - so I have been traveling to Atlanta and Dallas. Traveling messes up any rhythm that I may have for the week (especially when trying to plan for runs). And being away from home has been hard on Sherry and the boys as well (so taking 1 night trips to Atlanta or Dallas - although more difficult on me - seems to be better for the family)
• With business travel comes business lunches, dinners and happy hours. Which means more food (and beer) than I would normally consume. Which is why I'm about 15 pounds heavier now than I was when I crossed the finish line of the NY Marathon in November 2009.
• Another contributor to the lower mileage is health. Luckily I had no running injuries during 2010. However, I have had three nasty sinus infections - all which have taken two rounds of antibiotics to treat. Once the congestion moves into my chest, it is not a good idea to run - so I have missed 3-4 week chunks of running...and then having to spend a few weeks to ramp back up again.
• In my other hobby, my Israeli Dance group has really grown in 2010 as well. I now get around 35 dancers every week and people stay later. As a result I'm out later every Tuesday night - which makes a morning run on Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning a lot more difficult.
• In 2010 I had some nice vacation time as well. Sherry and I got away for our 15th Anniversary - to a resort spa in the mountains of Pennsylvania for two nights. Then in October we all went on a Disney cruise with my parents and sister and her family. We also took some trips to visit family and friends for B'nai Mitzvahs and Weddings (two trips to Michigan, one to Connecticut and I extended a business trip to stay in Dallas)

As you can see, 2010 was definitely a year of great achievements coupled with some tough challenges.

I haven't set all of my goals for 2011 yet, however, here are a few main goals:

• Lose the weight. Gaining 15 pounds in one year is way too much...I have to get this back to where I was in 2009.
• Stay healthy. I'm going to get a CT scan of my sinuses in the next few weeks and I may go to an ENT. Three sinus infections in one year? That HAS to stop!
• Run more. This will definitely help goal #1 and I'll be able to do this if I achieve goal #2. I don't necessarily need to hit 1,000 miles next year - but somewhere around 750 would be nice.
• Schedule some races. I would like to schedule at least 2 half marathons and perhaps a fall full marathon (maybe Marine Corps??) I loved the 10 mile distance too. Perhaps with all the traveling I'm doing and not having as much time to run long, I should focus on running shorter races and develop more speed. Either way, I need to race a bit more in 2011 to keep my motivation up.
• Schedule more time off from work. With the exception of the two main vacation I took (one for 2 work days and one for 3 work days), I really did not take much vacation time to relax and spend quality time with my family. I need to do more of this (and run more while on vacation!)

I'm sure I'll think of more as the next week goes on, but these are the main goals.

2011 will be a big year for me with a milestone birthday (ends in a zero...). Let's hope my age isn't the only milestone I have to celebrate!

Reflecting On 2009

Most of the blogs I read have already done a "reflecting on the past year" post... 'Tis the season, right?

I took a look back at last year's entry on Dec 31. I had just finished quite an amazing year with many feats in running - both in conquering the marathon distance for the first time along with setting some new PRs. But as amazing as 2008 was, 2009 really blew it out of the water:

• I finally surpassed the 1,000 mile marker for the year. Last year I fell 30 miles short and couldn't make it up during December due to falling ill with bronchitis during the last two weeks.
• Actually, 2009 was quite a healthy year for me. No real injuries (some hamstring pain after the NY Marathon, but I dealt with that much better this year). I had a few colds, but nothing longer than a week.
• I ran my second marathon - the NY Marathon on November 1. I ran this as part of Team Run To Remember, in memory of my Nana. I raised close to $6,000 (there's still time to donate here so you can rack up those charitable donations and reduce your tax burden!!!) and met some really great people in the process.
• For the first time, I started running with other people on a more regular basis. I started by going up to New York for a few of the team runs and then found a few running friends in the area to do some long runs with. Although 80-90% of my runs are still solo, I do enjoy running with others when we can schedule it.
• I ran my first race with my wife Sherry - the Rockville Twilight 8K. Again, going with the running with other people theme, I hope to continue to run a few races with Sherry!
• I set new PRs in the marathon, half marathon and 10K (alright...maybe 6 miles), and during the 10K I also ran a faster 5K and mile splits than my previous PRs in those distances.
• In blogging, I have expanded my audience by linking my blog feed and my RunningAhead log to Facebook. I love having more people reading the blog and following my progress, however, sometimes it's a bit cumbersome to read comments in two places.
• At work, I launched my largest project to date and started another project that will last at least 4 to 5 months. Oh...my company filed for bankruptcy in January, my division was bought out in August and I am now working for a new company.

There may be other accomplishments in 2009 that I may not have mentioned...I guess I have a few more days to remember them and throw them in the blog :-)

I also need to start thinking about goals for 2010. There are two things that I'm pretty sure about: a) NO FULL MARATHON in 2010 and b) I will be running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler as I received a spot in their lottery.

Plans Get Thrown Out The Window

My plan for this morning - do my 11 mile long run for the week since our plan for this weekend was to go up to the Poconos for a birthday/retreat/Israeli Dance bash that a friend of mine has organized.

This morning's run started to unravel around 12:30am when my younger son appeared in our room. Unfortunately the game of trying to get him to sleep lasted a few hours - we would put him back in his bed and eventually he was back in our room, he would get into bed with us and then move around too much, etc. I eventually woke up at 6:30am and there was no way I was heading out for an 11 mile run. I stayed in bed until the munchkin woke up a little after 7am.

It actually won't be such a tragedy, as it looks like I should be able to get my long run in this weekend. With my wife's new job, the students arrive on Monday and there is still tons to do. So, it looks like we will not be going to the Poconos after all. At first we were kicking around scenarios where I would go with the kids and she would stay or she would stay with the kids and I would go, but in the end we decided it was best to stay together.

As they say, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry...

A New Paradigm For The Fox Family - And A Facebook Faux Pas

DISCLAIMER - Anyone who is only interested in my running can stop reading now :-)

Life in the Fox Family has been shaken up a bit over the past few days.

My wife Sherry is a teacher by trade. Since the time our first child was born, she has been a Stay-At-Home-Mom - with a private tutoring business on the side. This has been great when the kids were really young - it gave her flexibility to be with the kids during the day, and then I would watch them after work in the early evening while she tutored.

Now that my older son is going into 2nd grade, and my younger son will be going to Nursery School 5 days a week until 2pm, Sherry was going to try and change the business model of her tutoring business. Many private schools in the area allow tutors to come in during school hours to work with their students, and my wife was hoping to line up her sessions while the kids were in school. She had done this with one of her students last year and it worked out great.

That was the plan...until Thursday morning.

We logged into our email at the hotel on our way back from Florida on Thursday morning and found that the private school where Sherry tutored last year had a teaching position open. They were trying to contact her to see if she was interested in the position.

She spent many hours on the phone (luckily I was doing most of the driving) getting more information on the position and trying to come to a favorable agreement for her and the school. Long story short - she started today!

Her employment does change a lot of things for us. First of all, I will need to drive my younger son to school each day (Sherry will drive carpool in the morning for our older son on the way to her school). Also, we need to work out coverage for the kids this week (while she is at the school planning and preparing) and for my younger son next week (his school starts a week after everyone else does). Coverage for the kids was rarely an issue in the SAHM days.

It also means that things are just less flexible around here. If I want to run in the morning, I need to ensure I'm up and out the door by a specific time to be back before Sherry leaves for work/carpool. Looking ahead, I have some 8 mile weekday runs on the schedule coming up...I'll likely need to get out the door in the 5:30am timeframe for those. Ouch!

On the flip side, it should ease things up for us financially. We should be able to chip away at some debt (Home Equity lines of credit always seem like a good idea when you first use them...) and even start to save more (maybe for another Disney vacation???)
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We had a Facebook Faux Pas last night.

My wife went to change her status to "I'm starting a NEW JOB tomorrow!". However, our shared computer in the kitchen popped my email address in the user login window instead of hers and she ended up changing my status to this.

An hour later I open my email to see about 20 comments about my Facebook status. When I started to read these comments I immediately knew what had happened. Sherry updated the wrong account's status!

I wrote a comment explaining that it was Sherry starting the new job, not me...that the computer signed in with the wrong account.

Luckily, I have not "friended" any of the colleagues in my group at work nor any of my customers (some of my work friends that I worked with before are FB friends, but no one in my current group). That would have been really embarrasing!!!

Running In The Dark

Sherry and I ran the Rockville Twilight 8K last night. It was Sherry's first race longer than a 5K - so for her it was more of a "can I do this" instead of a "how fast can I run this" type of race. My plan was to run with her - start and finish the race together, run at her pace and be her cheerleader through and through. No pressure for me - just an enjoyable evening run.

The race starts at 8:45pm - after the sun is down. This is normally because July in Maryland is extremely humid and quite hot. Last year's race was run in 90 degree temperatures. However, last night was beautiful - race time temperature was in the mid-70s, low humidity and a breeze. Sherry was a bit chilly before the race started and was questioning whether a sleeveless running shirt was a good idea (I reminded her that once she started running that she would heat up and she'd be comfortable).

The first 3 miles of the course consisted of two loops through a Rockville neighborhood. Some of the neighbors were on their lawns cheering, however, most homes did not have their exterior lights on. This made for a really dark course. It was not what I was expecting. The name of the race is Twilight - shouldn't there be some "light" in a Twilight race??

However, there was another reason I was running "in the dark" last night. I had brought my Garmin Forerunner 305 to the race, and when I tried to turn it on when we arrived - nothing happened. Dead. Kaput. OH NOOOOOO!!!!! I had charged up the watch yesterday afternoon - keeping it sitting in the docking station at my computer until I saw the "Battery Charging is Complete" message. What the heck happened????

So, while we were running, I had no watch to see what our time was - no feedback on our pace. I had decided not to wear the heart rate monitor before leaving home since I was going to be running at Sherry's pace...I didn't need to know what my HR was for pacing purposes (plus, I knew we were going to be hanging out with some friends at the after-party, and I didn't want to be wearing the HRM strap for so much time). The only thing we had to judge our pace were the clocks at each mile marker. How archaic? How annoying!

BTW, Sherry did great! There were times during the first 2 or 3 miles where Sherry wasn't sure she would be able to do it. There was a pretty long hill during the fourth mile where we had to stop and walk for a bit. However, we finished together in a chip time of 53:46 - an average pace of 10:50/mile. Her first race over 5K. Way To Go Sherry!!!!

In regards to my Garmin, when I got home I put the watch in its charger (hooked up to my computer) and nothing was happening. Normally, as soon as I put it in the charger I see the "Battery Charging In Progress" message. I thought I was royally screwed. However, this morning, I checked it and it shows "Battery Charging In Progress". I'm thinking that I may need to charge the Garmin via the AC outlet instead of the USB/computer input before a race. Just to make sure...