Training and racing adventures of a master runner in Metropolitan Washington, DC, and beyond.
I finished the 2024 Ottawa Marathon feeling triumphant! I set my sights on a fall marathon and registered for the 2024 Philadelphia Marathon. The race is often ranked among the top 10 big city marathons in the United States and
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After learning in September that I would miss out on the 2024 Boston Marathon by 5 seconds, I decided to run the 2024 Ottawa Marathon in May. I started training in late January following a plan in Advanced Marathoning by
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Prologue Training It’s been a challenging climb returning to fitness since my disastrous New York City Marathon in 2019. I started medication for high blood pressure after that race, but then the COVID-19 pandemic derailed everyone’s racing plans for two years.
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Prologue When I left the finish area after the 2021 Boston Marathon a year and a half ago, I thought I might never see it again because I was so far from time-qualifying shape. But, I worked my way back! 2021
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Prologue My last marathon was the 2021 Boston Marathon. Unfortunately, I ran a disappointing 4:12:00, which didn’t re-qualify me for next year’s race! After running eight consecutive Boston Marathons, I left the finish line area wondering if I’d ever run
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This week, I only had two workouts – a medium-long run on Sunday and a marathon-pace workout on Thursday. Mostly, I prepared to race and accept that I may not re-qualify for the Boston Marathon. But, one month after having COVID-19 and having to skip the London Marathon, I’m grateful for the opportunity to start. On Friday, my partner and I left Washington, D.C., and made our way to Boston by way of New York City.
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I was having a rough training cycle, so when both the Boston Marathon and London Marathon were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was disappointed but also slightly relieved that I wouldn’t have two struggle-fests this spring. But, I knew I would “run anyway” as I did after the 2012 New York City Marathon was canceled.
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Scroll all the way down to the end for the tl;dr version. Prologue This was a strange training cycle because I simultaneously prepared for the New York City Marathon (“NYCM”) using the 12 weeks, 70 miles per week plan in
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This race was pretty high on my list of tough marathons. If the race was a week or two earlier, I think it could be a destination event. It was well organized and there’s just enough to do around downtown for a three-day weekend.
I finished the 2019 Boston Marathon in mid-April and did a “reverse taper” before training again.
Based on the warm weather forecast, I adjusted my expectations considerably and just wanted to finish. The spectators were fantastic – spraying runners with hoses and giving out water. In the final miles, the temperature was 84 degrees! My time was 3:57:09 (9:02 pace) – my second slowest marathon.
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The afternoon heat made it a tough day but the cheering crowds made the race bearable.
I went into the race with a lot of confidence after running the 2019 Rock n Roll DC Half Marathon in 1:38:36 (7:32 pace) – my fastest half marathon in three years! My goal was sub-3:28:00 (7:57 pace). But, in the days before the race, my knees were killing me.
A few miles into the race, I was already sweating. By the time I reached Newton, running 7:59 pace, the temperature was probably just under 70 degrees! I left that town down to 8:08 pace but rallied in Brookline.
My time was 3:34:40 (8:12 pace). My goal marathon for this spring was actually the 2019 Cleveland Marathon so, I plan to take a few days off and then start training again.
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