A Five Year Report of Activities (2005 - 2010)

It's time for another look back at another year in activity, now that it's finally over for me. But instead of looking at just one year, why not a quick look at the last five years.

2005:
Most balanced year in terms of training. Did two goal races this year - The Tinman Triathlon and the Honolulu Marathon. Course consists of 750m swim/40k bike/10k run. I finished at 19:58/1:07:27/48:09) respectively, for a total 2:19:17 including transition times.

I did the Honolulu Marathon this year at 3:33:14. I was about 3 years into running at this point and remember how tough this race was for me. I had a goal time of 3:10 to BQ. Was 1:36 at the halfway point, and totally cramped up the second half. Was really just learning how tough it was to qualify for Boston.

Moved to NYC from Hawaii around August of this year.

2006
Did a lot of stationary biking first winter because I didn't care too much for running in the cold. A few races in Central Park and a couple of NYRR half marathons, otherwise, it was a year to transition into a new living scenario.

2007
Decided to do try for the NYRR Grand Prix in 2007 just to get the silly certificate. Logged most running miles this year (Also did my first NYC marathon. What an experience! Results were as follows:

Manhattan half - 1:35:52 (coldest race ever!)
Bronx half - 1:36:21 (another brutally cold race)
Brooklyn half - 1:34:39
New York City Marathon - 3:28:17 (first sub 3:30! At this point, I realized how far I was from qualifying for Boston, and I had to make a serious commitment if I was going to get to 3:15)

Didn't mark the other two half marathons, but I know it was in the mid 1:30's.

2008
Buckled down more on run training this year to see if I could qualify for Boston in the NYC Marathon, logging 1590 miles for the year. My strategy to run the qualifying time was to do lots and lots of running without much speedwork Result? 3:19:46. Still nearly 5 minutes short of qualifying time.

2009
Frustrated by my BQ failures, changed my strategy two-fold. First, I decided to do more speedwork by introducing Tabata sets into my workouts. Second, I decided to try to qualify on a flatter course in New Jersey. Result? Success! Qualified with a 3:14:23.

After finally qualifying, I wanted to try something different instead of running, so I committed to the P90X program. At the same time, I trained and did the 2009 NYC marathon. Results for the marathon were not very good. My heart was not into it. The P90X program, I think, helped me out quite a bit. Never been able to do so many pullups in my life! See results post here.

2010
Finally ran the Boston marathon, and it was worth every trying effort to do the race. Of all the marathons I've done, including NYC, this was probably my favorite race to date. After the race, I really wasn't sure what to do with myself running-wise. Also had a couple of half marathon PR's, finally breaking 1:30 in the Philly half.

2011
Started off with the a personally disappointing Disney marathon, which has motivated me to train hard this year. Will revisit 2011 about a year from now.

All-in-all, I can't believe I've been in NYC for over five years now. It's been quick, I'm still enjoying myself, and I'm looking forward to coming adventures with friends and my wife.