a year in running
In 2024, I ran 1,388 miles and participated in twelve races, racing in seven of them and just running in five. As in 2023, my key races were the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May and NYC Marathon in November. In neither of those races did I achieve what I had hoped. In the Brooklyn Half, I hit some kind of wall at the beginning of the eighth mile and just kept it together until the end, finishing in a more-than-respectable 1:57:30, but without shaving a minute or two off the previous year’s time, as I had hoped to do. In the NYC Marathon, leg cramps made most of the last ten miles excruciating, like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I actually considered DNFing but eventually rallied and even managed to run through the finish, covering the last 400 meters or so like it was just the last interval in a speed workout.
Not all of my races were disappointing. In June, I set a (post-kid) PR in the New York Mini 10K—after joking with teammates before the start that I had slept terribly the night before, felt like shit, and was maybe going to do this one at a tempo pace or maybe even at training pace, we’ll see. In July, for the third year in a row, I knocked another few seconds off my Best Pace (used for corral assignments in NYRR races) in the NYRR Team Championships 5M. In August, I finished the NYCRUNS Brooklyn Ice Cream Social half marathon more than half a minute faster than the Brooklyn Half three months earlier, despite having to run up Battle Pass Hill four times, and placed first in my age group. And, best of all, over the summer I ran in the PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series 5K three times, each time coaching one of my kids to the finish, and this month, for my last race of the year, I started the NYRR Frosty 5K with both of them, coaching the 12yo to the finish a few minutes behind the 16yo.
And now another year has passed, I’m another year older, and I want to keep going. I’m happy with my overall mileage but want to be more consistent next year with stretching, strength training, and speed work. I plan to run the NYC Marathon for a sixth time next year (I’ve already qualified), and though it would be great for once in my life to finish that damn race faster than I did the previous year, my main goal is simply to enjoy it—not so simple, actually; I often find that my ambitions can sabotage my pleasure in the activities I enjoy. I also plan to try some different races (instead of running the races to qualify for the NYC Marathon in the following year), including racing in half marathons I’ve never done before and actually racing (rather than just running) in a 5K, which I haven’t done since 2016.
Over the past couple years at least, running has transformed my relationship with time. Like other runners, I think a lot about time, and not just in terms of pace, or setting new PRs, or the inevitability of slowing down as one gets older. I also think backward from the date of a key race to figure out how many miles I ought to be running this week and then work out a training plan for the weeks until the race. I like having a training plan, posting it on my bulletin board and checking off each run as I go. The seasons change, and so do I. In three weeks, for example, I’ll start training for a mid-April half marathon, and over the twelve weeks of training the days will grow longer, and snowdrops, crocuses, and then daffodils will bloom. Spring will come, and I will be out in the park to enjoy it, able to run much faster than I can now, before training has worked its alchemy on my cells.
I don’t have to have any grand resolutions for the new year. I have just the next race to train for, and I don’t even have to think all that much about that race. All I really have to worry about is today’s run, and eating well, and drinking enough water, and getting enough rest. Just today. It’s going to be a rough year, and I want to be able to meet its challenges with a strong heart and big spirit, as I’ve tried to do in every race I’ve ever run.
