2010 Birthday Drinks @ Dublin 6 & Emerald Pub

Birthday @ Dublin 6 and Emerald Pub

Birthday drinks @ Dublin 6 and Emerald Pub with close friends.  Although I'll be 31 in a few weeks, I feel like I'm 25!  Wishful thinking man!

As far as running goes, I have one more race to go till the end of 2010 marking my 35th race of the year; which will totally suck since it'll be in the shivering cold and historically perform my worse in these conditions.  No complaints, I still need to force myself out there to train in these conditions, hot, cold or whatever, just get out there - no excuses!  Reflecting on this year, it was definitely a great one for me. After training with Central Park Track Club in March, it has allowed me to PR on all distances.  The competitive environment, tough training sessions, new friendships, running partners, has allowed me to progress further as a runner.   I have to thank all my races to them for this year.

If someone were to ask me if I could ever sub 3 at a marathon, I would definitely crack up with a nervous laughter.  Fortunately, it did happen this year for an average runner like me, and cracking the barrier three times makes me more hungrier for years to come.  However, I'm well aware that the PR streak won't last forever, sometimes things will come to a halt/plateau, maybe regress a bit and eventually making a runner work harder or try new things to complement on their training.  The one thing that I'll do differently for next year is to respect the rest days after a race.  I know I'm not alone in this because it is tough to stay sedentary for 48 hours straight.  Miserable!

Most importantly, despite the training with the team and consistent mileage, I've encountered set backs and had a share of bad races (ie. NJ marathon).  However, the biggest take-away for this year is to never give up.  Bad races do happen and you just have to brush it off and aim for the next one.  I'm relieved that I didn't let the NJ experience trickle down the rest of the year, instead made me more focused eventually resulting a 2:57 (PR) @ Chicago.  Also a hell no to dropping out of races no matter how shytty I felt; it is all about one foot after another.

I have the first quarter of 2011 races set up, and Boston 2011 is a definite for me.  Confirmation of Acceptance!

Looking forward to 2011 and be more stringent with recoveries; happy and healthy holidays to you all!