Bret

March 28, 2024

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Location:

Milton,GA,USA

Member Since:

Jul 27, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

PR's -

Mile - 4:38    (High School)

2 Mile - 10:12 (High School) 

3 mile - 15:51 (High School)

10k - 35:19 (High School)

Marathon - 2:59 marathon (London -2013)

Half marathon - 1:25:18 (Deseret News 2013)

Completed all 6 of the World Marathon Majors 2024

Completed each of the 5 majors (NY, Chicago, Boston, London & Berlin) at least twice.

8 x Boston Marathon (1999, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2020 (virtual due to covid) 2021, 2022)

13 x NYC Marathon (1997, 1998, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)

 

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

Sub 3 hour marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

Continue to enjoy running and racing as long as my body permits me.  

Personal:

Old guy - (grandfather even) been running for 40+ years.  

Favorite Blogs:

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to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 23.75 Month: 113.20 Year: 382.05
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

PM - 4 miles on the golf course.  For the most part the soft surface was good for my foot, but afterwards it has become obvious that the continued running is at best prolonging the recovery, and at worst, exacerbating the injury.  Disappointing indeed - but I have had experience with metatarsal stress fractures/injuries.  I don't have a formal diagnosis but the symptoms are all too familiar and the treatment is simple (discontinue running and impact to the foot to allow the bone to remodel and repair).  Just takes time and requires patience.  I have multiple cross training options.  Going to give it a month or so and reevaluate.   

So as a year-end summary - I had a few positives this year - no PR's (and frankly don't expect any in the future as I near age 50) - but I ended up running 3 marathons and was able to run most of the year.  In August of 2013 I had surgery to repair torn muscles commonly known as a sports hernia.  Recovery was good, but I probably was a bit too ambitious with a goal of running Boston 7 months later and the training put too much stress on my body which resulted in a tweak to my left hip flexor.   I wanted to be a part of Boston this year, so I decreased my training volume and intensity and made it to the starting line. Was happy to be a part of the event, finishing the race in a very conservative 3:29,  but decided that I was retiring from marathons at the finish, given how much that race distance punishes the body.  

I relocated from Florida to Atlanta in June which was a signficant transition for me and my family.  I ran easy for a few months never too hard or too long as I "ran through" the recovery of the hip flexor tear.  Around the middle of the summer, the injury resolved itself and I was able to resume training, but was woefully out of condition.  Ran the Peachtree road race for the first time ever, and met Meb and got a photo with him as Richie and I participated.

At the persistent invitation of Richie in August, I was convinced to train and run the NYC marathon in November to be a part of the event where he earnestly expected a signficant PR for himself and wanted his closest friends and family to be there with him.  Three weeks prior to NYC, (and 4 days prior to the event) I had an impromptu offer to run Chicago (with someone else's bib number who had a last minute scheduling conflict) as a training run where Richie and I paced our friend, Justin toward a 3:30 marathon goal time.  We were supposed to drop out at mile 20 or 22, but a few game-day decisions led me to finish the race at 3:28 - on a spectacular day - and a very enjoyable experience.  NYC however was not so enjoyable and turned out to be a cold and blustery challenge.  I ran conservatively but struggled late to a 3:14 finish and Richie stuggling even more at the end than me, after being on a pace of 2:52 to finish 3:13.  

I took some days off after NYC and ran at a volume of 30-40 mpw - but started noticing an achiness in the left foot, which became more acute in the middle of December as I began to introduce more mileage volume, and so it seems as I close out this year, I may have a stress fracture, or stress reaction that will sideline me for a few weeks and redirect me to some cross training for the next month or so. 

All in all - after a year in 2013 in which I had PRs in the half marathon (1:25) and in the marathon (2:59) - 2014 was a year of recovery and somewhat unexpected marathon majors which to me was generally positive given that at the end of 2013 I was recovering from an injury so severe that it required a surgical repair. 

I don't have any race plans in place yet for 2015 as I think it will be best for me to recover from the foot injury and gradually build up an aerobic base with perhaps the hope of setting some plans for a race or two in late summer and into the fall.

Comments
From Rob Murphy on Thu, Jan 01, 2015 at 10:13:17 from 64.134.148.87

I'm sort of one big ache from my hips down. Nothing I can classify as an injury though.

Good luck.

From Drew on Fri, Jan 02, 2015 at 07:20:42 from 24.73.66.122

Hey Bret - Drew from St. Pete here. Sorry to hear about the sore foot. I hope it passes quickly. I liked your year in review, except the part about no more PRs. :)

From Bret on Fri, Jan 02, 2015 at 07:39:44 from 72.5.190.166

Drew! Welcome to the blog. Appreciate the positive vibe on my foot and the PR's.

Adding you now to my favorites list.

What's on your race schedule for 2015?

From Drew on Fri, Jan 02, 2015 at 08:17:45 from 24.73.66.122

Thanks for the welcome, Bret. I'm a little adverse by nature to putting myself and my aspirations out there. I've been reflecting lately though, and I think coming out of my cave more could be positive.

I have three goal races in mind for the next three months: Gasparilla 15k, Main St. Mile and Carlsbad 5000 in California.

There is the small matter of the Disney Marathon next weekend, but that is a longer story I'm still grappling with.

I'll be interested to hear about your experiences running in ATL. I run with a guy down here named Steve Wilcox who moved from Georgia fairly recently - he is still a member of the Atlanta Track Club and ran on their Masters cross-country team in PA. They are an extremely impressive group of runners.

From Bret on Sat, Jan 03, 2015 at 08:33:57 from 99.1.220.106

Good luck at Disney!! I am glad you decided to step out of your comfort zone and join the blog. Take some time to explore it. I think you will find it infectious and motivating.

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