After sitting for the New York Bar Exam and taking a trip to Ireland with my lady friend, I decided to run the New York City Half Marathon on August 16th. I hadn’t done much in terms of workouts since June, but I’d been running enough volume (~ 70 miles per week) to handle 5:20s or 5:25s for 13+ miles. I started as an elite, which meant I’d be lining up next to Ryan Hall, Henrik Ramaala, and Paula Radcliffe, among other studs. My pre-race plan of running even 5:20s went out the window and I went through the mile in 5:00 (and was dead last out of the “elite” men’s group). I backed off a bit after that, going through two miles in 10:10 and 5 miles in 25:58. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good through 10k despite the warm and humid conditions. 

Running down the West Side Highway, I began to hear fans cheering for Paula. By the time I reached ten miles, I knew that she would catch me any second. As she came up on me I decided to try to keep tempo with her without getting in her way. She ran on my shoulder until about 11 miles, at which time we began to run side-by-side. I was glad to have the company at this point in the race, but it was surreal to be running with such an accomplished athlete. As we passed the 13 mile mark and the women’s race split from the men’s, I sped up and finished three seconds ahead of Paula in her first race back after recovering from foot surgery. 

I ran 1:09:42, which is two and a half minutes slower than my PR but only 5 seconds slower than I ran at the 2008 NYC Half. I’m now 8 weeks out from the NYC Marathon and I feel like I’m just starting to round into shape. Hope everyone’s training and racing is going well. 

Pax,

Dan

Since this is my first post as a Team Timex athlete, I’d like to update anyone who may stumble across this on my current status. First off: thanks for taking the time to read this post; I will try to make it as interesting as possible, but I can’t promise anything. I had been training for the London Marathon until the middle of February, at which time I came down with a nasty case of anterior shin splints. For years I’ve thought that shin splints were for beginners and soccer moms, but apparently even a relatively fit veteran runner can be stricken by this nasty inflammatory injury. I blame the nasty South Bend winter, as well as too much indoor running during a 100+ mile week. Massages, incessant icing and stretching, and large doses of Advil weren’t enough to get me back on my feet and training consistently, so my coach Jae (Jason Cerge) and I decided to shut it down for 10 days and start a new cycle March 1st. I couldn’t stand taking the time off, but I knew it was for the greater good in that it was necessary in order for me to get healthy and train at a high level. I managed not to eat my feelings during my 3-4 weeks of time off and intermittent running, so I didn’t have to worry about losing ten pounds when I started back up. I’m now at my third week of ~ 80 miles per week and I’m starting to feel fit again. I haven’t completely recovered from my lower leg injury but it has improved greatly over the past 4-5 weeks. Hopefully the warm weather – which has yet to come to South Bend despite the fact that it’s the first week of April – will help to loosen up those lower leg muscles and get me back closer to 100%. 

Good luck to everyone that is racing this weekend!

- Dan