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2012/01/03

2011 Running Year In Review

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine

In 2012, I vow to train my ass off and quit making excuses.  I know that I can compete on a higher level, but only if I put in the dedication and effort.



Marathon PR Times & Avg Marathon Times
Year PR Marathon PR Date PR Time Pace Avg Time
2008 Philadelphia Marathon (PA) 2008/11/23 4:39:42 10:40 4:50:44
2009 New York City Marathon (NY) 2009/11/01 3:56:07 9:00 4:20:51
2010 Houston Marathon (TX) 2010/01/17 4:05:11 9:21 4:36:15
2011 Portland Marathon (OR) 2011/10/09 3:36:53 8:16 4:01:58
2012 Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon (LA) 2012/03/04 3:22:38 7:44 3:33:30
Lifetime Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon (LA) 2012/03/04 3:22:38 7:44 4:12:50
*Marathon indicates road marathons and excludes trail marathons and ultras.

I ran my first marathon in 5:00:15, back in 2008.  I went on to PR the first five marathons I ran (and first 6 out of 7).  It took until my 15th marathon to break 4 hours, at the 2009 Asbury Park Relay Marathon, with a time of 3:59:41, with the help of Marco Cheung & Mike Moschitta who helped pace me.  Two weeks later, I bested that time with a 3:56:07 at the 2009 New York City Marathon.  In 2010, you can see that I regressed.  That was mainly due to coming off a calf strain injury (from the Beast of Burden Summer 100) and focusing on conquering the 100 by running many doubles (and not focusing on marathon times).  I regained my form in 2011 by running 14 sub-4's (6 in 6 straight weeks, all in different states + Germany), and setting 5 new PR's.  I experienced a major breakthrough at the 2011 Berlin Marathon with a 3:38:21 marathon with a huge help from Steven Thunder Lee who paced me for the second half of the race, helping me to negative split.  I lowered that PR, two weeks later, at the 2011 Portland Marathon with a time of 3:36:53, despite being halted momentarily by a passing freight train.  As for my average marathon times, if I didn't run any doubles (2 marathons in 2 days), my average would be significantly lower.

100 Milers
Year PR 100 PR Date PR Time Pace # of 100's
2010 Javelina Jundred (AZ) 2010/10/23 28:23:21 16:47 1
2011 Jerseyville Fat Ass 100 (ON) 2011/04/23 27:12:00 16:19 2
2012 Rocky Raccoon 100 (TX) 2012/02/04 29:21:23 17:36 1
Lifetime 2011 Jerseyville Fat Ass 100 (ON) 2011/04/23 27:12:00 16:19 4
*100 Milers used to indicate traditional distance-based 100's and excludes timed races.

I tried to break 26 hours at 2011 Umstead 100, 2011 Beast of Burden Summer 100, 2011 Javelina Jundred 100, & 2012 Rocky Raccoon, but for unexpected reasons like injury and torrential rains, my efforts were thwarted.  Again, my ramped up more rigorous training in 2012 will prove to yield faster results, barring injury and freak weather conditions.

24 Hour Runs
Year PR 24 Hour PR Date PR Distance Pace # of 24 Hour 100's
2010 20in24 (PA) 2010/07/17 80.224 miles 17:56 0
2011 NorthCoast 24 (OH) 2011/09/17 104.79 miles 13:44 2
2012
Lifetime 2011 NorthCoast 24 (OH) 2011/09/17 104.79 miles 13:44 2

After placing 10th overall at 2011 FANS24 and 29th overall at the 2011 USA Track & Field 24-Hour National Championships (NorthCoast 24), my eyes were opened to what I am potentially capable of.  I will try my best and make the most of 2012 for my running and improve upon my results.

Total Marathons & Ultras
Year Marathons Ultras Total New States New Sub-4 States
2008 3 0 3 3 0
2009 18 2 20 11 2
2010 19 6 25 9 0
2011 23 11 34 13 11
2012 10 2 12 3 9
Lifetime 73 21 94 39 22

2011 was a successful and prolific year in which I was fortunate to have traveled to many states and countries (Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Canada, & Germany) for running, shared lifelong memories with the best of friends, met a lot of inspirational and quality individuals, and set PR's in all distances from a marathon and up (50K, 50M, 100K, 100M, & 24hr).  I also achieved Marathon Maniacs 10-Star Titanium status and have made it into a couple press articles (Examiner.com and Pavement Pieces).

I am now on pace to run my 100th marathon + ultra at Comrades on 6/3/2012.  I am also set to finish my 50 States quest on 12/9/2012 at the Honolulu Marathon in Hawaii with my one of my best friends and impressive runner himself, Steven Thunder Lee.

Total Yearly Mileage
Year Miles Miles/Week Race Miles (%) Training Miles (%)
2008 N/A N/A N/A N/A
2009 756.50 14.55 697.85 (92.25%) 58.65 (7.75%)
2010 1,115.19 21.45 1,023.09 (91.74%) 92.10 (8.26%)
2011 1,563.70 30.07 1,424.76 (91.11%) 138.94 (8.89%)
2012 Goal: 3,000.00 57.70 1,470.00 (49.00%) 1,530.00 (51.00%)

My training miles above are very shameful, and I have no one to blame other than myself.  Many of my race-time bonks could have been avoided with adequate training.  I have made it a resolution to train hard in 2012 and not lose "the gift" as Pre calls this gift of running, see the quote at the top of this entry.

After being inspired by my friend & VCTC + USATF teammate Michael Arnstein aka The Fruitarian, and watching his The Fruitarian YouTube channel, I became inspired to incorporate running more into my daily life.

In particular, this video made me realize this and provided me with the passion to love training and not disdain it:
"Exercise Each Day As If Your Life Depends On It!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tQA3Tvkg_s
You don't have to be a fruitarian to take in his message of a healthy lifestyle.  I no longer view "training" as a chore.  I now use it as a mode of transportation to get from place A to place B, as part of my daily life.

I have started my #RunStreak on 12/25/2011 (it ended on 2/6/2012 after Day 43 due to a sprained toe sustained at 2012 Rocky Raccoon 100, but restarted on 2/9/2012), by running 10 miles with my running buddy Jim Pease and have kept it going since.  The idea of a #RunStreak was first introduced to me by my friend Dave Shannon from Minnesota.  The next time you think, "It's too cold to run outside today", try thinking about Dave and him keeping up a #RunStreak up in St Paul, MN!

With increased training miles in 2012, I anticipate faster road marathon times and better 100 mile & 24 hour results.  Big things are in store!  It is all thanks to friends making me accountable for my training now and to useful tools such as DailyMile and my Garmin watch, to push me to run further and more frequently.

6 comments:

  1. Kino, you are an inspiration. You first caught my eye with your "50th marathon" T-shirt at Miami in Jan 2011, and you have not ceased to amaze me since. We may only have run together for less than a mile, but you contributed directly to my sub-4 that day ("if he can do it I had better start now"), and I know I will be following your progress for a while to come. With a bit of luck we will get to run a full marathon together at some point!!

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  2. Rob, thank you for being such a moral support for my running and fundraising, through all the ups and downs!

    You are a brave soul for taking on the Brathay 10 in 10 challenge, and being only 1 of 20 to have registered thus far (http://www.brathaywindermeremarathon.org.uk/brathay-10-in-10/2012-profiles.aspx). Aside from the lone runner with zero marathons under their belt, you are the most junior runner out there, but definitely not the least talented nor without the mental fortitude to complete the task. I will enjoy following your 10 day progress this May.

    I look forward to us being able to run that full marathon or ultra (yes, I said ultra) with you, be it on my side of the Pond, or yours. Best of Luck with Brathay training!

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  3. Kino, what a great recap. You have done some great stuff, so much progress. It's amazing how much you travel and how many marathons you have done in so little time.

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  4. Hi Kino, I don't see anything shameful in anything I read here...it's all very inspirational. Congrats to you on all your running successes so far!

    So glad I got to meet & run with you on NYE! Maybe I'll show up at one of your 30+ marathons this year and run with you there too...it would be an honor :)

    Good luck in the rest of your journey! Lots of fun stuff happening here. It's all so cool!

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  5. Mr Pilgrim: Thanks so much! The travel is a lot more tiring than the actual marathons, but the entire experience is very rewarding. I can't wait to finish the States this year in December, in Honolulu though! Any chance you're running "Run the Caldera Marathon" in NM in June? I'm going to try to use that for my NM since I DNF'ed nasty nasty Jemez.

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  6. The Running Laminator: I appreciate the kind words! I enjoy following your training regimen on DailyMile. I am glad we met on NYE too. I have no doubt that we'll be running lots of races (marathons AND ultras) together this year. Maybe we can go cheer at Boston this year since you decided not to run it?

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