Top Ten

This morning’s run really felt like training again. No more lying in bed asking myself whether or not I’d run today, no more waiting till it was light. Just got myself up at 5:30 and got on out there into the cold and dark. Easy 4 in 33:12.

Today I’ll post my ten most memorable running moments of 2006. I started doing the top ten last year and it’s a good way to end the year. There are no criteria for this beyond what I feel they should be and what order I feel they should go. It helps me relive what has been a hard year, but a great one running-wise.

10 – Long Tinicum loop (12/28) – this one is still fresh in my mind, running at sunrise through a nature refuge, with all the beauty that implies. Running, and life, are both good here.

9 – Long run with friends (2/18) – this is what the Philadelphia marathon route should look like, a long loop through Philly’s grittier streets which link up all the notable sights from the Rocky movie. I love the city I run in and I love the folks I run it with. Beaucoup of them out with me on that day as we ran north, south, west, and up Kelly Drive.

8 – Two Street 5k (9/9) – One of three races I won this year (okay, so one of the others was the Guerilla 5k), but that was incidental. It was a neighborhood race that was run through the streets of South Philly that I was talked into running as part of a team put together by a guy, Bobby, who lived a few blocks from the start and now counts as one of the many friends I’ve made through this bloody sport. A nice vibe to the race, and the place where Tony pr’d, big time, running a 32:10. Look for that time to keep coming down.

7 – Running in the Rockies (5/13) – started out at 9,000 feet and headed to Snowmass Lake, upwards of 11,000 feet in altitude. Didn’t mind running a trail on that day. Never made it to the lake; just kept running up until the snow got past my knees and I had to turn back. The scenery took my breath away more than the altitude.

6 – Track workout (8/15) – 2 sets of 8x400 in the heat. From the blog entry: I had that rare confluence where my legs were buckling at the same time my lungs were bursting. I'll often get one or the other, but rarely both at the same time. And, folks, that is why I come out to the track. For the first time this training cycle I felt that I took it to the edge and hung at the limit of where my fitness was. ‘Nuff said. Looking back this was a turning point, as things just got faster from here on out.

5 – Delaware Ave run (6/11) – A run from Port Richmond almost down to the Walt Whitman Bridge and back with Kevin F. That day was about the low point of my year, and I don’t remember much about the run but do remember how the Anglocellerator came through, in a big way, just by being there to run and to listen. And this was a taste of how running would do much toward saving my sanity over the course of the rest of the year.

4 – Paris (4/9) – PR marathon run through my favorite European city that kicked off a week spent running around (more metaphorically than literally) the City of Lights. Looking back, what was a great trip now has more than a tinge of the bittersweet to it.

3 – California International Marathon (12/4) – 2:36. The place where my whole year’s training came together to shatter my previous marathon PR. It was a feeling of triumph over the adversity of the year and a feeling of broadened possibilities as 2007 comes. It was also a fairy tale road trip out into the Golden State.

2 – Philadelphia Distance Run (9/17) – Performance-wise, with the possible exception of Boston Marathon in 2002, this was the race of my lifetime. I hoped to run in the 1:15’s and ended up running a 1:13. Everything just came together, an incredible feeling that I still savor as I write this. Ended up as third masters finisher. This took my running up to another level that I was able to maintain for the rest of the year. From my blog entry, thinking of where my running started and where it has now arrived at: If I could do this, what other things can I take on . . . and get similar results?

1 – Delaware Distance Classic (10/8) – yeah, I got a big PR, first masters finisher, a nice payday, and a lot closer to my eventual Grand Prix victory. But on this day all that stuff was incidental, as this was the race I met Rebecca and kicked off what has become a great relationship. 2006 has been a dream year for PR’s, awards, and all that stuff, but in 2007 all that will only taunt me to do even better. With Rebecca, I’m happy with what I’ve got and couldn’t do better no matter how hard I tried.