Let’s get it started, MMXXI

I guess that it’s that time of year for everyone to mention their New Year’s resolutions for 2021.

Losing some weight 

It is no secret that my waistline, belly, hips, and everything else have expanded during this pandemic. I cannot entirely blame the pandemic, because I have not been too happy with my physical appearance for the past few years. My first weight loss goal is to get under 200 pounds. According to my Lose It food logging app, I can drop down to 190 pounds by May, which would be a nice birthday gift to myself. I plan to reduce caloric intake and restart intermittent fasting. The latter activity worked wonders for me when I did it for the first time a couple of years ago. It did help that I wanted to drop a few pounds before visiting Cancún for a birthday getaway. Actually, thinking about it . . . I started intermittent fasting for Lent and decided to keep it going until the summer.

 Getting my running mojo back.

 Although I have been running during this pandemic, the lack of racing has really reduced my efforts during my daily runs. For the most part, I’m walking quite a bit during these runs. For example, I’ll cycle between running and walk 0.5 miles for a 6-mile run. This definitely has to change in 2021. My major running resolution is to run a half marathon every month during 2021. This was one of my resolutions for 2020; however, the pandemic caused the cancelation of pretty much all in-person races. In my defense, I did run half marathons from January to March in 2020. I would like to get my running fitness back to where I can (decently) run a half marathon at a moment’s notice. It would be awesome to get back to 1:45 half marathons, but I will take anything under 2:10 . . . for now. Although there have been limited in-person races, my plan is to run the route for the New York Road Runners’ (NYRR) Fred Lebow Half Marathon.

 
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The idea is to run my own half marathon during the last weekend of each month. Since I’m running the same route, it will be easier to measure my progress.

I did mention that I was a bit hesitant signing up for more virtual running challenges. I guess that I lied because I signed up for NYC Runs 2021 Challenge.

 
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For this challenge, challenge seekers decide how many miles they will run during 2021. For my goal, I plan to run 2021 miles, which seems like a nice number for the year 2021 (oh sorry, MMXXI). That’s about 5.5 miles per day for the year. This may be a bit of a lofty goal because my 2020 Strava stats said that I ran 1010 miles, so I will attempt to double this in 2021.

Engaging more with the running community

My primary reason for setting up an Instagram account was to engage with more runners around the world. Unfortunately, my Insta has pretty much been a potpourri of a bunch of random things. To be perfectly honest, I’m not really sure about how to go about engaging more with runners through social media. Perhaps, Instagramming just is not my thing.

Reading more

I make this resolution every year, but I really want to read at least one running-related book per month. I read a few books last year, but I’m not really sure why or when or why I fell off. The couple from the Marathon Training Academy has a nice list of books that I can get started with (https://www.marathontrainingacademy.com/my-book-list).

Let’s see how 2021 will go.

 
 

NYC "Marathon" Monday


Even though TCS NYC Marathon 2020 was canceled because of this d*mn pandemic, I decide to celebrate (or commiserate) it by running the last 13.1 miles of the NYC Marathon's route.

 
Last half of NYC Marathon’s route

Last half of NYC Marathon’s route

 

I know that many folks participated in NYRR's Virtual Marathon, but I just do not have the emotional fortitude to run 26.2 miles alone. I gotta say more power to those folks. Although it was nice to do my own thing for my half/fake marathon, it was kind of depressing and very eerie to run the (last part) of the marathon's route without the large crowds, the signs with funny running puns (e.g. chafe the dream), the medals, the bands, the blue line marathon marker, and the folks handing out beers around Mile 17.

GETTING IT ON - PULASKI BRIDGE, BROOKLYN, NY

Although the last half of the NYC Marathon takes you through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Manhattan again, the Brooklyn part for me was pretty much the beginning of the Pulaski Bridge. Getting to this section of Brooklyn was a bit of a challenge because I was supposed to take three trains - the 2/3 to the 7, to the G. Keep in mind that the G train on normal days is quite a struggle, so one can imagine how much of a struggle the G train would be on an early Sunday morning. Actually, a lot of the struggle getting to my starting point was caused by me. I was so invested in my book, "The Years that Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us", that I missed my connecting stop.

 
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Overall, I had a nice little run around NYC. Since I started around 8 am (the plan was to start at 6:45/7 am), there were not too many issues with automobile traffic. Phew. Also, the mid-40F temperature was perfect running weather for me. Fortunately for me, I finished before the rain started. Although there were no major crowds, which made the streets feel desolate, there were a few random people along the route that were clapping and cheering while running (no pun) their early Sunday morning errands. Also, other folks were running the marathon route so it was nice to feel like I was not the only nut doing this.

I will say that this running my fake marathon has inspired me to get back on track (no pun, again) with my physical training. Also, it made me realize that I have been babying myself during my regular runs. Normally, I'll run a mile and walk 0.25 miles and do that for 6-7 miles, so I definitely need to start pushing myself during my daily runs.

I will say that Central Park is absolutely beautiful in the fall, especially now that the leaves are changing colors.

There was some sort of finish line in Central Park near the official finish line. I guess this was for the runners that ran the virtual NYC Marathon.

 
“Finish line” in Central Park

“Finish line” in Central Park

 

Although it did not feel the same crossing the multi-colored finish line and having the chance to see your name on the large jumbotron, it was a nice gesture for virtual finishers. And, I took my shot.

Hopefully, things will get back to normal pretty soon (although I know they won't) so we can have a marathon next year. I wonder if NYRR is going to make next year's marathon even larger than the normal 50K running field. I ask because I imagine that many folks, including myself, who were supposed to run this year's marathon will want to run in 2021. The same goes for the folks, including myself, who were supposed to run last year's marathon. I guess time will tell.

What to do? What to do?

Since we pretty much know that TCS NYC Marathon is not happening due to COVID-19, I still want to do something to commemorate what would have been the 50th anniversary of NYC Marathon. A couple of weeks ago, NYRR (the running organization that sponsors the NYC Marathon) posted ten reasons why running a virtual marathon would be great on Instagram.

Honestly, none of these reasons look fun. Maybe the one about no stress is probably the only reason that I would ever consider running a virtual marathon. I think for NYC Marathon 2018, I had to wake up around 3:30 am to get ready and make it to the Staten Island Ferry for a 9:30 am start.

Speaking about TCS NYCMarathon 2018, here’s a trip down memory lane.

Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to run last year’s NYC Marathon. Looking back, I wish that I forced myself to run last year’s marathon. I did register and was somewhat prepared to run last year’s marathon. However, I flew back from Hawai’i after a work trip the day before the marathon and was very jet-lagged and decided to sit out the marathon. Had I know a freaking pandemic was going to screw up 2020, I probably would have forced myself to run, walk, and/or crawl 26.2 miles through the five boroughs of New York City.

Instead of running a virtual NYC Marathon, I think that I’m going to run the last 13.1 miles of the marathon route.

Although the full marathon gives you an opportunity to visit various neighborhoods in NYC, the first half only takes you through Brooklyn. For the last half of the marathon, you get to run through a little bit of Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Manhattan again. We are about 55 days from what would have been Marathon Sunday (Nov. 1) so running my fake half marathon will give me a chance to up my daily running activities. Going forward with my training/daily workouts, I plan to add more speed, hill, and long runs to my runs around Randall’s Island.

Here goes and ain’t nothing to it but to do it.