2019 Goal Setting

It has been a long few months since the Chicago Marathon. After the race, I wrote a similarly toned recap to what I've done in the past after a tough performance. I wrote about how I wasn't going to let a sub par race get me down and how I would come back stronger than ever in 2019. Ever since my blood clot in fall of 2016, I've been on a tear. I ran 4 quality marathons -- a 2:46, a 2:47, a 2:44-flat, and a 2:44-high at Boston, 2018. Somewhere in between there I ran a 1:16 half marathon. I dropped my shorter distance times -- 4:25 1500, 9:24 3k, 16:36 5k. I know there is room to improve at every distance I just laid out. The 2:44 I ran at Boston gave me a lot of confidence. That race could have just as easily been a 2:38-2:42. If you recall, it was 40 degrees, with a real feel of 25, with 20+ mph headwinds, in a torrential downpour, on Marathon Monday. I was ready for something faster but knocked it out of the park on a day that wasn't supposed to be good for running to finish inside the top-300. On paper, I should have finished 700+ going in. I recovered from the race and logged high mileage throughout a tough Chicago summer. I did not have a chance to race. The weather was too much and I was content to get the miles in. I hit a few big workouts before the Chicago Marathon. I hit a 10 miler at 5:54 pace in the middle of an 18 mile run. The week before the race, however, I thought something seemed to be off with my breathing. The race did not go well at all. I have been a consistent marathoner -- 2:46, 2:47, 2:44, 2:44, in my last four goes at the distance. I ran 2:51 at Chicago. That came after arguably better or sustained training. I should have run under 2:45, maybe even 2:40. I opened up the front half of Chicago in 1:21-flat. I should have been able to hang on much better than the 1:21/1:30 splits that I ran. I reported more difficulty breathing much earlier in the run. By 25k, I was gasping for air. I pulled over and walked for a minute or two, with some dry heaving mixed in. I was angry. I knew I was losing tons of time. I put my head down and just fought to the finish line.

I was frustrated post race. I wanted so much more but I knew I had had a good build up so wanted to play it smart. I chose to take a full week off of no running and then to jog every other day the week after. When I started the every other day jogging my legs felt great but my breathing still felt like it did in the later stages of the marathon. I figured it was just because I hadn't run in a week and that it was just going to take some time to recover from the marathon. I was wrong. The symptoms persisted and worsened on the run. I got back home after super easy runs beyond winded. I was on the ground gasping for air after an easy 4 or 5 miles. I tried a workout and ran 2 miles at 5:45 pace. I felt like I was running at altitude or racing the 2 miles. After another workout attempt, I checked myself into the emergency room. My troponin levels were elevated, up over .8. I don't know the highest point they ever got to but that was the reading at the hospital. I had to stay overnight for two days and underwent a ton of testing. My doctors think I had viral myocarditis, or a heart infection. Given my running history and my health, they do not think it was a heart attack. They did not think it was a blood clot and testing confirmed that. Viral myocarditis can be deadly if gone untreated. Trying to run and exert my heart while having an infection could have done some serious damage. I was ordered not to run and to rest. I've been resting ever since. Blood testing has since shown my troponin level go down. My latest reading in mid-December was .21. My doctor wants a 0 reading before I start running again. I go back for testing on January 2nd and my fingers are crossed that I get the green light then. I wanted to PR at Chicago and then go after PRs in 2019. Now I just want to run.

If I get cleared on 1/2, I can still be somewhat ambitious this spring. Once the infection is completely gone, I am just as much at risk for another infection as I was before. I will certainly, however, be out of shape, having not run much since October. I am signed up for the NYC Half Marathon in March. I hope to run it if I can run in early January. My big goal would be the US 25km Champs in May. This is a similar timetable to return compared to when I got the clot. I got the clot in November of 16 and I built back up in January and February of 17 before throwing down some PR race results in March, April, May, June, and July. I came back on a tear after the clot so I am hopeful I can replicate that again. So, if all goes well at the start of the new year, here are my 2019 goals:

Time:

5k- sub-16:30, sub-16:15, sub-16:00

10k- sub-35:00, sub-34:30, sub-34:00

half- sub-1:16:40, sub-1:16:00, sub-1:15

marathon- sub-2:40

Goal Races:

5/11 US 25k Champs

9/29 Berlin Marathon

Fun:

Run a beer mile

Run a cross country race

Run an ultra marathon

Complete a triathlon (any distance)

The plan is to try to run fast at shorter races until the 25k Champs. Then I basically want to go through 13.1 miles of the 25k at half marathon PR pace. I want to get through 25k somewhere in the 5:40-50 range. I think it's ambitious but doable. After that I want to dedicate my spring and summer to Berlin. I want to build up to 100-110 miles/week and really go for a fast marathon this fall. I have to get cleared first and then I have to struggle through slow 3 and 4 mile runs before I get back in shape. I'm getting tired of the setbacks but I am also ready to take on this new challenge.

Onward.

David

Chicago Marathon -- The Quest for Sub-2:40 Continues

2018 was my second time running the Chicago Marathon. My first attempt here was back in 2013. I was a senior in college and had a half marathon PR at the time of 1:19. I had put in some really good marathon training in 2012 and in 2013. I ran 2:54 at the Philadelphia Marathon in the fall of 2012. I probably was ready for something closer to 2:50. I then had a really good training block before Boston in 2013 but ran just 2:56 after going through halfway in 1:23. I was really aggressive with my race plan at the 2013 Chicago Marathon. I thought I could run 2:39 on the best day but wanted to give myself a shot at the low-2:40s. I went out in 1:20:38 and was on pace for a 2:41 marathon through halfway. That proved to be too much, as I faded hard over the last 10k to finish in 2:47. We had a perfect weather day in 2013 and I realistically was more likely ready for something in the 2:43-45 range on that day. After Chicago, 2013, I went through a rough patch with the marathon. I went through a period of time where running was making me lightheaded and dizzy. I could not train at the same level. I tried to run a couple of marathons but dropped out because of those problems. I finally completed a marathon in the spring of 2016. I had moved to Oregon, had put in some good training, and ran the race. I ran a disappointing 2:59 but not all was lost as I had set a PR in the half marathon a month and a half before that race. I ran the Twin Cities Marathon the following fall and ran a nearly identical time. I was struggling with the marathon but was finally starting to feel healthy again. Less than a month after that race, however, I got the blood clot in my lung. I stopped running. I got treatment. I did not know if I would be back to running. After some time off and some healing, I returned to running in the spring of 2017. I was on a vengeance. I set PRs at 5k, 10k, the half marathon, and, yes, the marathon. I ran a 2:46 marathon in the summer of 2017. I refocused on the marathon and set out to try to break 2:40. I took a shot at NYC in the fall of 2017 but ran 2:47 after going out in 1:20-flat. I put in great training prior to the race but it was 60 degrees with 100% humidity on race day. My body did not agree with that. I was frustrated with that performance so I ran the California International Marathon in 2:44:01 just 4 weeks later. I ran perfectly even splits, running most of the race with the 2:45 pace group. I felt well within myself that day. That is my current PR. Running back to back marathons like that does not usually produce the best results. I figured I might be in better shape and set out to attack 2:40 at the Boston Marathon in 2018. I ran arguably my best race effort in dropping a 2:44:51 into a 20+ mph headwind. Many speculated about how much that slowed times down by. Most agreed that it was by at least a few minutes. I knew I was close to the elusive sub-2:40 barrier and set out to do that this fall with dreams of better weather.

I went into Chicago, 2018, in the best shape of my life. I built on what I was able to do at Boston and got stronger and stronger over the summer. I averaged more than 80 miles a week over a 15 week period. I hit 8 of those weeks over 90 miles. My workouts looked great. I did some altitude training at a Chicago gym that has an altitude chamber. They simulate 10,000 feet by pulling air out of the room. I did my interval workouts on a treadmill in there during this build-up and felt really strong as a result of that when I would do the rest of my training outdoors. My long runs went great. I had a few 20+ milers in the 6:20-6:40 range, never feeling uncomfortable. I also hit some long tempos at marathon pace. Two weeks before the race, for example, I hit a 10 mile tempo @ 5:54 pace. That comes out to 2:34 marathon pace...and I felt like I wasn't pushing during that workout...I was ready to rock it. I backed off my training and tapered well over the final two weeks. I had some lingering hip/hamstring/calf tightness but nothing that would have impacted my race or would have kept me from running. The excuse I will make for what happened on Sunday is the weather and my own attitude. I do not run well in the heat/humidity. I know that and my attitude got sour before the race when the forecast was set for low-60s and 100% humidity. It was identical to NYC where I ran 2:47 a year ago. I was too aggressive with the weather there when I went out in 1:20-flat. I thought I could still run a PR this time around but adjusted my race goals accordingly. I wanted to give myself a shot at sub-2:40. On a perfect day I would have gone out in 1:18-19 or so. I targeted a 1:21 opening half, knowing that 1:20 was a touch too fast in NYC, and executed that plan perfectly. I ran 1:21:03 for the first 13.1 miles. Every mile was between 6:05 and 6:15. I was slower than I was in 2013 but thought I would be able to hold on much better. For whatever reason, I did not. Breathing got really hard just before the 25k mark. I think I can just chalk it up to the weather. The pace should have felt a lot easier for a lot longer. My legs never really failed me. I did not cramp up. I just could not breathe. I pulled over at mile 17 and almost threw up. I stepped off the course for about 2:00 or so at that point, collected myself, and chose to gut it out. Aside from the lightheaded marathons I have never DNF'd from a road race. I am stubborn and knew it was not going to be easy to finish. I knew I would not be happy with my time. I was upset with the hand I was dealt by the weather Gods. I ended up finishing in 2:51-low. I honestly thought I would be closer to 3 hours but ended up running some 6:30s/40s in the last few miles, down from the 7:00 pace I had been jogging since the throw up scare. I finished in about 600th place overall.

I am really proud with what I have been able to do in the marathon over the last two years. I have run 5 marathons and that's 5 marathons since having a blood clot in my lung. I don't think that's how most would come back from a clot. I have lowered my PR to 2:44:01 and I ran 2:44:51 on a garbage day at the 2018 Boston Marathon. That's why the 2:51 is so disappointing to me. My PR came a month after a sub-par marathon attempt in NYC. I'd like to think if that had been my goal all along (instead of NYC) my legs would have been more fresh and I could have perhaps run faster. I'd like to think all of the work I did between then and Boston made me faster but my official time was 2:44:51. 50 seconds slower but in awful conditions. Your time does not have an asterisk to account for weather. I ran 2:44:51 at the 2018 Boston Marathon. Period. Chicago was my chance to run a time that was indicative of my fitness, of everything that I have put into training over the last two years. Instead, I got a similar weather day to NYC, tried to be smarter with pacing, but still fell short. It is not that the pace was too fast for me or that I am not ready for a 2:39-2:42 marathon. It is that I did not get the right day for it. I did not have a choice but to run Chicago and I am proud that I went out on PR pace through halfway. It would have been more of an insult to all of the work that I have done to not have done that. I am still torn on what comes next. I feel like I have been ready at various points to run 2:39 during the last five years or so. My original plan was to run a marathon PR and then spend the next year focused on the Berlin Marathon. I've run a lot of marathons in the last two years and want to skip a spring marathon, run fast at shorter distances, and then go for a big PR at Berlin. It's tough to stick to this plan when my PR remains 2:44:01. I feel like I could almost jump into any marathon a month or two from now and PR. I need to think things through and weigh my options. I know what the best and most rational track is but that is the last thing that I want to do right now.

I am definitely writing my thoughts here too close to the finish of the race. I should be more excited and happier with what I've done but it's hard when I just ran a 2:51 when I ran 2:47 on this course five years ago. I also know that I am in much better shape now than I was then but the times might make you think otherwise. It's just hard to sit on 2:44:01 for another year when I could get another less than stellar weather day and then be in the same situation. If I'm smart the next you'll hear from me is after a half marathon PR attempt in the spring. I have a lot of room for improvement there (1:16:40 from May, 2017) and can bring my marathon potential down the more I chip away at the half marathon. I honestly do not need to change much in terms of training. I have been consistent for two years and simply need to race more. I have basically just run marathons since June of 2017 when I know I could have run a fast 10k or half marathon in that time span. If I can stay consistent over the next year, a monster PR might be there for the taking in Berlin. That is my main goal for the next year. Between now and then I need to accept my marathon PR and not use it as something that holds me back from going after a time that my fitness shows me is possible. I hope that thought process makes some sense. I thought that I was ready for 2:38-ish this fall. Without running that time, I am not a 2:38 marathoner even though I am training like one. I am a 2:44 marathoner. In the next year, I could keep improving and will maybe be in 2:35 shape. It will be hard to have confidence to go for that time when it is even faster than what I have run. 

On a positive note, this way my 14th marathon finish. 11 of 14 have been Boston Qualifiers, I've gone under the 3:00 mark 9 times, under 2:50 5 times, and under 2:45 twice. I hope marathon #15 brings me under 2:40 for the first time. There is always something to keep you motivated.

Sub-2:45 at the 2018 Boston Marathon in some less than stellar conditions...

I started off 2018 by doing 10k specific training in January & February. My thought was that I would still be running good mileage (70-80 range) and then be able to transition into some marathon specific work in March & April. I was starting to feel really good in workouts and was looking to hit a track 10k the first weekend in March. I thought a time under 34:00 was in the cards after nailing some good workouts (a selected few):

1/9- 5 x mile (5:30 avg.) on bark loop w./ 2:00 jogging rests- 5:35, 5:31, 5:31, 5:27, 5:26, then 400-300-2x200 on bark loop w./ 200m jogs in 75, 56, 35, 34

1/31- roads- 2 miles 11:28 (5:50, 5:38)- 4x800m- 2:42, 2:43, 2:42, 2:37 (2:41 avg.)- 2 miles 11:21 (5:46, 5:35)-2x400m 72, 71

2/3- track- 3 x 1600m w./ 400m jog in 5:17, 5:15, 5:14, 600m in 1:52, 400m in 72.0, 300m in 50.1, 2x200m in 33.2, 30.9

2/13- bark loop- 2 miles 11:07 (5:34, 5:33), 4x4 (78), 1 mile 5:21-flat, 4x4 (75- last two were 74s), 3x2 (35)

2/16- track- 3200m 10:51 (5:25, 5:26), 500m+ jog, 8 x 300m w./ SLOW 100m shuffle 56 >>> 52, slow 400 jog, 2:31 800m

Based on these workouts, I felt confident to try to run 5:25-5:30 pace on the track. Even if I fell off, I know that I would run around 34:30, if not better. On 2/24, the week before the 10k, I planned to do an 8 mile tempo at marathon pace to balance out the shorter workouts and make sure that I could transition after the 10k. I surprised myself in rainy/windy conditions with 8 miles @ 5:51 pace with the last 2 miles in 5:42 & 5:44. It felt easy. I felt ready to go in the 10k and then was excited to start to build the tempos to 10, 12, 14 miles, to get ready for Boston. The next day, however, I got the flu. It knocked me out for five days. My body and legs felt like garbage. I was finally able to run the day before the 10k and I felt awful running just a few miles. I scrapped the 10k and it took me a couple of weeks to feel normal again. My training hit such a high point at the end of February but I had nothing to show for it and then it took me until mid-March to feel like I could actually put together a good marathon at Boston. I kept with training, got through some rough patches, and hit some workouts that told me I might be in decent shape. Here's what the marathon workouts looked like (selected few):

(lowest bib I've had at Boston)

3/23- 20 total: 4.35 up, 13.1 in 1:19:20 (6:03/mile), 2.55 c/d

3/27- 14 total w./ 4 x 2 miles (8.6 miles 52:50- 6:08/mile on bark w./ .2 mile jogs): 11:50 (5:55, 5:55) (1:45 jog), 11:45 (5:54, 5:51) (1:57 jog), 11:43 (5:52, 5:51) (1:59 jog), 11:43 (5:57, 5:46)

3/30- 8 x (300m uphill @ half marathon effort, :30 jog, 300m downhill @ marathon effort, 1:00 jog)

3/31- 22.3 miles 2:40:15- easy pace until the last 2 miles- 6:00, 5:59

4/6- 12+ total miles with a 6 mile tempo in 35:08 (5:51 pace): 1st 3 17:48 (5:51, 5:57, 6:00), 2nd 3 17:17 (5:51, 5:52, 5:34)

Because of the time off, I was never really able to get my mileage up to where it had been for NYC last fall. Before NYC, I hit a stretch where I averaged 100+ miles/week for 6 weeks. In this build-up, I averaged 70 miles/week for 15 weeks which is consistent and 8 of those weeks at 80+. I peaked at 92 but I had some really low mileage weeks when I got sick. I feel like I left a lot on the table by blowing up at New York and then racing another marathon just a few weeks later. I ran 2:44:01 at CIM but I definitely thought there was more to gain. Before NYC, I hit a 13.1 mile tempo in 1:19:12. I knew that I was in similar shape after hitting a similar tempo before Boston. The fitness came around late in the build-up. I was ready to take a crack at sub-2:40 until I saw the forecast...

40 degrees. 25 real feel. 25+ mpw headwind. downpour.

Original Goal: 2:38-2:39, go out through halfway in 1:20:00.

Forecast Adjusted Goal: 2:50, run for place- try to be in the top-500.

I tried to be very reasonable before the race. I read from some running experts that times in the elite field might be 7-8 minutes slower than usual. I'm fast, but not as fast as the elite runners so I figured the wind might affect me just a little more. I thought running 2:50 would be a huge success and, honestly, I just wanted to be able to get across the finish line in one piece. 

I am very fortunate to have family on the east coast and my dad dropped me right off in Hopkinton at 8am on Marathon Monday. It was already downpouring and the wind was howling. I did not want to be outside more than I had to before the race started. I had to take a bus from the drop-off point to the athlete village. I got to the athlete village and had to wait for 45 minutes until they let runners in wave 1 head towards the start corrals. I was in wave 1, corral 1, and could not get near the corral until 9:15. The 45 minute wait was the worst part of my day. It was cold, wet, and the fields where runners were to wait were muddy. At 9:15 I started the 3/4 of a mile walk to the start line. I figured I would be able to warmup on Ash Street like I had 5 years back. There was another stop point on the walk and at 9:30 we were finally released. I got to Ash Street and a cop was there and said if I left then I would not be allowed to reenter and get to my corral. I needed a restroom and to warmup. I saw other runners leaving the area. That didn't sound right to me so I followed suit. At 9:45 I did a quick 5:00 jog with some strides and then thankfully was able to reenter the corral. I was in the first corral but towards the back of it since I entered so close to the start. I knew this would be fine because the start is so narrow in Hopkinton I would not be able to run a fast first mile if I had wanted to. Before I knew it, the gun went off and the 122nd Boston Marathon began.

#StopTheClot

I tried to run super easy in the first, downhill, mile. I wanted to run 6:30. Mile 1 was 6:18. Okay, this weather is awful, you need to back off. Mile 2: 6:12. Mile 3: 6:10. Mile 4: 6:05. 6:05?!?! That's 2:39 marathon pace. The first four miles of Boston are very downhill. I was running by effort and those miles did not feel hard. As the course flattened out, I started to click off 6:15s. I had told family and friends my goal was to run 6:30. What was I doing? The wind came at me harder and by mile 8 the rain was coming down harder than it had all morning. I was soaked and still had 18 miles left. I began to doubt but just kept plugging away. By 10, my hamstrings started to feel tight. That can't be a good sign. This race is going to be a very long one if I'm cramping before halfway. I just tried to zone out. Just get to Wellesley and that scream tunnel. The scream tunnel was amazing. It carried me through halfway, which I hit in 1:21:46. I was on pace for a PR in the worst running conditions I had ever faced. The only problem was that my hamstrings were feeling more and more tight. I tried to change my stride. I kept hydrating and forcing down gels. I ran mile 16 in 6:17. The only problem with that is that mile 16 loses more than 100 feet. 6:15 effort should get you a sub-6:00 mile there. I had essentially dropped a mile in the 6:30s with the hills approaching. I climbed the 128 overpass which is the first of the four Newton Hills. You are totally exposed to the elements there and I was certainly feeling the wind and rain more than I had up to this point. Right before mile 17, I came up on my dad, aunt, and uncle cheering for me. Pre-race I had asked my dad to hold a bottle of Hot Shot and a gel for me to grab. I went to grab those items but he tossed them to me at the last second. Hot route. I thankfully made the catch in stride and kept going. Hot shot is an anti-cramp drink. I took one before the start and then downed that one before 17. Whether it actually worked or if it was just a placebo effect, I could care less. I told myself your hamstring is now fine. Let's attack the hills. And I did just that. Miles 16-21 make up the Newton Hills. It's a series of four climbs. Alone, they're not so bad. Together, from mile 16-21 in a marathon, they're your worst nightmare. In my case, they were a blast. For whatever reason, I started to feel good again. I've been told you should be 20-30 seconds/mile slow those five miles. I ran them at 6:25 pace and knew the effort was right for 6:10-6:15 pace. I know the course really well. I knew that mile 18-19 is actually downhill and I split a 6:10 there. Heartbreak Hill comes in mile 21. I split 6:29 there which is solid and then 22 is called the Graveyard Mile. You have a similar net loss that mile to what you gained going up Heartbreak. While I wasn't able to take advantage at mile 16, I was a new runner at 22. I split 6:00-flat. At mile 22 of a marathon. The race was on.

"I finished Boston."

I had lost some time in the hills but ran the right effort. I had energy left and was running 6:05-6:15 through the next 3 miles. I was having a ton of fun. I saw more people I know on the course. The crowds were getting bigger. And I was catching people. It was almost like people were standing still. I've been there before. I don't mean that as an insult. At NYC, I cramped in Central Park and stopped 3 times. I was out halfway in 1:20 and came back in 1:27. But during the Boston Marathon, the wall never came. From mile 25.2 to the finish, I ran 5:43 pace!!! My half marathon best is 5:50 pace for 13.1. I was hammering the last mile and was in sprint mode down Boylston. It was incredible. I was caught up in the moment. I pumped up the crowd on that last stretch. I kept passing people, and let out some sort of yell at the finish line when I crossed it. Right on Hereford. Left on Boylston. It was something out of a dream.

I finished in 2:44:51 and 291st overall of 30k. Top-300 at Boston and just 50 seconds off of my personal best in the worst conditions the day had to offer. I'm pumped and still on cloud 9 as I type this. A whole lot of people are talking about what their times convert to. I'm hearing anywhere from a couple minutes to people claiming up to 10. The men's winner was eight minutes off his best, while the woman's winner was seventeen. All I know is that I'm in better shape than 2:44:51 and than my 2:44:01 PR. I'm going to take some time to seriously recover. I'm beat up after leaving everything out there in Boston. It's now 6 months until the 2018 Chicago Marathon. My goal is simple: run as far under 2:40 as you can. I want to be a 2:30s marathoner. I think this race showed I was capable of 2:38-2:39. With 6 more months of training, I want to see that on a finish line clock, or something even lower...

(I do it for the bling)

Final thing: Thank you to everyone. The volunteers. The spectators. My family. My friends. Everyone helped me be the strongest version of myself on Marathon Monday. This is the best race on the planet. It's a challenging course with a ton of history on it. Crowds line the whole thing. There's nothing like it. And I was able to put together a race I'll remember forever. This is the race I'm most proud of out of everything that I've run. I'm looking forward to what comes next. This race is definitely going to help launch me to bigger and better results.

2018 Goals

I'm a little late to the goal setting party in 2018. I've also written posts like this years ago and have come nowhere close to those goals. I'm putting that behind me now. I'm a 1:16 half marathoner and 2:44 marathoner, having run both of those times after having a blood clot in my lung. In 2017, I grabbed a PR at every distance from 1500m up to the marathon. I want to have a similar 2018. A lot of those PR races gave me hope that there was more time left out there. After a really solid fall mileage base training for NYC & CIM, I am refreshed and entering back into some serious training. I'm ready to roll and have some big races ahead of me: Lisbon Half Marathon, Boston Marathon. Those are the goal races but I'm also going to be hitting a track 5k & 10k over the next couple of months. Time to fly!

PRs: 16:36, 35:18, 1:16:40, 2:44:01

2018 Goals: sub-16:00 5k, 33:30 or better 10k, (sub) 1:15 half marathon, sub-2:40 marathon

Those are the big goals but I have mini goals built into those goals. I'll be happy with PRs. My 10k goal is 1:30 faster than I've ever gone at that distance. I would be plenty happy running 34:xx. I, however, haven't really taken a real crack at a 10k. I usually just run 1 or 2 of them a year. Last year I ran a track 10k where I went out way too fast and the crawled home in the second half of the race. My other 10k was a summer race where it was warm at the start and a week before a half marathon so I was not quite tapering. My 10k best actually comes from a fartlek workout that included some easy jogging rests. In 2018, I'm going to be more cognizant about tapering for races. I'm sick of training hard, training through races, and then running mediocre races. Races, not workouts, are where I need to see all of my hard work pay off. Workouts I've done over the last couple years have indicated the time goals I have laid out are within reach. I have shown the fitness to come close to those times but I have wasted a lot of race efforts in workouts. 2018 is about showing up on race day fresh and ready to go.

That's all I really have on this. I'm okay being open about my goals. I want to keep improving and make big fitness gains. 2017 was a great year but I want to be able to cite good race results instead of good workouts. That's going to be the theme in 2018.