Tag: Berlin Marathon

2020 week two

For the past couple years I’ve tried to read a book per week but as life has gotten more busy, mostly running life, my reading has suffered, which means missing out on my goal last year. After 54 books read in 2018 I only managed to get through 45 last year. I feel a bit like I’m just reiterating what I wrote here last week in my 2019 review. My goal this year is to read 52 books but to not get too hung up on the idea of having to complete the goal at the expense of quality. I dislike the idea of setting goals without the intention of completing them, or at least having a plan to complete them, but there it is. Technically it’s the second week of the year and I’m already behind. I have at least 52 books lying around here waiting to be read, and a veritable plethora that deserve a revisit, so at least something-to-read is never going to be an issue.

Other than the rather ubiquitous run 2,020 kilometres in 2020, I wanted to come into the new year with some personal, tangible goals on the running side of things, but for the first time in a long time I’m coming up kind of vague. The problem is that I set really specific goals at various distances and, while some took a lot longer to achieve, last year I surpassed all of them except for that one big one. Go faster seems like a rather lame goal, but my problem is that I have absolutely no idea what a reasonable goal is when it comes to running anymore. I wonder if I will have a better idea after a couple races. If I’m crushing new PBs, then maybe I’ll have a better sense. I’m going to find out, soon. Last year I set a goal to race every month and smashed that, running 23 events throughout the year. My goal for this year is the same as last year – [at least] one race per month. I’d like that to become just a thing I do and not a necessarily a goal. I mentioned I’m going to find out soon, as I have my winter and spring pretty much mapped out already.

January 19 (next week!) – Icebreaker 8K
I’ve never raced 8 KM so I’m really curious to see how this one goes. Weather, especially the wind, apparently can be a huge factor at this event so I’m not getting too hung up on it. But in ideal racing conditions I’d like to finish in 31:30.

February – RunVan First Half Half Marathon
I have had terrible luck with this event. The first time I signed up it was cancelled when the City of Vancouver closed down the Seawall after a blizzard. The following year I went into it a bit hurt and finished barely walking. Last year I went into it recovering from an injury and ran party pace for the first 8 KM just to see if I could. This year I want to use it to set the tone for the year. So I’m aiming to finish 1:27:59 and a new, five second PB.

March – WestVanRun 5K + 10K
I’m not sure how it’s going to go racing at 101% effort back-to-back but I’m up for finding out. Saying that I’d like to PB both deserves a “duh” response, but won’t know my target until closer to the end of February. I will throw this out there though, it would be amazing to run the 10K in a time that would get me a blue bib at the Sun Run.

I love a good deal, which often means signing up for races to beat the rolling price increases, which means I’ve already put my name down for quite a few. Here’s what’s on tap for the rest of the year, so far.
April – Sunshine Coast April Fool’s Half Marathon
May – RunVan BMO Half Marathon
June – Scotiabank Half Marathon
September – Eastside 10K
September – BMW Berlin Marathon

I haven’t figured out anything past my the big one: the Berlin Marathon in September. I’m excited to race it and also for a chance at redemption after the disappointing performance at the California International Marathon this past December. I still want a BQ, and I think (hope?) Berlin will help me punch my ticket to Boston #125 in 2021.

This week was supposed to be all about setting goals for the year, and it was harder than I expected because last year went so great. But another thing happened this week, and that is I threw my name in the hat to be a Nuun Ambassador for 2020 and whatdayano my name got pulled. So that’s cool, not just because it’s a product that I really like a lot. Will I be a Nuun billboard in the start corral? Seems unlikely. In fact I’m still trying to figure out what exactly I signed up for, but I know a bunch of cool runners on the ambassador roster along with me this year, so I’m expecting some fun times in 2020.

2019 week forty eight

Book Read
44. Wanderlust, A Book of Migrations – Rebecca Solnit

Kilometres Ran
week forty eight – 50.0

2019 to date: 2,505 KM

I picked up this book because I like Solnit’s essays and I like the idea of this book and so far it hasn’t disappointed. And by so far I mean I’ve been taking a bit of a stroll through this book rather than a run or even a casual jog. I’ve read quite a few books that explore the relationship between mental health and running; this is the first that I’ve found that focuses on walking, and in Solnit fashion explores the walking within an ever accelerated culture. I’m interested, but I’m not hooked yet. I’m not ready to give up on it yet, but I’m also not in any rush to finish it off.

Another finish sprint shot from last weekend’s Moustache Mileish courtesy of Jeanine Avelino

This afternoon I noticed that after my run this morning I surpassed 2,500 km so far in 2019 and I got to thinking about that. Two years ago I wanted to run 2,600 and didn’t quite make it. Then last year I sort of tongue-in-cheek went for 2,018 knowing full well that I wanted another crack at 2,600. Injuries threw a wrench into that plan but as the year came to a close I closed in on that number, and managed to surpass it on New Year’s Eve. With four weeks and a marathon between now and New Year’s Eve 2019 it looks very much like I’m going to run far more than I ever have. The California International Marathon is now just a week away. My goal is to run a Boston Qualifying time, and then my plan was to not run a full marathon in 2020. (CIM could still go sideways, though I’m riding some pretty high confidence right now.) Sometimes life comes along and changes your plans. Injury has been the one that has crashed my running quite a bit since I started this stupid sport. Then this week, it was a lottery. On Wednesday morning I woke up and made coffee and eased into my day doing pretty much everything and anything except checking my email, having completely forgotten that November 27 was the beginning of Berlin Marathon lottery notification. I’m no Hitchcock; you can see where this is going. I finally opened my email to find out that contrary to my grand plans I am going to be running the 47th Berlin Marathon on September 27, 2020. This is the World Marathon Major that I want. Needless to say I’m very excited. It’s ten months away and I haven’t lost sight of the looming 42.2 that’s just seven days away, but I’ve already set a goal for 2020: to run a sub three hour marathon. Berlin seems like as good a place as any to do it.

2018 week forty eight

Book Read:
51. French Exit — Patrick deWitt

Kilometres Ran:
week forty eight: 39.7

To date: 2,328 KM

I don’t remember why I picked up this book. It was not because he wrote The Sisters Brothers because I did not clue in that he had written The Sisters Brothers because if I had realized that I would not have picked up French Exit because I hated first forty or fifty pages of The Sisters Brothers and did not finish it. It’s possible that I picked up French Exit because it subconsciously made me think of Jean Paul Sartre and it turns out there is a bit of an existential theme running through the novel. It tells the story of Frances Price and her son Malcolm who go from being wealthy New York socialites to poverty and relocating to Paris. It’s dark and funny and a fun, casual read that for some reason I will never understand was nominated for the 2018 Giller Prize. What do I know.

Stanley Park Seawall loop counter-clockwise AKA the last quarter or so of the BMO Marathon in reverse, as seen from iPhone AKA the worst night photography camera.

On Thursday I received an email letting me know that I am officially a Berlin Marathon lottery loser and what I realized almost immediately upon reading the email is that I cared a lot more about getting to run Berlin than I thought that I cared (which I thought was not so much). So I signed up for the North Van Run 10K which is on the same weekend as the Berlin Marathon and is of absolutely zero consolation and on the last day before prices increase I changed my registration from the half to the full for the BMO Vancouver Marathon here in May. I’m rather lured by the notion of having a sober second look at this race, and to see what I’m capable of on a course I know so well. I’m still looking out for a fun run that requires a flight to get to, though. So we’ll see.