2015 was a year of much needed distance running, especially after my lethargic winter in Michigan of 2013-2014.  I am now 26 years old and have celebrated with a 26 mile race.  I always knew the marathon would beckon me; I just didn't know it would be this soon.  

As I started running slower in my middle distance races during indoor and outdoor of '14, I knew I was slacking in training and also had changing physiology with age.  I was never a true speedster, but could generate a ton of power while tolerating large amounts of lactate.  I also never met a race I was scared of and would generally front run.  A true testimate to that was in my freshman year of college at SVSU '07 in which I would literally take 800m races out in 51 seconds, before dying a slow painful death, although still running a competitive time.  Not the smartest strategy, but does work occasionally.  

I seldom raced anything other than an 800m during college, but in my second year post college I experimented with the 1500m.  I was able to use my power generating body in a similar fashion generally taking races out hard, then tolerating large amounts of lactic buildup although slowing down considerably at the end of races.  I was still able to run personal bests in 2013 in the 800m/1500m of 1:49.31 and 3:44.31.  

In 2014, I noticed a decrease in my ability to produce the same amount of power.  This was partly due to not maintaining a resistance training program and also part of my physiology changing.  Now that I could not rely on my explosiveness to get me through the majority of my middle distance races, I was expending more energy in the earlier stages and had nothing at the end.  I needed aerobic power to make up for it.  This is something that I lacked as I had never ran a cross country season in my life, never built a large aerobic base, and had only a handfull of weeks that had exceeded 50miles in volume.  

Luckily, I was dating Northwood Graduate, Dani Miller, now Brooks Hanson's professional runner.  She was putting many more miles in than me and I saw the benefits in her own performances.  I moved to the Metro Detroit Area in the process of starting graduate school at Wayne State University of Detroit.  I also started working part-time at the famous Hanson's Running Shops in the area along with Dani and many other inspirational workers/runners.  Learning from them and how to adapt a conducive lifestyle to train for aerobic strength and long distance events happened very quickly.  I understood the volume requirements and how to fit them into your life without throwing you off balance. 

This lead me to try out some longer races this summer while starting to build a base.  I averaged 75miles per week, and had even ran a 90mile week in the process.  Prior to this summer I had only done one 70 mile week in my life.  I had written down goals early on that summer of running a half marathon in sub 1:08 in October.  I accomplished this a month earlier running a 1:07:44, but straining my calf muscle in the process.  It took me nearly 6 weeks to feel normal again, although I had already started doing some moderate volume after 1 week off.

In the meantime, I was looking at my next half marathon to train for, so I could chop some more time off.  Dani happened to have the Chevron Houston Marathon on her schedule, so I looked up entry standards for the USA Half Championships that coincide.  1:07:00 was the standard, so I came up short by less than a minute.  I decided I wanted to continue to build an aerobic base, so this was as good as time as any to debut in a marathon.  I could train for the same race as Dani, and ultimately we could run our first marathons ever together.  

It was a long training segment, something I'm not used to with the short U.S. track seasons.  Luckily because Dani was so motivated and focused on hitting an Olympic Trials Standard, this allowed me to stay focused as well.  There was no drinking any alcohol, there were only 1-2 days off of running, and recovery and nutrition was an essential component 24/7.  My volume for the 10 weeks leading into Houston averaged around 100miles per week, but still were not as consistent as I would have liked.  I had a mileage high of 141miles in one week, and a mileage low of 69miles during my final exams week.  That is a pretty large range, but on average I was near the 100mile week mark.

 The results were great ones.  I hit a 2:25:46 (5:33 Pace) while Dani hit her Olympic Trial's Qualifier with a 2:41:32 (6:09 Pace).  I had wanted to run 2:24 or under, but considering how big of a move it was for me to try a marathon, I am just happy I had a positive experience.  I'll have to get faster, or else Dani will ultimately be faster than me in the marathon, so I'm definitely going to have to run another one.

I had limited specific quality workouts in this training segment as my main goal was to be able to handle the volume required without getting injured.  I did do quite a few of Dani's workouts with her, which were considerably fast, which helped to maintain some quality to my training.  When I train for another marathon, the volume will not be foreign to my body and I will be able to add in more goal specific pace work safely.  This will lead to a significant PR.

I am thankful for all the inspirational friends, family, and runners, that make running a fulfilling lifestyle.  I think it's a tool and a skill that gives back indefinitely to your quality of life. 

So, that's pretty much my story of 2014, from 800m to the Marathon. 

800m - Marathon: 1:49.31 - 2:25:46