Realizing I said I may take this week off, I couldn’t resist a short post. Despite an incredibly busy weekend all around with work, fun, and fitness, I feel the need to take what energy I have left on a Sunday evening – well after I typically write – to share my reflections on my running journey in 2024.

If you haven’t read them yet, the story of my running journey has been told over two posts so far – Learning to Lose (Sept 3), and Countdown to Running the 2025 NY Marathon (Nov 5). Those posts look back at my shattered dream of running the New York Marathon and the renewed optimism I now have in making it a reality for 2025. Although it has only been five weeks since my last running post, there’s still quite a bit to update. I’ve continued to set PRs consistently, including one for a four-mile race I ran two weeks ago.

Then again for a seven-mile run I did last week.

All of that was preparing for this past weekend – the 2024 NY Road Runners (NYRR) Ted Corbitt 15K Race. That’s 9.3 miles. But it’s not the distance that was the focus of my anticipation for this race. It’s what happened in 2015.

Ever since I started running, I’ve heard runners say, “If you can run two miles, then you can run four.” Then, “if you can run four, you can do eight.” In 2015, I was running NYRR races to qualify for the 2016 Marathon. The last race I needed to guarantee my entry in the race was the Ted Corbitt 15K. The most I had ever run up to that point was five miles, but you know what they say . . . “If you can run five miles . . .”

The race was on December 12, 2015. It was a beautiful, 58-degree day in Central Park. All I had to do was finish 9.3 miles, and I was in the 2016 Marathon.

If I were to guess, I probably weighed around 275 lbs back then – significantly less than my heaviest weight. I knew that I was trending in the right direction, but I also was aware that whenever I ran, my body took a beating. But all I had to do was finish, and if I was lucky, I wouldn’t finish last. I could then use the next 11 months to get into better shape for the marathon.

Most of what I remember about the race was the finish, so I’ll start with that first. I did cross the finish line and qualify for the Marathon, and I wasn’t quite last! I came 4,886th out of 4,900 finishers. And all I could think of is that there were 14 people for whom that race was even harder than it was for me! That was tough to believe because, for me, it was the end of running. While I did complete the race, I couldn’t take another step. Thankfully, it was a nice day because I dropped onto the lawn in Central Park wondering when I would be able to move enough to go home. Running 9.3 miles did not mean I could then do 18.6. In fact, I don’t even think I could have made it to 9.4, While I eventually made it home, I did not leave my couch (except to go into my bed) for two days. That was when I knew that I had just qualified for a Marathon I would never be able to run.

Running set me back. I was on a fitness journey, but whenever running was a part of it, it prevented me from working out for days. All it did was cause me to do less. So, with the bigger picture of my journey in mind, I accepted the fact that this was a goal I would not achieve, and that was the last race I ran . . . until 2024!

I’ve chronicled several races that I’ve run this year, none more meaningful than the 12-mile NYRR race.

That one brough back memories of the Ted Corbitt Run in 2015. So did this week’s Ted Corbitt Run!

This past Saturday did not have the same beautiful weather as 2015. It was 33-degrees at the start of the race – thankfully, four degrees warmer than when I left my apartment in the morning. I had no anxiety from the past. In fact, my mindset was quite simply that I knew this was going to be another race where I set a PR for this distance, and I really wanted to get out of the cold as quickly as possible.

Last week, I wrote that I never did anything solely for the purpose of writing a blog about it. That’s still true, but the blog no doubt has the effect of keeping me accountable. It’s a privilege to write this, and I know when there’s something on my plate, I must take advantage of it. So, thanks to you all, it was easy to get out there, and I even got my first medal for finishing the race! I don’t recall getting one in 2015, but now I wonder if it is because I crossed the finish line after they were done handing them out.

I finished Saturday’s race in 1:34:01 at a pace of 10:06 per mile. That’s about 35 seconds faster than my best pace for any 10K+ run. The run was everything I imagined. I gave it all I had. I felt like I ran the best time I could have run. Oh, and I was easily able to walk another mile or so back home when it was done! So, why I am I saying all of this? Because of the following statistics that mean this – dreams may feel shattered in the moment, but belief can make them happen in the long run:

Ted Corbitt 15K Race — 2015 vs. 2024

Finish time:

2015: 2:27:53
2024: 1:34:01
Difference: 53:52 faster

Pace per mile:

2015: 15:52 (yes, I had to walk a good part of it)
2024: 10:06
Difference: 5:46 faster

Place:

2015: 4,886 out of 4,900 (99.7%)
2024: 2,621 out of 4,049 (64.7%)

The biggest difference of all though is where I am today. Having just run 9.3 miles, I know I can run 18.6. After I ran 12 this summer, I knew I could do 24. And once I run my next big race on January 26, the NYRR Fred Lebow Half Marathon, I’m pretty sure I’ll be saying that if I can run 13.1, then I can do 26.2! The questions I have for 2025 and the Marathon in November are now all about how fast I will be able to run it.

But this concept that shattered dreams are not forever applies to much more than a fitness goal. In my own life, I can think of many examples. After college, I decided to give up on the idea of going to law school to consider other interests. So many people (mostly my worried family) told me if I gave up on it then, I’d never go. I’ve also failed at so many diets in my life that the dream of ever reaching a normal weight seemed to have been lost. I know I’m not alone in discovering that what once felyt lost can be found again. All I can say from my own experience is that we don’t have to give up on our dreams for good, but there may be times when we need to put them aside to get ourselves where we need to be to make them possible again.

One side note that tops off my exhausting weekend. My fitness didn’t stop with the race. On Sunday morning before getting back to the work I had to finish, I did a 45-minute Country Ride with Hannah Corbin at the Peloton Studio. My recovery routine made it possible, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still feeling it from the race on Saturday. My stats from the ride show it, but, if you check out the ride, you’ll also see Hanna give Legally Fit Blog a shoutout to lead everyone out of the saddle, so it was well worth it (even with the country music)!

So, after this whirlwind of a weekend (which had much more to it than I even wrote about here), the final message I have comes from the lyrics of Steven Tyler and Aerosmih. “Dream on, dream on, dream on. Dream until your dream comes true.”

Aaron

My 2024 Running Journey - A shattered dream turned into a brewing reality

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