My big goal for 2024 was to run a marathon.
That's right, a full-on marathon: 26.2 miles...as fast as you can.
Considered one of the most beautiful and challenging marathon courses. Beautiful because you run along the Embarcadero waterfront, up and over the Golden Gate Bridge (twice!), then through Golden Gate Park and back to the Bay to finish in front of the historic Ferry Building. But also challenging due to the 700 feet of uphill that you run along the course, not to mention the corresponding 700 feet back down. But, I have to say, the beauty of the course wins out. I kept thinking to myself, "I get to do this!" Yes, it's a challenge, but a challenge I am so privileged to be able to take on.
I started training in March for the race at the end of July. It was an 18-week training program from Hal Higdon. I won't dive into the details here, but if you are interested in the training progression: Marathon Training: Novice 1.
On race day, I was super pumped, very well trained and prepared. I felt strong through the first half, and thought that if I could buckle-down and make it to mile 20, then all the uphills would be done and I could fly down from Haight-Ashbury to the Mission and then blast through the last few flat miles to the finish line.
But, just like everyone says, between mile 20 and 22 I hit "the wall". It was actually kinda amazing to experience the body breaking down, literally feeling the nerve impulses not move down and through the legs as efficiently as before. It was kinda like driving a car that was leaking oil: you could feel the engine struggling and starting to sputter as the essential ingredients to keep it running were depleted. By the time I hit the final couple miles, I could feel my right hamstring on the verge of cramping, ending the race on the spot. There were so many other runners pulling up with similar cramping problems; the sidewalks were littered with bodies. I had to mix walking with running to keep it from freezing-up entirely., but I rallied and ran through the finish line with an official time: 3:49:47!
I did it!! I completed my first marathon! And under 4 hours!
About a week after finishing the SF Marathon, I thought....I could do better.
So, I signed up for the California International Marathon (CIM) in December. CIM is actually hosted in Sacramento, with the course starting out near Folsom Lake and finishing on the steps of the state capitol building. TBH, not as inspiriing a course as San Francisco, but CIM is a "downhill" course and where many people achieve their fastest marathon times.
Knowing how the wheels came off the wagon around mile 22 in the SF Marathon, I was eager try again and see if I could improve on that final stage. So, I decided to raise my training regimen one level up and see what I could do. This more aggressive training program felt doable, but was no joke: it was nearly 100 miles more than what I did for the SF Marathon, and I was going to run it more aggressively to see what my limits were.
Well, you don't discover your limits during training, but on race day
That's my main take-away from CIM, my second marathon.
The CIM training program went well, showing improvement from the SF Marathon training program at every step of the way. And come race day, I was ready with corrections to some minor mistakes I had made in fueling and hydration the first time around; nothing major, just some tweaks. I was also cognizant that CIM is a fast, downhill course at the start, so I went out purposefully a bit slower than my first time out. This strategy initially paid off well, as I hit the halfway mark feeling a lot stronger than in my first marathon. I felt well-positioned to keep my pace up, perhaps even running faster in the second half.
Then, I hit that same mile 22 -- and just like in the first marathon -- the wheels fell off the applecart. I started getting some serious cramping in my calves, especially the left one. For about the next 2 miles I had to alternate between running and walking, even stopping here and there to stretch out the calves. I am proud of myself that I grit my teeth and ran the final 2.2 miles, pushing strong across the finish line.
But wait, there's more!
Yep, in addition to running 2 regular-degular marathons this year, I also ran 2 ultra-marathons
What's an ultra-marathon, you ask? Well, it's just any race longer than a marathon. Also, ultras (as they are known) are typically run on trails, or some combination or trails and road. You can think of a regular "road marathon" as the kind of race that is through downtown city streets, whereas an ultra-marathon is out in the woods or countryside.
Also, classic marathons are a fixed distance of 26.2 miles, but ultras can be either a fixed distance (usually 31 miles or more) or some other format that results in runners running more than a marathon in total. More on that to below!
The Icy-8 is not a race of distance, but rather of time: you have 8 hours to run as far as possible.
The course is setup as loops: 8 miles, 4 miles, 2 miles. You can run as many loops as you can/want within 8 hours, and at the end they total up your distance.
Oh, and I forgot to say, this is out in the Virginia countryside! So, I flew out to DC to hang out with Chris and Jon as we made our way around the course. Mind you, this was back in February, in the middle of the Virginia winter, but we lucked out with an entirely pleasant day with pretty much ideal conditions for a mid-winter ultra.
I did four 8-mile loops, for a total of 32 miles, in 7 hours and 45 minutes.
I gotta say that some highlights of that weekend were the post-race burgers and beers followed by a rejuvinating dip in the hot tub!
But why run one ultra when you can run two at twice the price?
Late summer I walk talking with Tyler, a co-worker at Databricks, about our respective running journeys and he mentioned that he and his friend Bryce were organizing a backyard marathon in their hometown of Austin, TX. A backyard marathon, you say? I'm in!
Like the Icy-8, the backyard marathon format is not one of distance, and unlike the Icy-8, it is not a bound by time -- rather, it's a "last one standing race". You map out a loop, in our case, a 2.5 mile trail loop that starts and ends at Tyler's house; then you run that loop at the top of the hour, then the top of the next hour, and so on and so on until no one can run any more loops. We started at 7am and ran 15 loops in 15 hours, calling it quits at 10pm.
What I liked about this format is that you stay together. Unlike other utra races, where you tend to spread out over the course, this is a fairly short loop, and everyone is back to Tyler's house after 30-35 mins of running, and then you have 25-30 mins to snack, rehydrate, stretch and rest, then at the top of the next hour, everyone starts the next loop together. Well, at least everyone who can muster up another loop!
We had about 30 people participate throughout the day. Some came in the morning to run a few loops; others stopped by in the afternoon, and a few left and then came back in the evening to give us an energy boost. Tyler, Bryce, and I did the full 15 loops over the course of 15 hours. Our efforts were rewarded with pizza delivery and some ice cold beers just before midnight.
But 2024 was not all about just running...how about some skiing too!
The main part of this story was an extended ski holiday in Vail, Colorado. This was actually my very first time skiing (or snowboarding for that matter) in the Rocky Mountains. Oh, and that's right, I said skiing, not snowboarding. After last year's trip to Whistler Blackcomb, my snowboard gear was 20 years old and end-of-life. I decided to go back to skiing, just for variety's sake.
The best part about the Vail trip wasn't the condo with a hot tub, nor the massive, massive terrain at Vail, but the fact that I got to share the experience with three of my best friends. Scott drove out from Denver/Boulder for a few days and we skiied both Vail and Beaver Creek.
After Scott, Rob flew out from SF and we got a solid week in at Vail, running what felt like a thousand laps in the legendary Back Bowls.
Then, Rob took off and Mark flew out from Cleveland for few days of cruising and being terrorized by 5-7 year olds flying by us geezers.
After returning from Vail, Rob and I did some weekend trips up to Tahoe for the remainder of the season. All told:
As you can imagine, with all the skiing, running and weight training I did throughout the year, I kept quite well to my fitness goals. As far as weight goes, I entered the year at 187 pounds, and by the end of June I had reduced down as low as 165. That wasn't my target really, I just wanted to see how low I could go by the mid-year mark. My target maintenance range is somewhere between 170 and 175, which I've been able to maintain for the second half of the year.
I also was curious about body composition (essentially your body fat %), so I signed up with BodySpec for regular Dexa scans throughout the year. I set a goal of being below 20% body fat by mid-year and crushed it with a measurement of 17% at 165 pounds (75 kg).
The one aspect of slimmng down that I didn't fully appreciate was that I'd have to buy all new clothes! Sure, it makes logical sense, but after getting through ski season wearing mostly athletic gear and leisure-wear, I decided that I needed some new clothes for summer.
To start adjusting to this "new normal" of body shape, I thought I'd start off simple and cheap by hitting the major fast-fashion retailers: Zara, H&M, Gap, etc. What really took me by surprise was the sizing. Sure, I had grabbed some t-shirts during ski season, which were size Medium, but for some of the stuff I was buying for summer -- casual summer shirts and shorts -- I was buying size Small. Outrageous!
While I'm sure there as been "grade deflation" in sizes over the years, I haven't been this size since my college days.
Good fortune shined upon me with a work trip up to Seattle in early October. This afforded me a chance to have dinner with Diana, Steve, Rebecca, and Philip. So good to see and hear that everyone is doing well!
2024 was such an amazing year, packed with so many fantastic and rewarding experiences, only a sliver of which I could share with you in this letter. Therefore, I am looking forward to 2025 with excitement and eagerness of all the amazing experiences yet to come. I kick off the new year in proper fashion with a 2-week ski trip to Japan: one week in Hakuba Valley and one week in Niseko.
I hope to see you in the new year!
P.S. the only social media I'm on now is Instagram, where you can find photos of my travels, as well as my home-cooked meals: @aaron.binns. I'm also on Strava if you want to see what kind of crazy runs I'm doing in 2025.
Or you can always reach me at: aaron@randomshiznat.com