Observations from my two perfect races (marathon and half-marathon).

I’m trying to find the right balance between staying humble (there are many better runners!) and proud (I still can’t believe how much improved in the last couple of years).

In October 2021 I ran my first sub-three-hour marathon (read here)

In February 2022 I ran a sub 80 minutes half marathon (read here)

In both races, I overshot my goals.

I will try a 2.45–2.49 marathon in Chicago later this year.

I’m starting to realize that a sub 2.40 marathon in the next couple of years is not a crazy idea.

I’m almost 42. I can become a lot, a lot better.

I only had two “real races” — the ones that I mentioned. As I said, in both of them, I overshot my own targets. I tried to make it just under 3 hours in my marathon and ran 2.57. I tried to run 1.20–22 in my half marathon and ran 1.19.37.

I thought I’d put together a few observations and ideas from these two races. I’m trying to avoid trivial stuff like talking about my actual training (though it’s important!) and highlight what mattered most, in hindsight

• Hard sessions — intervals, tempo runs, threshold runs, etc — were of paramount importance. Yes, slow and easy runs are important. High mileage is important. In fact, the more you run, the more you learn about the importance of easy runs and building your endurance. However, doing intervals was what…