2016, like any other year, had a lot of highlights and some low points too. Life may never ever be perfect, and we've had our fair share of bumps this year, but we are pretty darn lucky overall. Happy to have had a year filled with watching Sam grow and seeing her smile, much running, time with friends and family, so much of nature's beauty and wonder, much happiness, a few tears, a whole lot of growing and learning, laughter and love, and more than a little bit of craziness ;)
Wishing everyone health, happiness, joy and a whole lot of running (or whatever it is that makes you happiest) in 2017!
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On the running front, 2016 ended up being a solid one with decent volume, some fun races, a bit of suffering, and overall, one happy runner. I never had the focus this year that I did in 2015 when I was training for TARC 100, but I did have a lot of beautiful early morning runs, some fun training runs with friends and even a few good runs with Ryan scattered throughout the year. And even though I really didn't have any racing goals for the year, I did manage a few fun and different races throughout the year, including a run through Grayson Highlands, a 6-hour relay race with Ryan up in Presque Isle, a solid, happy racing experience at BBU, and an almost DFL finish to avenge my 2014 DNF at the Fells 40 earlier this month. There was a DNF at the TARC Fall Classic in early September, but I'm not too shaken up about that one as it was only supposed to be a training race anyway and let's face, it running while sick is never fun. Plus, by now, I know that DNFs, while never ideal, are part of the game and there is something to be learned and gained for every experience no matter the ending.
In my mind, the best race of the year was the BBU 50k, a race that hadn't even originally had on my radar. Things came together that day and I hope I can find that place again. That was a fun one! I am proud of my Fells 40 finish too, but for a totally different reason - that is one rugged race, I felt terrible all day from being sick and wanted to give up many times, but I toughed it out and got it done, even if just barely under the cut-off. It certainly was not pretty and the race beat up my legs and body, for sure. After a week off to rest up, these last few weeks of the year have been a bit rough around the edges in terms of running, but things are slowly coming back around.
And with this morning's 4.5 miles around the neighborhood on the slushy, icy roads after yesterday's snow and rain storm, I managed to eek out the remaining miles I needed to hit a nice round 1,900 miles for 2016.
While this is down slightly from 2015 and not quite the 2,000 miles I was shooting for, it came without a 100 miler to train for, so I am pretty happy with the total. I have enjoyed being durable enough (for the most part) for another higher mileage year and even managed to keep up with my arm exercises and push-ups 2x a week every week as well as do some simple body-weight leg strength exercises 1-2x a week for a good chunk of the year too.
With all of this in mind, I'm making running 2,000 miles one of my goals for 2017 and plan to continue with the arm and leg strength. As for racing, some of my intended racing goals for next year had to be passed on for various reasons, so I'm still trying to sort out what's next, but don't you worry, I'm sure to come up with something(s) good ;) And in the meantime, I'm looking forward to having some beautiful, fun and adventurous runs out on the trails!
Happy New Year, everyone!
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Running Log Files:
2016 - 1,900.00
2015 - 1,963.60
2014 - 1,702.00
2013 - 1,557.75
2012 - 1,400.00
2011 - 1,375.00
2010 - 1,100.00
2009 - 675.50 *pregnant/Sam born
2008 - 1,112.00
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