2014 Year in Review

This morning, my "TimeHop" app showed me the blog I wrote 4 years ago, which was a recap of my 2010 year of running. I thought it would be fun to do a comparison of 2010 to 2014, and write the blog in the same style.

Here is the 2010 year-in-review blog.

Yearly Mileage: 2134

In 2014, I ran a total of 2134 miles. This is 422 more miles than in 2013, when I ran 1712 miles. This is primarily due to the fact that I was injured in 2013, and I was not injured in 2014. 

In 2010, I ran 2136 miles, so I missed setting a yearly mileage PR by two miles. I was aware of this, but decided to stick to my training plan, and not "find" an extra two miles in the last week.

In 2010, 580 miles were on a treadmill and the rest were outdoors (thanks to the blizzard of 2010) 

In 2014, 149 miles were on a treadmill and the rest were outdoors.

2014 Weekly mileage

My highest mileage month was August with 229 miles. My lowest mileage month was May with just 80 miles, due to marathon recovery and hoping to finally rid myself of a nagging hamstring issue.

I started working with a new coach in July, and he's helped me increase my mileage without getting injured. In the past, I never knew exactly how to spread the miles throughout the week for maximum benefit with minimal injury risk. But with my customized plan, everything has felt challenging, but not to the point of over training.

My yearly mileage is on the upswing, a trend I love to see:

Yearly mileage

Races

Thanks to staying injury-free, I was able to do a good number of races this year. Four of these races were PRs (in bold).

• February: George Washington Birthday 10K in 45:44
• March: Shamrock half marathon in 1:42:24
• April: Cherry Blossom 10-miler in 1:15:25
• April: Crystal Run 5K Friday in 22:11
• May: Mississauga Marathon in 3:43:44
• July: Firecracker 5K in 22:54
• September: RnR Philadelphia 1/2 Marathon in 1:47:14 (major heat bonk)
• October: Boo! Run for Life 10K in 44:13
• October: Columbus Marathon in 3:40:00
• November: Virginia Run Turkey Trot 5K in 21:30
• December: Ringing In Hope 10K in 45:27

The turkey trot in November was just one second shy of my PR, and I am confident I would have PRed both my half marathons if the weather conditions hadn't been so unfavorable. 

My half marathon PR is now over 4 years old and I really think I can beat it by a significant amount if I get decent weather. 

Awards

I won 1st place in my age group at the Boo! Run for Life 10K, and 3rd place in my age group at both the Turkey Trot and the Ringing in Hope 10K.

Accomplishments

This year, I was really focused on upping my mental game-- both on the race course and off.  On the race course, this meant being mentally prepared for the hard times as well as conserving my mental energy for racing and not wasting it on things I can't control.

Off the course, this meant having a more positive attitude about my running, keeping it fun, and not defining myself by my running achievements.  Specifically, here were some major wins:

• Mental toughness during Cherry Blossom. I pushed extremely hard during that race after having felt like I didn't give it my all at the Shamrock half.
• Keeping positive during the hot, humid Philadelphia half marathon. I pushed hard and ran the fastest race I could given the circumstances. When I bonked and ended up with one of my slowest times ever, I didn't let that upset me and ruin the week-long vacation I had after that
• Stepping out of my comfort zone and working with a new coach. Having the confidence to approach new and challenging workouts, and valuing change for the sake of change.
• Qualifying for Boston. 2014 was the year I finally did it! And I wouldn't have been able to do it if I didn't give it every ounce of power during those final few minutes.
• Being less focused on time. I've gone into every race with goals that were non-time based, and as a result, the time hasn't mattered as much to me as achieving these other goals.
• Staying injury free. Listening to my body and knowing when to back off or cut a workout short.

Pictures

Shamrock half marathon, running through a headwind

Cherry Blossom 10-miler

Crystal Run 5K Friday

Mississauga Marathon

Firecracker 5K

Boo! Run for Life 10K

Columbus Marathon BQ!

Virginia Run Turkey Trot 5K

Ringing In Hope 10K

My primary goals for 2015 are to run happy, healthy, and to continue to become a stronger running, both physically and mentally.

2010 Year In Review

Like many runners, I like to track my progress and analyze my running stats. The end of the year seems like the most appropriate time to do that. 2010 was a milestone year for me in many ways, and running is no exception. I set PRs in five distances (although not the marathon, which ironically is what I mainly focus on) and I set a new record for total mileage.

Yearly Mileage
In 2010, I ran a total of 2136 miles. This is 171 more miles than in 2009, when I ran 1965 miles. Percentage wise, I increased my annual mileage by 8.7%. This is primarily due to the fact that I was not at all injured in 2010, whereas in 2009, I had to take about four weeks off due to a foot injury, and then ease back into it.

Of these miles, 580 were on a treadmill and the rest were outdoors. That's 27% treadmill and 73% outside. In 2009, I ran 992 treadmill miles, which was about 50%.

2010 Weekly Mileage

My highest mileage month was January with 219 miles. This is surprising because we got hit with a huge snow storm that month. My lowest mileage month was November with only 126 miles. This was mainly because I was tapering for and then recovering from the NYC marathon.

My average weekly mileage was 41, and I'd really like to see that increase in 2011. If I set a goal of averaging 46 miles a week, then my 2011 mileage goal would be 2396. If I can stay injury-free then I think this is a feasible goal.

Races
As shown by all the red bars in the chart above, I ran a lot of races. They weren't all "A" races, but I figured that since there is an element of luck involved with racing, the more you do it, the better your chances are of having good conditions. Also, racing is great speedwork and also great "practice" for going at full effort. I wasn't as high-anxiety about most of my races this year as I have been in the past. I just wanted to go out and do my best. The PRs are highlighted in red.

Crystal City 5K

• March: Van Metre 5-Mile in 37:10 (PR by 2:30)
• March: Shamrock Marathon: DNF at mile 13.5 because of the heat
• April: Crystal City 5K in 22:21 (PR by 1:01)
• April: GW Parkway Classic in1:22:xx (this was a fun run, because I had been planning to a marathon the following weekend)
• May: Bob Potts Marathon in 3:53:56
• June: UVA Reunion 2-miler in 14:07
• June: Lawyers Have Heart 10K in 49:50
• June: Run for the Red 10K in 51:10
• July: Firecracker 5K in 23:21
• September: South Fairfax Chamber Challenge 10K in 47:55
• October: Heritage Half Marathon in 1:41:30
• October: Army Ten-Miler in 1:17:54
• November: NYC Marathon in 4:08:32
• November: Virginia Run Turkey Trot 5K in 22:33
• December: St. Jude Memphis Marathon in 4:14:38
• December: Reindeer Run 5K in 22:37
• December: Ringing in Hope 10K in 46:34

That's 16 races that I completed in 2010 (not counting that Shamrock DNF). I think that's a PR in terms of number of races. 

Awards

Chamber Challenge 10K

I think that I also set a PR for number of awards won, but I'm not completely sure. This was definitely my first time coming in first in my age group during a 10K. 

• UVA reunion 2-miler: 1st place class of 2000, 3rd overall female 
• Firecracker 5K: 3rd place in age group
• Chamber Challenge 10K: 1st place in age group, 2nd overall female 
• Heritage half marathon: 3rd place in age group

Blog Updates
I have been committed to regularly posting in this blog. It gives me closure after a race to write a report and I enjoy having the history. I also hope that I can in some way offer something to others who read this blog. This year, I gave my blog a fresh new look with new zebra stripes in the background. I also added some tabs in the top navigation that talk about my running history and give some context to my blog posts.

Looking Ahead

I don't really have time-based goals for 2011. Although I would like to BQ and get my half marathon time under 1:40, my primary goal is to run a strong marathon. I'm not as focused on the time as I used to be. It's just that I have bonked in every single marathon I have run since March of 2008. That's going on three years of all bonks. My secondary is goal is to increase my training mileage. Ideally by an average of 5 miles a week, provided that I don't get injured. Of course, for most of these running goals to be achievable, staying injury-free is a must, so I guess that trumps the marathon goal. 

2010 is going to be a tough act to follow, but I'm planning on enjoying the ride.