I had hoped to come in at just over 700 miles for 2013, but am coming in a few miles short. This happened because I hit two rough patches in December where I first caught the flu in mid-December and then a cold in the last week of December. The flu kept me from running for about a week and the cold has knocked me out for at least 3-4 days. But I came close to 700 which still probably tops the combine running total of the first 32 years of my life, so I'll consider it a win. I think my running goal of 1000 probably would have been acheivable but I didn't take enough advantage of my treadmill in the colder months nor did I get out as often as I probably should.
But regardless of my running total, running was a total success and blast for me in 2013. I'm still in awe of not only running the marathon but every single time I put on my trusty Vibrams and set to running. As I said before, each run is a battle for me, even though I want to do it and deeply love it.
I have set up a couple running goals for 2014 that I believe I will achieve, but again, any time I take off for a run be it on the road or what I like to call, the "Treadmill of Hell", I'll be achieving some level of success in my head.
I'm also surprised by how much I have written about running. This will be the 45 post in the last two years I've written about running. For anyone that's know me for any duration of time, there is much that is on this blog that is of no surprise given my history. But if people were taking bets in 2010 about what I would be blogging about in 2013, running would be nowhere on the list and yet, now it's a major category.
What has also been equally inspiring and humbling on my end is the people with whom I've talked that have been motivated in part by me to go out and run. This includes my partner, friends, colleagues, and even acquaintances (e.g. at the Wild Turkey Run this year, I ran into an acquaintance from high school who said she appreciated my blog posts, particularly the ones on running). Given my knowledge base in so many other areas, it's still surprising that people want to and enjoy talking to me about running.
The biggest running accomplishment of the year (besides the marathon) was my timing on the half-marathon. I went from a low start at 2 hours 41 minutes in July to hitting 2 hours and 6 minutes during at the half-marathon point during the marathon. That's serious growth and growth I may never see again, but can carry that momentum to get to better timing in the future.
With a marathon, several half-marathons, and nearly 700 miles of running, I guess it's safe to say that I'm a "runner" and I look forward to where I end up running in 2014. My plans for 2014 include running 4-6 marathons in the hopes of building up to a double marathon in 2015. I also want to see if I can get under 2 hours with my half-marathon speed. I want to get to 1000 hours for 2014 and think this time around, it's definitely going to happen. The final running challenge for 2014 would be to get under the 4 hour mark for a marathon. This is not a primary goal since I feel the others are sufficient, but if I can manage it, I will certainly try.