2010 Close Out: My First Calendar Year Of Running And A Look Ahead

I didn’t have any real ‘goals’ for 2010. I just wanted to run, have fun, and get better. It was a good way to approach my first full calendar year of running and as I reflect at where I am today compared to January 1st of 2010, I am much stronger and a much better, smarter runner. So let’s get to it!

Summary/Stats/Analysis
Total Miles = 601
Total Runs = 150

I didn’t realize until Mid-December that I could hit 600 as an even number…that’s the only time I really set a goal this year; to hit 600 miles. I ended up finishing that on December 30th with a nice 8 mile run along the river. I even tossed in an extra mile to get my point across!

Top Day/Week/Month
Top Day = 18.50 miles – RAGNAR Tennessee – 11/5, 11/6 (24 hour period)
Top Week = 21 miles – 2/22 – 2/28
Top Month =  63.6 – December
Races Run = 8

Top 3 Favorite Runs
Easy one! Ragnar New England, Ragnar Tennessee, Kent Pumpkin Run 5 miler.
Here’s why. Ragnar races are just plain fun. It’s a van full of folks who are somewhat like minded (they all run, right?).  It’s an all nighter and then-some. It’s a great physical/mental challenge to run three demanding runs as you get more and more sleep deprived along the 200 mile journey.

The Kent Pumpkin Run was one of my favorite’s because I had a bunch of great friends make it to the run and I got to cross the finish line while pushing my kid in his stroller dressed like a lion. Just friggin awesome!

Top Lessons Learned
Rest is AS important as the run…
No doubt about this one. After Ragnar New England I got cocky and took a day off and paid for it with an IT Band flare up that plagued most of my summer running. After Ragnar Tennessee I took an entire week off and came back stronger than ever. I seemed to use that distance build from the race and the time off the following week to reset my base on acceptable mileage and that’s why you see the big jump in mileage in the above graph in November and December. The rest actually made me stronger.

I can chase speed or I can chase distance, but I can’t do both at the same time…
I started getting faster with my 5k’s in the summer. I got down in the lower 7′s/mile and that took a big toll mentally because I couldn’t get it through my head that I don’t always need to run that fast on training runs…that’s why they’re called training runs! As I started to cement my plan to build my mileage base in November I took my average run from a 3.68 miler (Jan thru Oct) to a 5.92 miler (Nov thru Dec). To do this, my pace is up almost a full minute per mile on the average for the same comparison time frame.

2011 Plans, Looking Ahead
Ok, so I’m not really good at setting stuff in stone…procrastination is one of my most endearing qualities, so much of my race’s just come up and I enter within the week of the race. Having said that, here’s what I want to do in 2011.

Run 800 miles – this is a lofty gain over the 600 I did this year, but I want to get it done

Run a Half Marathon – I’ve still never done it, it happens this year

and my stretch goal…
Run a 50k – I know, I know…half marathon to a 50k? Here’s the deal, I don’t really feel like running a marathon and there are some gorgeous 50k trail runs in New England so I’m thinking I could attempt one in the fall…crazy or doable?