Another trip around the sun, and another wonderful year of running (with some swimming and biking thrown in–not to mention yoga!)
2016 was my best yet for running. I improved in all distances from last year. I even checked a few races off my Bucket List of Races. I’m going to share all my nerdy stats, for anyone who cares, but the main thing I want to emphasize is the mental/emotional/spiritual benefits of running (or other form of exercise). I wouldn’t be who I am without sport, be it running, swimming, biking, hiking, strength work, yoga, etc. Moving my body allows me to work out all the ”kinks”—all the anxiety, the stress, life’s little (and big!) worries. I can sometimes over-think and over-analyze, and work myself into this huge worrywart, yet somehow it all feels OK after a workout.
I’m taking a deep breath and opening up a little here… There have been times in my life where I’ve felt depressed and hopeless… most of my time in the Army (especially my deployment to Iraq—the longest 15 months of my life), and at West Point, to some extent. Thankfully, running allowed me to not only overcome the struggles, but come out of it stronger, feeling empowered and with the confidence I needed to move forward. I think many people look at runners and think we run for the physical benefits only. I do enjoy getting faster and stronger, and it feels great to place in my age group, to be sure. But for me, the mental clarity, the reduction in stress, and the ability to have better control over my emotions—that is the true benefit to me. Running gives me one of the best gifts: that all dreams are achievable, and we are capable of so much more than we think possible.
I share this in the hopes that I will encourage someone… just one. Running and staying committed to an active lifestyle has improved my life exponentially. If just one person makes a change because of reading this blog, then all of it will be absolutely worth it. As it is, I enjoy capturing the memories and reading them months/years later 🙂
Also this year–my cousin Darcie passed away in January from Acute Myeloid Leukemia after 15 months of chemo and fighting for her life. That really put things into perspective for me. She was a mom, wife, daughter, sister… so many things to so many people. I wore the orange Team Darcie “No one fights alone!” bracelet to most races, in her honor.
Lastly, I joined the Oiselle Volée, a women’s running team that is pretty much the bomb.com. I get so inspired by my teammates. I love being part of the team, especially at races when I can easily spot other Birds (teammates!) It’s been super fun, and I hope to continue on the team.
And now that I got that off my chest…. “nerd alert!” My 2016 stats:
- 830.3 miles (the most ever for me, up from 720 last year)
- 15 races
- 1 – 10K
- 1 – 7 miler
- 1 – Ten miler
- 1 – medley race (Ultimate Runner: 100m, 400m, 800m, 1 mile, 5K)
- 1 – Triathlon (225 yard swim, 8 mile bike, 2 mile run)
- 4 – Half marathons
- 6 – 5K’s
- 9 PR’s (post high school PR’s in the 100m, 400m, 800m, plus the mile, 5K, 10K, 10 mile, and half marathon)
- 29 yoga sessions. I started going as much as I can, every Tuesday & Thursday at lunchtime. It’s at my workplace, which is amazing (and gives me few excuses to skip!) I feel much more flexible, strong, and balanced because of it.
- 3 Destination Races: Raleigh, Washington, DC, & Richmond
- My favorite moments/accomplishments:
- defending my age group “title” at the St. Leo 10K, winning by fractions of a second!
- finishing strong at the Army Ten Miler next to the Pentagon & meeting up with so many Army friends!
- 2 strong half marathon efforts, including a PR and near-PR
- Realizing I can still perform in the heat (as evidenced by Ultimate Runner, PTI 5K, Beat the Heat 5K, and Moonlight Madness—if I had only tried a 5K when it wasn’t hot!)
- And the very best moment? Running the final moments of Raleigh Half Marathon hand-in-hand with Javi! On my 31st birthday too… definitely a memorable bday!
I took a pic on my iPhone of all the bibs and medals for Instagram, then of course after posting it, found about 5 missing bibs, the trophy, and several more medals, so here’s an updated shot:
My helper for the pics:
For this year, I will continue doing yoga, but also try to add in consistent strength work (I like Oiselle’s Dirty Dozen) and plyometrics twice a week. I am planning to peak 3 times, and follow 3 separate training plans: a spring half marathon (Raleigh), a late summer Triathlon (distance/location to be determined), and a late fall or winter half or possibly full marathon (if half, probably the Mistletoe; if full, looking at Jacksonville, FL Marathon). I will have several weeks of recovery and unstructured workouts in between the training cycles.
As for nutrition, I feel I’ve done a decent job—probably a solid B or B+ if I had to grade—but I’d like to find better ways to refuel and consume more veggies. I am contemplating going grain free for about a month to see if it has any effect. I want to share more recipes on this blog, so I will try to be more consistent with my sharing too 🙂
As always, thanks for reading!
For my archives, here’s the run down by month:
January:
Trying to recover from our Puerto Rico trip, and build a strong base. Oh yeah, and kick the cold that the littles blessed me with, with their kisses 😉 Half marathon training starts in February.
Decided to do the Run the Year challenge again this year. My cousins Alexia and Jessica are joining me, as we try to collectively run 2,016 miles this year. Definitely helps with motivation!
1/30–Camel City Elite (as a spectator!) Ashton Eaton, Lolo Jones, Bernard Lagat… oh my! The runNerd in me is geeking out 😛 My full write-up here.
February:
2/20 Popsicle 5K in Mocksville, NC (with Javi… and Gabe is signed up for the fun run!) Result, 25:41. Disappointing.
March:
3/19 St. Leo’s 10K in Winston-Salem Result, 49:54. PR & 1st place age group (30-34). Pumped!
April:
4/9 Raleigh Rock N Roll 5K (inaugural race) Result, 24:32. Happy!
4/10 Raleigh Rock N Roll Half Marathon, fun run style with J 🙂
4/30 Carolina Brewsfest Half Marathon, High Point. Result, 1:51:26. PR after 6 years, thrilled!! And beat the old PR by nearly 6 min 🙂
May:
5/7 Spring Folly 5K, Kernersville. Result, 23:31. New PR by 3 seconds, Very Happy! 2nd place overall.
June:
6/4 PTI Run the Runway 5K, Greensboro. Result, 24:55… the heat, my God, the heat!
6/27 Ultimate Runner, Winston-Salem. Results: mile PR, 400m post-high school PR, 100m post-high school PR. 2nd place AG. 1st place 100 meters!
July:
7/4 The 4th of July 5K, Kernersville — will have to do next year, we had to go pick up Luna!
7/23 Beat the Heat 5K, {confirmed} Winston-Salem. Javi running too! Result, 24:20 in 95*+ heat. 2nd place AG. Solid effort!
August:
8/21 Ramblin’ Rose sprint triathlon, Winston-Salem. Result, 50:50, 3rd place AG. 4 seconds faster than 4 years ago, ha!
8/26 Moonlight Madness 5K, Winston-Salem. Result, 24:15, 2nd place AG. Met a 5 year goal (to get an age group award at this race!)
September:
9/26 Salem Lake Trail Run 7 miler, Winston-Salem. 4th place again… a few seconds off my best (58:59). Disappointing but also motivation to train harder!
October:
10/9 Army 10 Miler, Washington, DC. Strong race, only the 2nd time I’ve run this distance.
November:
11/12 Richmond Half Marathon, VA. Brutal GI distress, but met a fellow Oiselle bird at mile 12!
11/24 {tentative} Turkey Strut, Winston-Salem maybe next year… won’t be in town this time.
December:
12/3 Mistletoe Half Marathon, Winston-Salem. 1:52:40, second fastest time I’ve ever ran. 17 of 74 in AG.
2016 Mileage:
- January: 65.5
- February: 64
- March: 89.5
- April: 109.5 (highest mileage month ever!)
- May: 69.8
- June: 61
- July: 44.7 (vacation + new puppy + heat = “dog days of summer” lol)
- August: 43.1 (more dog days of summer!)
- September: 61 (finally getting back on the horse!)
- October: 78.8
- November: 90.7
- December: 52.7
- 2016 YTD: 830.3 miles in 2016
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