Year in Review



After



JANUARY AND FEBRUARY-- just a whole bunch of running.  No racing.  Building up mileage to prep for NJ Marathon the first weekend in May.  I spent much of these months renovating my kitchen and living room.  (No pics of the living room yet!)

Before





MARCH -- Ran a great 20 miler after work on Friday the 15th.  Saturday night, while walking the mile+ home from our store's anniversary party, I decided to take my heels off and jog home barefoot.  Stupid, yes, but I had to, um, pee.  So I jogged.  No big deal, I've done it before (see my 40th birthday post).  Thing is, I definitely jacked up my calf this time.  Realized it the next day.  Grr. 

Which leads me to the next weekend.  I flew to the Keys for a short weekend get-away and since I wasn't running on the hurt calf, I biked.  And crashed.  And broke my elbow. 



painkillers in the sunshine

Which was frustrating and annoying and sidelined me for a bit.  I did PT through APRIL and started running again, but despite getting a 20 miler in, I decided on marathon weekend in MAY to drop to the half marathon instead.  I had a horrible panic attack about running the full the day before the race.  Just felt unprepared and completely filled with anxiety about running 26.2 miles.  Stupid.  As it turns out, I was glad I only ran the HM that day.  It felt good to run a race well (not a PR, but not far off) and get back in the game. 



42 boxes of books and supplies!



JUNE rolled around and I finished the school year, although it was a busier time than usual -- after 13 years in the same classroom, I had to pack it all up and move to a different room in the building. 



Then at the end of the month, my mom and I headed west.  For the past few years, I've been taking trips in the summer to places I've never been.  This year was Colorado.  Despite the terrible wildfires, I took the Cog Railway to the top of Pike's Peak,

and I ran a 10k trail race at the Copper Mountain Resort.  At altitude.  Like, we started at about 9000' and climbed to over 11000'.  On a tough, technical trail.  Insane.  I almost dropped out after about 50 yards.  But I didn't, and I loved it, even though it was really hard.  

Copper Mtn, CO 10k trail race



Once home and into JULY, I was swimming a bit and biking a bit, but the elbow and arm still wasn't strong enough to do those comfortably.  I kept running and got some beach time and work time at the running store and lots of reading done. 

In AUGUST I decided to do a sprint tri, despite doing very little swimming and NO open water swimming at all.  My swim and bike could've been better, but I had a great run split.  It was fun to get back into the tri's.  I also ran a local 5 mile race that I've run several times, and this year I ran a PR.  Sweet!



(I'd order more race pics if they weren't so expensive!)



As school started back up in SEPTEMBER, my running was going well and I was getting deep into marathon training.  I was registered for the NYC marathon -- as a 3x lottery reject -- and I wanted to just enjoy the day.  I told myself this was going to be a no-pressure (to PR) race day, and I threw out any training plan I was sort of following.  I started to just run to enjoy the run.  No paying attention to timing or pacing.  Just get out on the road or on the trail for my long runs, and enjoy it.  And I did! 

OCTOBER rolled in, and I turned another year older, and wondered when I'd find my Mr. Right...  (apparently, it's not yet...) SO, I kept running and training and working, and then the end of the month arrived, and so did
Superstorm Sandy... 


my hometown of Long Beach Island, NJ, underwater

The devastation was immense, and while my parents' house was ok, our summer cottage, my brother's home and business, and his rental properties all sustained serious damages.  My parents moved in with me for 3 weeks while the electricity and gas supply to their home was cut off.  My brother and his family is still displaced, living in a neighbor's home, and working to rebuild their business. 

And in the midst of all that, the NYC marathon was cancelled (last minute) and I jumped into a spot for those displaced NYC runners in the Philadelphia Marathon.  I've run it twice before, but this was a year I felt I could PR.  Yes, my goal for NYC was to just have fun, but I'd been running well, and I was ready for a stronger race than I usually have...  And on NOVEMBER 18th, I ran an 11 minute PR. 

That was a sweet end to a good running year.  Earlier in the month I'd paced a friend in our local 10k Bridge Run, and that was a fun new experience.  I took about 8 days off from running after the marathon and let my legs and body recover, and as DECEMBER passed, I started easy running again and will end the year with about 1,880 miles -- which is not a PR, but considering my time off with my broken elbow, I'll take it! 

I've gotten better at listening to my body, my legs especially, this year -- and I've gotten better at running for the enjoyment of it, rather than constantly chasing an "important" (to whom, really?) time goal.  I ran in NJ, Florida, PA, and Colorado in 2012... 



Boulder Creek Path, Boulder, CO.  Beautiful. 

I wonder where 2013 will take me?