The Year That Was...

Jan – 83 miles
A new year and new goals to go along with it. I started something new in 2007, running on the 1st. I managed to get some quality runs in despite there being snow on the ground. The goal of 1000 miles seemed obtainable, and my goal race of the Flying Pig Marathon was just five months away.


Feb – 68 miles (151 for 2007)
The month where the wheels came off. At the start of the month we got dumped on by huge amounts of snow – so much snow we didn’t see the grass until mid-March – and while running one day in that snow, and the ice that resulted, I slipped and strained my calf. The resulting drop-off in miles set me back in my training for the Pig.


March – 62 miles (213 for 2007)
It took some getting used to running in the winter – cold, no big deal; snow/ice, totally sucks. I ran a 5k, the Irish Jig, and finished over a minute slower than the last 5k I ran in October. Between the leg issue, the snow, and getting used to my work schedule during the spring I really started to have doubts about the Flying Pig and reaching my goal of 1000 miles.


April – 62 miles (275 for 2007)
T started on the couch-to-5k plan popularized by a formerly great website (damn you active.com!) and as a means to work my way back to running more with my injury I started running some of her runs with her. I realized at this point the Flying Pig probably wasn’t the wisest decision on my part: my two longest runs to date were 12 miles in January, and 11 miles in March. I could probably still run the full marathon, but I wouldn’t enjoy it and would probably end up injured. So, after much deliberation and advice from some friends I switched to the half marathon in Cincy. The leg did start to respond and I started to run easier.


May – 100 miles (375 for 2007)
Finally arrived at my goal race, the HM at the Flying Pig. We had a great time meeting some of the 30s and I got to run my second HM. Let me tell you, running for more than two hours is much easier when there are people you know with you every step of the way (so thanks again Ann, Kathleen, and Joe). My finishing time was a new PR (barely) but on a much harder course as compared to Grand Rapids. I finished the month on an upswing: running was easy again and I ran more miles in a month than ever before.


June – 97 miles (472 for 2007)
T and I ran a 5k the first weekend of June, again my time was slow, but then it was a hot, humid day, so not a great performance on my part. After this race though I decided that the Grand Rapids HM was the goal race for the fall (again) and that if I wanted to do better than I did in Cincy, I needed to take my training seriously. So, take my training seriously I did. I was using Marathon Plan A from Daniels’ Running Formula and I slowed down and actually ran easy runs to build my base up. The rest of the month went great…right up to the point when we left for California/Taiwan.


July – 103 miles (575 for 2007)
T and I spent the first week of July in Taipei, Taiwan, at a conference she presented at, and as a result my training took a bit of a backseat. For starters, it was ungodly hot/humid there and running outside was not likely due to both the weather and traffic. Second, I was supposed to start adding in some speed work – again, not likely. So I managed two runs while we were there, but I wouldn’t trade the trip for anything! After we got back I hit my stride. Runs were easier and I was putting in some pretty good mileage. I ran a 10k at the end of the month, broke an hour, but every race isn’t going to be a PR.


Aug – 148 miles (723 for 2007)
My best month of running for the year. Despite it being the most hectic, due to preseason practices, etc at work, I managed to run 24 days during the month and managed to have some great quality tempo/interval workouts as well. Everything just sort of fell into place training wise.


Sept – 126 (849 for 2007)
I continued to run well, easy runs were getting easier and the quality workouts weren’t kicking my ass nearly as much – even though the workouts were just as tough. It was about this time of the year that I really started to get optimistic about doing well in the HM in Oct.


Oct – 105 miles (954)
Racing month was upon me. Towards the end of September T and I decided to run a 5k that a friend’s running store was sponsoring. I figured it would be a nice way to break up the monotony of the usual runs and as a way to gauge how I might do later in the month in the HM. I set a new PR and realized that 25 minutes for a 5k might actually be possible. Then I obliterated my HM PR by almost 18 minutes at the end of the month.


Nov – 84 miles (1038 for 2007)
Despite the superb performance in the HM, I just had a lot of trouble with my mojo during November. I did manage to help T to a new PR in a 10k on Thanksgiving Day and I met my goal of 1000 miles for the year. Besides that, not a lot of anything went on this month.


Dec – 84 miles (1122 total miles for 2007)
A continuation of November. I struggled to find motivation, plus the crappy winter weather started a bit earlier this year. On the positive, we bought a treadmill so I won’t have the “it’s icy outside” excuse anymore as I look towards my goal race for 2008. I ran 443 more miles in 2007 than I did in 2006. I stayed healthy for the most part. I set a new PR for a 5k and HM. All in all, I would say it was a pretty good year.