Fam! Oh, fam! Its 12/31, and I am seriously banking on that wave of clean slate motivation that only New Year's Eve can bring!
November / December
To begin, lets summarize from where I left of with a recap video of my November / December:
http://www.livelifeactive.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Funny-Hello-Parody.mp4?_=1
Okay, phew. That takes care of that! ;)
.. Wait, okay that's not me ..
But in terms that relate to running (or nah) .... November: 26 miles. Total. The Thanksgiving half, which I felt I ran very solid for whatever it was worth (under 2:30 even run/walking) and a hodge podge of attempts at a few miles here and there on the treadmill totaling the other half of my November mileage.
In December, total running: two races .. and that's it! I DNFed my first race at Jeff Galloway. (kind of. I didn't really realize how hard it is to DNF a 1/2 marathon. You still have to get to the finish line some how. LOL. So technically, its the first race I cut the course! Yikes!! ). My knee thanked me, though, even if my ego would normally have been offended.
I also ran a new Christmas 5K that was awesome! I ran with Stephanie, and focused on her PR goals, instead of my knee pain, and that made me ever so proud of our ~30 minute finish. The lungs were mad as hell. The knee didn't like the spattering of hills. But except for feeling heavy, the legs ended up totally okay .. which I am taking to mean I still have *something* muscle-like in them. Woo!
Besides that, my phone photos kinda look like this:
To the tune of ... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPP .... +8 lbs from day after thon!!!
I still did run things. But mostly social non-run run things where we ate a lot. ;)
2016 In Review
All of that said, the primary reason I am *not freaking out yet* is because 2016 encompassed 10 solid months of the best training I've ever put on the pavement, followed by two months of this mental and physical break. If the lull ends with the passing of the year, I will be a-okay. And although this feels A LOT like Judy 2013/2014, unlike then, I know what I am capable of now. I know that I CAN. And I know that I am excited to keep pushing myself. With some patience and some diligence, I can make sure that this was a break, and not the end of a fun two years where I ran a lot. (I hope).
The key word that I am not good at is: patience.
Grand Prix
The end-of-year awards breakfast helped me with celebrating a whirlwind year in its totality. I earned the "bunny" award for completing all of the Grand Prix events, and when all was said and done, DID achieve the bragging right I had been pushing for ALL year: 3rd in my Age Group!!! **so happy**
You're not a real runner until you have a local rivalry. Thank goodness she ages up next year; I need a slower nemesis. Haha.
Bestie and I with some serious award swag! *^_^*
The 3-way, No Cheese Triplet Challenge
and the annoyingest of challenges is over! Woo. Mainly because the triplets no longer run the same pace going into 2017. But also because I told myself I was done feeling competitive with these two 12/31/2016.
So ...
200 - Kyle
800 - Kyle
1 mile - Me
5K - Me
4 miler - Me
10k - Me
Peachtree - Me
10 miler - Kyle
1/2 marathon - Kyle
Marathon - Me
Most hardware - Pam
Pretty sure I have forgotten some distances. No motivation to research, but if I come across other info, I will edit.
I think all of that was pretty circumstantial. Michele was the fastest of us for the entire first half of the year, and I was the slowest until June. I was also the slowest in Nov / December. But, the race calendar was in my favor June - October, I suppose. And now .. DONE! :)
A Look Back at 2016 Goals
Run 1000 miles - 1200! in the books for the first time EVER!
Run a sub-8 1 mile - Check! (7:37).
Run a sub-26:30 minute 5k - Check and crushed with a 25:17 5K PR!
PR at PTRR - 56:54 BOOM! (1:03 last year)
Run a sub-2:14 half marathon - 2:07 1/2 PR set during the Chicago Marathon! Joy.
Up hair game! :) - boxer braids and piggy buns. nuff said!
Not run a full marathon this year. - we all read between the lines when this goal was set, right?? ;) lol.
And .. wait for it ...
I AM A F'CKING MARATHONER, Y'ALL!!!
A Look Forward at 2017
There is SOOOOOOOOOooOOOOOOOooooo much that I want to accomplish in 2017, so new idea. Choose Your Own Ending goals. I will type out ALL possibles, and shoot to hit as many as I can, with a overall goal of getting maybe 5 of them done. :) Drafting / brainstorming on these today, but will finalize the list in early January.
Goals to Choose From
Lose 15 lbs
Run like (er .. with.. ) an Olympian! Sub-24 minute 5K
Chicago Marathon - PR. (stretch: do I hear sub-4:15, going once, going twice ... hmm)
Sub 2 hour Half Marathon
Run 1500 miles (stretch ... run 2017 miles?)
The Year of The Over the Top Run Costume!
Longest 10,000k streak (time to beat is 42 days)
Finish an out-door sprint Triathlon
Make and finish a bonafide core / strength training program, boot camp, etc.
Make a bonafide commitment to a nutrition program
Find a Family Fun Run 5K
Mud run something for fun
Pace Someone to a PR Goal
PR at PTRR
Run a sub-7:14 mile and show high school Judy who's boss!!
Run/walk something longer than a marathon (Really?? No, not really? But maybe. EEP).
Run a 2nd Majors? (Looking at you, NYC lotto).
Run one 1/2 per month
Run one 5K per month
(Don't get excited, the higher up the list, the more important ... the lower on the list, the more pie-in-the-sky, maybe 2018/19, lol)
If this is sounding like New Year, New Me bullshit right now, well then .. F U. ;) Goals without plans are wishes. I used to make those year after year. Now when I say "XYZ," I spend January 1 committing to a plan that will get me to just that. I won't make a plan for all of these (hence the Choose Your Own Ending approach), but there will be a lot of specifics for the ones that do rise to the top of the list. PWOMISE! *^_^* The Lose 15 is the only goal that truly is necessary, and also the one that scares me the most. I had hoped never to set a NYE weight loss goal again. But maybe its the last one ever, so hopefully most rewarding!
Re: this blog
Like with #100selfies, blogging about running was an annual "thing." Because I often lose motivation, my "thing" changes each year. So we have come to the "technical" end of this "thing."
I hope you're singing Boys 2 Men "End of the Road," because that's what's playing in my mind right now.
Its been an absolute blast y'all.
Keep. Moving. Forward!!!! <3
