2013 Year in Review

Obligatory Year in Review Post coming up. I won't do a whole huge recap, since everyone is no doubt super bored of these year in review posts by now and I'm way too excited about 2014 to spend a whole lot of time mulling over 2013. But, a few words to finish off the year:

2013 started in an odd place. In November of 2012 I sprained my foot, which it turns out is a thing you can do (I lost count of how many times I told people, no, not my ankle, my foot). Something slipped out of place in the cuboid joint something something I don't know. But it hurt a lot and kept me sidelined for a solid 6-7 weeks.

That was a fun December.

 January 1st was one of my first real runs after the injury, so it was a strange way to start the year. Yes, I was running again (exciting!), but every footfall was fraught, waiting to see if the pain was really gone. And I had a daunting task ahead of me, rebuilding my weekly mileage to somehow get ready for 30k Around the Bay at the end of March. But even with a cautious start, it's a year that ended up being pretty damn awesome! In some ways the injury turned out to be a good thing, because not being able to run showed me just how much I really do love it, and when I was able to run again I was far more committed to training.

One of the highlights of the year - heading towards the finish of the Mississauga half marathon, my first sub 2 half. Chip time 1:58 - a 7 minute PR at the time.

2013 is the first year I took my run training really seriously, committed to running 4-5 days a week, and did crazy things like get up at 4:30 in the morning to get in 15k before work. And it's paid off. Instead of rambling on about individual races, I think the best times I ran speak for themselves:

Distance	Best 2012 time	Best 2013 time	Difference
5k	27:45	24:32	-3:13
10k	56:29	51:56	-4:33
Half Marathon	2:04:48	1:51:24	-13:24

How'd that happen? I ran a lot more and a lot more consistently than I ever have before (I ran 1310 km in 2012, and 2278 km in 2013, almost a thousand more). As a relative beginner, running more miles led to big gains. Yes, I did speed work, etc, but I think just running more was what led to the biggest improvements in my times.

Also can I get a big HELL YEAH for the skirt brigade? These ladies motivated me so much, especially through some tough long runs that I would definitely have cut short if I was running solo.

Kilometers run through the year. May was an off month while I recovered from a lingering hip issue and focused on cycling to prepare for the Ride for Heart. In addition to running, through the year I logged 394 km on my bike (damn I wish I'd done an extra 6 at some point!).

I know the gains won't come as quickly or easily now, but I think those numbers lend themselves to some obvious goals for 2014 and beyond (sub 24 minute 5k, sub 50 minute 10k, sub 1:50 half). And there's that small matter of my first marathon, of course.

Setting a new 10k PB in Oakville after running probably my best paced race of the year.

Farewell to an awesome 2013, and bring on 2014!

 

How far is 2278km? If you start from my city and run straight, you could almost make it to Mexico. Radius around a point tool.