Running Thankful

A year ago, I was nearly through my first month of almost 200 miles/month of running. November 2010 was the first of many high mileage injury-free months. This year, I'm dealing with some tendonitis in my foot that won't allow me to run on back-to-back days. It's my first injury in over a year and like all injuries, it's annoying. But even so, I come into this holiday (my favorite holiday, actually) thankful for the year of running I've had.

* This year I ran races of distances I never did before: my first 10 miler, my first 16.3 trail mile race and my first 50 miler.

* This year I PR'd at both the 5k and marathon distance.

* This year I enjoyed AG awards in 10 of my 12 races, plus 2 races where I was top 3 overall. This included my first 2 trail race awards and my first ultra award. The only 2 races I didn't win an AG award at were both of my marathons, which gives me a nice goal to continue to chase.

* This year I qualified for the Boston Marathon. I've chased this goal for a handful of years and the 5th time was finally the charm. I should also point out I'm thankful for my coach who helped me make it after I declared after my 3rd marathon that I was giving up on that goal.

* Of course I did all of this inspired by my teammates on Team Type 1, who have been even more amazing than I imagined. Next year's squad includes some names I know will make incredible contributions, too.

The smart thing to do with any injury is to allow yourself the ability to heal completely, but I'm not doing that quite yet. Team Type 1 is gathering for one more event - the Holualoa Tucson Marathon - on December 11. (Speaking of thankful, this will also be my first trip to Arizona!)

Until then, I'm doing a lot of cross training, and running 3-4 days per week and hoping that gives me a decent performance in Tucson. But after that, it looks like my next focus race will be the Boston Marathon, which gives me the opportunity to take a few weeks off and let my foot heal completely. I'm thankful for that, too. My 2011 race calendar was aggressive and I need to stop running fast for a little while, so that's the plan.

And even if Tucson doesn't work out in a great race, I've got nothing to complain about. Running-wise, this year has had way more ups than downs. I'm looking forward to being healthy and fast again, but for now, thankful will have to do and I'm ok with that.

Comments

  1. Suzanne10:47 AM

    I'm excited to hear TT1 will be close to where I live! I will try and make it down there to cheer you on. Congrats too on all your accomplishments. Keep that positive attitude, it'll bring you way more than you could ever dream.

    ReplyDelete

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