Accomplishments for 2013

According to MapMyRun.com. I ran 917.8 miles in 2013. Work and injuries got in the way of a lot of good running days this year.

The following is a list of my races for 2013. I don’t plan on running nearly this many races in 2014. For 2014, I need to somehow increase my mileage. I have signed up for a half marathon in May and a full marathon in October. I’m not too worried about the half because I ran it last year, but a full marathon is a new level of training for me. 26.2 miles, crazy!

5K

Cupid’s Chase – 28:08 (Snowy!) (1^st place AG)

Run for Your Heart – 24:30

Robert’s Run – 24:35
Walk, Wag, Run – 24:05

Parlor City – 23:27 (1^st place AG)

Kelly LaBrre – 23:51

Invictus – 24:02 (Master’s win)

Women’s Distance – 24:00

Super Hero – 24:56

Chris Thater – 24:02 (1^st place AG)

Bell of Hope – 25:21 (Hard course)

Saint James – 24:47

Santa Run – 23:55 (1^st place AG)

10K

January Freeze 1 – 58:09

January Freeze 2 – 55:53

January Freeze 3 – 56:33

January Freeze 4 – 57:46

Montrose Independence Day – 53:37 (Hard course)

Octoberfast – 51:50 (2^nd place AG)

15K

Chenango Forks - 1:28:53 (Very hilly course, ran with an IT band injury)

20K

Vestal XX – 1:50:26 (Hard course!)

HM

Binghamton Bridge – 1:53:06

Other

Saint Patrick 4-miler – 33:49

Winter

Winter is here and has been here for a few weeks and is showing no signs of leaving. I try not to let the cold weather interfere with my running, but it's hard to get out there when it's windy and only 20 degrees.

I ran the annual Santa Run 5K on Sunday. There were over 700 runners. That's a lot for this area. The start of the race was chaos. Lots of people in the front who should have been in the back. I got boxed in at least five times before the crowd started to thin out. I have run this course many times and know where my slow points are. In any race I run, there are parts where I kind of doze off and just run without paying any attention to my time. Then I wake up and start racing again. When I downloaded my Garmin, I was happy to see that I ran my usual slow parts well, but unhappy to see that I dozed off in a different section. My finish time was 23:55 which is excellent despite the dozing. I placed 106 out of 760 and received a first place age group win.

I have one more race this Saturday which is also a holiday-themed race. The forecast is for snow. I have raced on snow before, but it's tricky. This will be my last race for the year. Having run in road races for two years now, I think I have 5Kd myself out. I enjoy the racing part, but I am really bored with the 5K distance. I prefer longer races - 10K, 15K, half marathons. Unfortunately, most races around here are 5Ks.

 For 2014, I am going to focus on distance running. The longest I have ever been on my feet is 2:20 and that was months ago. Sunday is long runday for most runners. When spring comes, and the danger of slipping on ice or getting hit by a snowplow are gone, I'm going to start running some serious distances.