Running Year Recap & Resolutions

It's 2015 - Happy New Year, friends! It's going to be a new running year with new adventures and achievements. I'll recap 2014 before shifting to my plans for 2015. First, a look at the two maps below shows my progress from end of 2013 to end of 2014 (note that the color legend is not the same for both maps).

Above: Only the green states were actually completed at the end of 2013

Above: Both green and yellow states are completed for marathons; yellow states also include at least one half marathon

2014 Running Achievements

• I resumed posting to this blog and I've kept it fairly up-to-date, posting frequently, sharing race reports from every event, and talking about other topics in my life of running.
• I ran 18 Marathons in 16 states (13 were new states) and 2 foreign countries (both new for marathons). I ended the year having completed marathons in 48 states and 4 countries, and my first completion of a World Marathon Major race (Chicago).
• I ran 8 Half Marathons in 5 states (1 was a new state).
• I ran several shorter races: 3 10-Milers; 2 10Ks; 1 5-Miler; 1 8K; 2 4-Milers; and 5 5Ks.
• I set some goals to improve my fitness and train more, and though my results weren't perfect, I did train more than I have in the last couple of years.
• I successfully completed a Holiday Running Streak of at least 1 mile per day from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. Some of these miles were strictly walking (especially when I was sick Christmas week), and on two travel days I had to be creative by counting my walking through airports. Other than the two travel days, all of my streak runs/walks were measured using my RunKeeper app, a treadmill or an official race course. This was the first time I've maintained any kind of fitness streak for so many consecutive days!

Needless to say, 2014 was another busy year. I ran fewer marathons than in 2013, but more shorter distance races. Travel was also challenging, as few of the marathon states that I needed were within driving distance, so I had to fly. Two weekends were double marathon weekends. I also completed marathons in two foreign countries, which involved air travel. I had great experiences at the Loch Ness Marathon and the Cayman Islands Marathon. In 2014, I also worked on healing and preventing injury, and I can say that my plantar fasciitis from 2013 is all better, and the intermittent calf issues I've had are under control.

2015 Running Objectives

• Qualify for the Marathon Globetrotters in January at the Marathon Bahamas, after finishing a marathon in my 5th country. I also plan to run the Berlin Marathon in September, taking my country total up to 6, and my World Marathon Major total up to 2 out of 6.
• Complete my 50th marathon state in May at the Newport Marathon in Oregon. In order to do that, I'll need to first finish the New Jersey Marathon in April.
• Train to set a new PR at my 50th states finish in Oregon. My current PR is more than two years old, set at the 2012 Grandma's Marathon. Since then, I've increased my quantity of marathons at the expense of quality. The first half of 2015 will be spent working on quality.
• Apply for the lotteries for 3 of the World Marathon Majors that I still need: New York City 2015, London 2016, Tokyo 2016, and hope to get in. (The remaining major is Boston, and I currently have no plans for Boston.)
• Run fewer marathons. This will allow me to focus more on the training, and will also save travel time and expenses. I love to travel, but it's time to scale back for a while.

And that's all for now. I'll develop some more objectives as 2015 progresses. I only have 3 marathons scheduled through May, and only 3 half marathons, 1 ten miler and 1 5K. That's a lot less than I've been racing, but it's OK. It's all part of the plan to get faster and fitter. I have not forgotten the long-term goals I set in October (7 continents, Canadian provinces, Ohio marathons), but I can't do everything all at once.

Question: What are your running plans for 2015?