2016 Running Recap

I set some ambitious goals for myself at the beginning of 2016. I was not 100% successful at meeting those goals. One of the reasons was that I had some challenging obstacles to deal with in my personal life. Stress causes some people to run more. It causes me to withdraw. I did have some success. I've listed each of my 2016 goals below along with the outcomes.

One success: finishing the 2016 Ottawa Marathon on a hot, steamy day

2016 Goal: I will earn a new marathon PR. It will probably be in the fall, and I still need to pick my goal race and train for it.
Outcome: This did not happen. Though my training went well in the spring and into the beginning of the summer, I slacked off after that. 

2016 Goal: I will run in at least 3 new countries, achieving full membership status in the Marathon Globetrotters. I'm currently at 7 countries, which gives me provisional (non-voting) membership. I need to get to 10. I will earn Japan in February and Canada in May. I need one more.
Outcome: Partial success. I participated in marathons in three new countries, but only finished one of them. In February I had a surprise DNF at Tokyo Marathon. But in May I did earn my finish in Canada at Ottawa Marathon. In August I registered for and started the Mexico City Marathon, but this was another DNF (by my choice, because of feeling sick). So now I am at 8 countries and need 2 more.

2016 Goal: I will run a marathon on at least 1 new continent. So far, that will be Asia. I'm not sure where the Marathon Globetrotters reunion will be in 2016, but that could be an opportunity to earn another new continent. I'm at 2 continents now (North America and Europe).
Outcome: Not completed. It would have been Asia with the Tokyo Marathon, had I not DNF'd. I got through 18 miles, but that doesn't count. FYI - the Marathon Globetrotters reunion is in Luxor, Egypt in January 2017, and I'm not able to go. I'll need to find another opportunity for Africa. And also return to Tokyo sometime.

2016 Goal: I will run at least 1 new World Marathon Major. I'm registered for Tokyo Marathon in February. I will enter the lottery for New York City Marathon and hope to run that in November. I'm at 2 out of 6 World Marathon Majors now (Chicago and Berlin).
Outcome: Success. I finished New York City Marathon. I was also supposed to finish Tokyo, but I'll need to reschedule that one. I'm now at 3 out of 6 for the Majors.

2016 Goal: I will enter the lotteries for 2016 NYC Marathon and 2017 London Marathon.
Outcome: Success in entering, failure in being selected for both. However, I did run NYC Marathon through a charity.

Had fun at the Tokyo Friendship Run the day before the marathon, where Scot and I met new running friend Jennifer

Even though I fell far short of meeting my goals, I still feel like I accomplished some things this year:
  • I designed and followed my own training plan for much of the spring and early summer, and it was going really well as long as I stuck with it. I was getting faster and feeling stronger, especially in tackling hills. The plan included strength training, speed work and hill work. It was the most varied training plan I've used, and I enjoyed the variety of running workouts as well as the strength training, which often came in the form of kettle bell workouts. If I put together and follow a similar plan in 2017, I'll have some success.
  • I did run in three new marathon countries, and even though two were DNFs, I got to experience those cities and those races, and I'm a better person for it.
  • I paced two half marathons. I find that I really enjoy pacing and want to do more of it.
  • I met new running friends, and that's always a good thing.
  • I learned to cut myself some slack and not feel too bad about being inconsistent when I'm dealing with personal issues. Sometimes all you can do is focus on one part of your life. This year, that was not running.
I paced the Runapalooza Asbury Park Half in New Jersey, and so did my friends Kino and JC

I'm already looking forward to 2017 for a fresh start and some new experiences. I'll post about my 2017 running goals after the New Year begins. Farewell, 2016...



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2019 Hong Kong Marathon Race Report

Image
I registered for the Hong Kong Marathon  on a whim. I was already going to Asia to attend my friend Christine’s wedding in Thailand and then run the Tokyo Marathon the following weekend. My friend Dave posted on Facebook about the Hong Kong Marathon, which was a week before the wedding. I entered the lottery not expecting to be selected, but I was. It was going to be a two-country-marathon adventure.  It’s the year of the pig (or boar) and we got this medallion in our race packet.  I was woefully under-prepared for the Hong Kong Marathon. My training suffered through the winter, but knowing I had a 6-hour time limit for the marathon, I wasn’t terribly worried - until I got sick. At the end of January I caught a severe cold that I’m still not fully over, three weeks later. I was weak, slept little, and worked out zero times in all of February. But the Asia trip was coming anyway, and being a realist, I gave myself permission to DNS (did not start) or DNF (did not finish) the
Read more

2018 Running Recap

Image
I haven't blogged all year. In fact, I didn't even finish my 2017 race reports. What happened? I still ran. In fact, I ran several races, and did meet some of my annual running goals. But I also focused on other areas of my life that needed attention. I dropped the ball on some things, and I missed some of my other running goals. Right now I'm not going to write new running goals, because I'm not ready. I will, however, state one broad goal, and that is this: I will post a running-related story once per month in 2019. So, here's the 2018 recap: My 2018 Goals I will lead the 11:00 pace group for CWRC. CWRC is the Columbus Westside Running Club , which I joined after moving to Columbus, and this goal was about the winter/spring training program leading up to spring races. I started this, but I didn't finish. Very early on it became clear to me that I was not in the game mentally and not prepared to lead others on a weekly basis. A January training run
Read more

2018 Running Goals

Image
As reported here , I fell short of meeting my 2017 running goals. I was on track for some good success until two things happened: 1) I became injured, which was not under my control; 2) I started a new job and failed to adjust to my lack of free time - this, I could have done better to mitigate. But I'm feeling great about 2018 already. I'm in a better place than last January, both mentally and physically. Soon, a move to a townhouse in the Merion Village neighborhood of Columbus will put me closer to the Scioto Trail, Schiller Park, and to two of the three local groups that I run with.  Saturday morning training run with CWRC; this one was technically from 2017 (December 30), but it shows I'm getting out there even in bad weather, and I plan to keep that up In addition to working on consistency with my training, I plan to pick up where I left off before last year's injuries. That means working on speed with the intent to earn some new PRs this year. Here we go
Read more