2017 Running Recap
It's time to review the 2017 running year. I made several changes in my life (moved out of state, started a new job), and had a few injuries. This made it difficult to achieve all of my 2017 goals. Still, I'm happy to celebrate a few victories. Here's a rundown of each 2017 goal and its outcome.
2017 Goal: I will focus on consistent running. Starting no later than February, after my move, I'll run on Tuesday nights with the Columbus Westside Running Club (CWRC). I'm also going to run with them on Sunday mornings as part of their half and quarter marathon training program. I'll log extra miles on several Sundays to get into marathon shape.
Outcome: While I did become a regular at CWRC Tuesday nights, I rarely showed up for Sunday morning runs. For part of the year I was also a regular at running groups on Wednesday and Thursday nights, but my attendance trailed off when I started a job in August. I still need to work on consistency.
2017 Goal: I will do regular strength training. I enjoyed my kettle bell workouts in 2016, so I'll get back into those. I'll also dust off my pilates machine and use it. I have dumbbells and resistance bands too, so I can do a variety of strength workouts at home.
Outcome: I started out the year with regular, but not completely consistent, strength workouts using kettle bells or the pilates machine. Injuries sustained in the spring and summer interrupted the workouts, and I never got back into the groove in the latter half of the year.
2017 Goal: I will run in at least 2 new countries, achieving full membership status in the Marathon Globetrotters. I'm currently at 8 countries, which gives me provisional (non-voting) membership. I need to get to 10. I will earn both Italy (Rome Marathon) and France (Paris Marathon) in April on back-to-back weekends.
Outcome: Success. I ran in 3 new countries. In addition to Italy and France, I checked off China, running the Hefei International Marathon in November.
2017 Goal: I will improve my average marathon finish time. I do not expect a PR this year. This is a rebuilding year. As much as I'd love to earn a PR, a more realistic goal is to focus on running a marathon in 5:15 or less. Once I do that, I can set my sights on a PR.
Outcome: Not achieved. I was actually doing great with speed gains up through May, but then I injured my calf in June, and then reinjured it in September. I think I would have earned both a marathon and half marathon PR if not for the injuries.
2017 Goal: I will plan my approach to completing the World Marathon Majors. I still need to finish three of these: Tokyo, London, Boston. I won't run any of these in 2017, but I can plan for 2018. Tokyo and London are lottery/ballot entries, and I may enter those lotteries, or I may make plans to run one of these marathons with a tour group. As for Boston, until I really improve my fitness and seriously train for it, my best chance of running Boston is through charity. That's probably not going to happen in time for the 2018 Boston Marathon. But in 2017 I'll start making my plans for the remaining Majors.
Outcome: Not achieved, and I won't be running any Majors in 2018. I was not selected for the Tokyo or London lotteries. Later this year I will most likely register to run 2019 Tokyo as a charity runner. And I will look into 2019 London through Marathon Tours. Boston will wait.
Even though I fell far short of meeting my goals, I still feel like I accomplished some things this year:
This was a year of transition for me. Things went well while I had more time on my hands (there were some months when I was not employed). Things did not go as well when my new job took away from my free time, and when I sustained injuries. In 2018, barring injury, I plan to pick up where I left off. I'll post about my 2018 goals soon in a separate blog post.
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| Finishing the Medina Half Marathon a couple minutes under goal time, knowing that a half marathon PR would come soon....but it didn't come due to injuries. |
2017 Goal: I will focus on consistent running. Starting no later than February, after my move, I'll run on Tuesday nights with the Columbus Westside Running Club (CWRC). I'm also going to run with them on Sunday mornings as part of their half and quarter marathon training program. I'll log extra miles on several Sundays to get into marathon shape.
Outcome: While I did become a regular at CWRC Tuesday nights, I rarely showed up for Sunday morning runs. For part of the year I was also a regular at running groups on Wednesday and Thursday nights, but my attendance trailed off when I started a job in August. I still need to work on consistency.
2017 Goal: I will do regular strength training. I enjoyed my kettle bell workouts in 2016, so I'll get back into those. I'll also dust off my pilates machine and use it. I have dumbbells and resistance bands too, so I can do a variety of strength workouts at home.
Outcome: I started out the year with regular, but not completely consistent, strength workouts using kettle bells or the pilates machine. Injuries sustained in the spring and summer interrupted the workouts, and I never got back into the groove in the latter half of the year.
2017 Goal: I will run in at least 2 new countries, achieving full membership status in the Marathon Globetrotters. I'm currently at 8 countries, which gives me provisional (non-voting) membership. I need to get to 10. I will earn both Italy (Rome Marathon) and France (Paris Marathon) in April on back-to-back weekends.
Outcome: Success. I ran in 3 new countries. In addition to Italy and France, I checked off China, running the Hefei International Marathon in November.
2017 Goal: I will improve my average marathon finish time. I do not expect a PR this year. This is a rebuilding year. As much as I'd love to earn a PR, a more realistic goal is to focus on running a marathon in 5:15 or less. Once I do that, I can set my sights on a PR.
Outcome: Not achieved. I was actually doing great with speed gains up through May, but then I injured my calf in June, and then reinjured it in September. I think I would have earned both a marathon and half marathon PR if not for the injuries.
2017 Goal: I will plan my approach to completing the World Marathon Majors. I still need to finish three of these: Tokyo, London, Boston. I won't run any of these in 2017, but I can plan for 2018. Tokyo and London are lottery/ballot entries, and I may enter those lotteries, or I may make plans to run one of these marathons with a tour group. As for Boston, until I really improve my fitness and seriously train for it, my best chance of running Boston is through charity. That's probably not going to happen in time for the 2018 Boston Marathon. But in 2017 I'll start making my plans for the remaining Majors.
Outcome: Not achieved, and I won't be running any Majors in 2018. I was not selected for the Tokyo or London lotteries. Later this year I will most likely register to run 2019 Tokyo as a charity runner. And I will look into 2019 London through Marathon Tours. Boston will wait.
Even though I fell far short of meeting my goals, I still feel like I accomplished some things this year:
- I completed 30 races: 5 marathons; 8 half marathons; 1 10-miler; 1 quarter marathon; 2 10Ks; 1 5-miler; 3 4-milers; 1 7K; and 8 5Ks. Also, I ran two untimed, organized events that were each approximately a 5K distance.
- I did regular speed work for several months and saw real pace improvements. I got very close to earning PRs in the 5K, 4-miler, 10K and half marathon before my injury in June. This tells me that speed work works, and I will get back to it in 2018.
- I paced three half marathons, and committed to pacing my first marathon in 2018. I continue to enjoy helping other runners to achieve their goals.
- I became a Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Level 1 running coach. This goal was unplanned, but when the opportunity to take a local certification course came up, I jumped on it.
- I volunteered and crewed for Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Run. What a great experience it was to be part of this event. If I wasn't in awe of ultra runners before this, I certainly was afterward. And maybe...maybe I will consider running a 50 miler in the next year or two.
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| About to finish Maratona di Roma in April on a cold, rainy day; Italy was one of three new marathon countries for me, and even if the weather wasn't ideal and the cobblestones were tricky, I loved my run through the Eternal City |
This was a year of transition for me. Things went well while I had more time on my hands (there were some months when I was not employed). Things did not go as well when my new job took away from my free time, and when I sustained injuries. In 2018, barring injury, I plan to pick up where I left off. I'll post about my 2018 goals soon in a separate blog post.
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