2016 in review, e.g., why I think I have more to give!

I'm excited to report:  I think 2016 was my best running year as an adult!  Although it had a rocky start with a missed marathon and a tendon injury, it concluded with PRs in four distances, and I broke some significant barriers that I wasn't sure I'd ever beat.  Even better, I am healthy, I think I have more to give, and I'm wrapping up the year with some workout times I've never hit before (en route to a goal half in January and a goal full in February).

I ended the year with 2290.1 running miles according to Strava (and 42,710 feet of elevation gain!).  I’ve never set a yearly mileage goal, but it's fun to see what I end up with.  It’s nice to be over 2016 miles – and also to know I have more to give since I had 8 weeks of no running mileage in 2016.  Those weeks almost completely accounted for my cycling mileage total of 876, as I got a little obsessed with biking over 100 miles per week for a hot second (this quickly changed to 0 once I could run again, haha!).

I figured out my weekly mileage average - 2290 divided by the 44 weeks I was running - and it came out to be 52.05 miles per week.  If you count the 8 weeks I was off running and take 2290 divided by 52 total weeks in the year, it's only 44 miles per week average, so I like the first calculation better.  Now I might pay attention to this in 2017!

My race results (with disclaimers!) for the year are below.  I raced quite a bit – 19 times to be exact! – so there would have been no way for me to be at peak for all of them, and in fact I trained through more of them than not since my fall marathons were my big goals.  My performances early in the year showed that I was coming off an injury and didn’t have the mileage base I needed to run my best (looking at the big picture now, I’m not sure why I expected to race any better than I did on as little training as I’d had, but I guess I was hoping to ride on my 2015 fitness).  Overall, I’d say that I was at worst reasonably happy with my performance in every race from September on (I never seem to be completely satisfied with anything I run!), so I’ve listed them in reverse order.  PRs are bolded.  I also added my Garmin paces after my friend Liz did it on her 2016 running review, as I thought that was a clever idea, especially for the non-certified races!

Date	Race	Time	What was good	Why I have more to give*
Dec. 10	Christmas Mile “5K”	19:08; actual 5K was 18:30ish (5:57 pace)	I averaged 5:57 pace on my Garmin and won overall female.	The race director announced on the starting line that the course was long, so I know I can and did run better than my official time.  The course was mediocre (hair pin turn, two sharp turns you had to slow down for to avoid running into a brick planter or a tree, some elevation), so I know I can also go faster on a better course.  The windchill was 18 degrees, I didn’t rest for the race, and I’d run a hard mile less than 30 minutes before.
Dec. 10	Christmas Mile	5:34	I raced a mile “for fun” and without panicking!  The course was nice and I won overall female.	The windchill was 18 degrees (a little too cold to run fast!), most of the race was into a headwind, and I didn’t rest for the race.
Nov. 24	Joplin Turkey Trot 5K	18:42 (6:01 pace)	I ran in the 18’s on a certified course, the weather was great, and I won overall female.	The course had 160+ ft elevation gain, and I was 5 days off of a half marathon.
Nov. 19	White River Half Marathon	1:22:37 (6:18 pace)	Everything!  PR and strongest performance of my year!  If I don't find anything to be disappointed about, things were nearly perfect.  The course was perfect, the temperature was perfect (mid-30s), I ran a beautiful negative split, I won overall female, and I felt great.  I beat my 10K PR in the final 10K and my 15K PR in the final 15K.	I’m not sure I do…however, I am going to try!  I hope that running a larger event with other runners (and particularly other women) around me will help me run faster.  I guess in theory not being 13 days off my second marathon within a month should also help!
Nov. 6	Bass Pro Marathon	2:59:04 (6:44 pace)	I paced well and ran a nice negative split and strong final 10K, the weather was great, and I won 3rd overall female.  I ran my second sub-3:00 marathon 4 weeks after my first!	I ran 0.20+ over the course distance due a wrong turn in mile 20, which cost me a PR…and I am still very mad at myself about it.  This was my ‘B’ marathon so I didn’t peak for it (although my coach did work to find the formula for another sub-3:00 for me, and he did well), and the course was mediocre.
Oct. 22	Ozark Rotary Trick or Trot 5K	18:46 (6:02 pace)	I ran a 5K in the 18s and beat all the men and women!	It was 74 degrees, a tiny 5:00 p.m. race, and I trained through it, including a double on race day.
Oct. 15	Waddell & Reed Half Marathon (for training)	1:33:04 (7:02 pace/ training run)	I had fun and ran at a training-ish pace until the final 5K.  Unbeknownst to me until afterwards, I was 4th overall female in a huge race.	I didn’t race this one since it was 6 days after a marathon and I didn’t want to sabotage my recovery for my next marathon (I had a free entry or I wouldn’t have run it at all); I believe I'd have run about 10 minutes faster had I raced it, but I also might have bonked with Prairie Fire just on my legs.  I almost caught the 3rd female at the end so kind of wished I'd run the final 4 miles harder instead of just the final 3...or that I'd run it at my marathon pace since that would have gotten me the win.
Oct. 9	Prairie Fire Marathon	2:58:53 (6:47 pace)	Marathon PR and my first sub-3:00!  9th fastest marathon ever run by a female in the state of Kansas, and 3rd fastest for age group 35-39 (although only 4th overall in this race!).	I ran 20 miles of the race solo, the course was mediocre, and it was a tad too warm (55-60 degrees).  I had a horrible stomach bug that landed me in Urgent Care 10 days before the race, which certainly couldn’t have helped.
Sep. 18	Tiger Trot 15K	59:19 (6:20 pace)	PR and my first sub-1:00 15K, and beat all the men and women.	2 miles of the course were on horrible rocky dirt roads and those miles were significantly slower (30ish seconds) than all my others; without them I’d have easily been in the mid-58s.  It was 70 degrees, I ran solo from mile 4 on, and I was 4 days off of a 24 miler.  I ran faster in the final 15K of my half PR, so I know I’ve got more in me!
Sep. 5	Run for a Child’s Hunger 10K	38:43 (6:13 pace)	PR and my first sub-39:00 certified 10K!  I was 3rd female behind two pros.	It was Labor Day in Arkansas (hot and humid), the course had 220+ ft elevation gain, and I was 5 days off a 22 miler.  I ran faster in the final 10K of my half PR, so I know I’ve got that in me for an official one!
Sep. 3	K-Life “5K”	20:31; actual 5K was 19:20ish (6:13 pace)	I accomplished my goal of winning overall by running at 10K effort, and also nailed my 10K pace as shown two days later!	I didn’t run all-out because I wanted to save my legs for my 10K two days later.
July 23	Bentley Fund 5K	19:36 (6:12 pace)	……………………….. Well, I guess I did not bonk at mile 1.	I bonked at mile 2 and my final mile was slower than my half marathon pace.  It was hot and humid, but I’m not really sure why I ran so poorly or felt so horrible.  I didn’t rest for it, but it was only a 5K.
June 25	Sertoma Duck Waddle 5K	19:35 (6:18)	I beat all of the men and women, and won a gift certificate for free pet sitting!	I didn’t have anyone to run with, it was super warm and humid, I ran this as a progressive tempo during a long run, and I wasn’t rested.
June 4	River Run 10K	42:08 (6:43 pace)	This had the same final 2 miles as the Prairie Fire Marathon, and my Strava kindly told me that my best times on segments on that stretch were run in the marathon (that’s how bad the final 2 miles of this 10K were).  I did still win my age group.	I felt like death in this race and called it my Epic Fail of 2016.  I’d been in Chicago for work the week before, and I guess I just had nothing left to give.  I learned not to race under these circumstances again - something is always learned!
May 14	Scout Strong Half Marathon	1:29:04 (6:44 pace)	I ran this more for place than time, and accomplished my goal of winning overall female.  I also met a new friend who I've kept in touch with!	See “what was good.”  Also it was SUPER windy.
May 7	Bradleyville 5K	19:16 (Garmin would not work in the remote location - course splits were 6:14, 6:18, 6:03 but likely wrong)	It was a miracle I pulled this time off on 6.5 weeks of running training…although I’m skeptical that the course was accurate because I wasn’t in good enough shape to run this on the crazy hills of that course or really even on a good course (it was not certified).	This course was the hilliest 5K I’ve ever run, it was warm when we weren’t yet used to warm weather running, I was 6 days off of the Prairie Fire Half, and I wasn't in the best shape.
May 1	Prairie Fire Half Marathon	1:27:51 (6:42 pace)	It was a miracle I pulled this time off on 6 weeks of running training and after food poisoning on Thursday evening before the Sunday race; I was worried I wouldn’t break 1:30.  The temperature was nice and I ran a negative split.	Honestly this went as well as it could have considering; obviously having more training on my legs and not having food poisoning on Thursday would have helped.  Also it was windy as per usual in Kansas.
April 2	Big Party Half Marathon – Pace Group Leader	1:39:15; paced the 1:40 group (7:33 pace)	Pacer, free entry, great charity, and running at base pace to help others!  I ended up getting an age group award too.	Not racing was hard, and the course was a little short or I’d have been 1:39:5X (I was a good pacer, I promise!)!  My bicep got sore from carrying the pace sign.
March 26	Easter Sun Run 10K	41:13 (6:35 pace)	The only redeeming factor for this race was that I won $100.	I was a last-minute entry; I’d run a 6 mile tempo run at 6:26 pace a few days before this race on almost no running training (how exactly I am not sure! - was my Garmin off that day?!), but I quickly learned I was not in good enough shape to run a solid race with no rest before.

*I initially titled this section “What was bad”, but decided this title was more optimistic and also more consistent with my title!

I’m excited to say this:  2016 will be hard to top.  But I know I have more to give!  Will I always say this after every race?  Most likely!  There will always be age-graded bests to chase, right?

My 2015 race results are shown here.

I encourage everyone to go out and be your best in 2017!

Here are also my favorite running-related photos of 2016.  I probably don't have more to give as far as race photos go; I've given up on taking good running photos except during my warm-up!

We all ran an event at the Prairie Fire spring races

This one is photogenic

Race face in the Sparky Kids Mile, haha!

I was warming up so this photo is okay

Post-10K PR

Albani had a photo finish half mile after I ran my 15K PR

My first sub-3:00, at Prairie Fire

Post-marathon emotion & exhaustion

Fall Prairie Fire Kids Marathon = happier photos

Bass Pro Expo

My second sub-3:00, although I ran farther than 26.2, at Bass Pro

Half PR + double chin

White River Half awards

Proof I ran in the 18s in a certified 5K

Somewhere, someone colder than you is running

Week of December 12-18, 2016

Mileage: 56.1, with a fartlek, a double, a set of strides, a long run with a little workout, two bootcamps, and a bit of a sore throat/stuffy nose cold.  A bit of motivation is always, "Somewhere, someone busier than you is running,", but this week I changed "busier" to "colder", as I continued to talk myself into not being a winter wimp.  The cold weather didn't fatigue me as much as it did last week, which was a step in the right direction!

Snuggled up back in November when we had it good!

Monday - Cross-training manic Monday with 30 minutes on the elliptical to warm up and 45 minutes of bootcamp.  On Sunday evening I got a headache and sore throat, and I assumed I was run down from my weekend of two Saturday races plus a Sunday long run, all in not optimal weather.  I then woke up in the middle of the night with my throat feeling more sore, and thinking that I might not be going to bootcamp or to work on Monday.  However, when I woke up to my alarm, my headache was gone and my throat was much less sore, so I gargled with salt water and decided to give it a go.  I felt about normal for coming off a hard weekend.

Tuesday - 10.1 miles with the "Flipping Fartlek" workout:  3 miles warm-up, 6', 5', 4', 3', 2', 1' pushes with recoveries of 1', 2', 3', 4', 5, then cool-down to 10 miles.  This workout is weird because the recoveries are so short between the longer pushes, then so long between the shorter pushes.  It also forces you to positive split on your miles splits (due to your hard/easy proportions), which Miss Negative Split here does not like!  I kept all of my pushes sub-6:00 as was my goal (exact splits below).  I still had a sore throat but felt fine otherwise, and decided I couldn't really be sick or I wouldn't be running sub-6:00s on this.  Missy and I ran our warm-up together, and she also had a sore throat, so we decided that it was from our windy long run on Sunday and also possibly from talking for 15 miles while running in those conditions!  We talked much less on this run (she ran a hard tempo while I was doing my fartlek).

Flipping Fartlek living up to it's name

Wednesday - 12.3 miles total:  8.1 miles a.m. (7:45) with 547 ft elevation gain with Missy, and 4.2 miles runch (7:29).  I titled the morning run "Technical difficulties" on Strava, as it included the following:  me running late due to my cat puking twice right as I was about to leave, both Missy and I having almost dead batteries in our headlamps ("I hope there's no potholes on this road!"), me taking my hood on and off about 50 times in an attempt to regulate temperature, Missy giving me her jacket mid-run when she was hot and I was freezing, us being very indecisive about which way to turn after a pee break/jacket exchange, and Missy having to help me take off the jacket at the end of the run because my fingers were too cold to remove the cuffs!  We were quite the sight I think!  I enjoyed the run, we found a new hilly route that was exactly 8 miles, and my sore throat was gone (replaced by excessive nasal drainage!), so there were victories.  At lunch I ran from my office, and things went more smoothly.  The most embarrassing/amusing part of running from my office at lunch is running past the smokers gathered on the sidewalk just off the property line of our smoke free campus.

Any nutritionists out there, please tell me what/when to eat between my two runs to optimize recovery and performance (and minimize digestive issues) when I start the first around 5:30 a.m. and the second around 1:00 p.m.  This is a puzzle I am still figuring out!

Thursday - 8.2 miles with 6 or 7 x strides at the end (7:23).  I lost count of my strides as per 90% of the time.  I was solo on this run and got to start later than usual, at 6:45 a.m., so it was daylight!  I wish I could go into work at 9:00 a.m. every day!  I was still having a ton of nasal drainage on Thursday.

Friday - 3.1 mile shake out (7:30) and bootcamp.  Typically, I want to run farther than 3 miles when I have these short runs scheduled, but today was not one of those days due to the 20 mph wind!  The wind chill was 12 degrees, and I was okay with only being out for 23 minutes.

Saturday - 16.2 mile long run (7:17), with 10 miles steady, then for the first 1:00 of the last 6 miles I was supposed to pick it up to 6:30 pace, followed by the remainder of the mile at regular relaxed pace.  I ran this one solo, as none of us could quite coordinate.  Saturday was the first morning I woke up and didn't have to immediately blow 5 lbs of mucus out of my nose!

I stalked the hourly forecast multiple times on Friday to figure out the optimal time to start this run.  I almost couldn't believe the forecast, which had temperatures rising from 30 degrees on Friday afternoon to over 50 degrees from 2:00-7:00 a.m., and then dropping dramatically along with sleet/ice/freezing rain/snow and wind on Saturday.  I made the sensible decision to aim to finish my run before the temperature dropped dramatically, which was supposed to happen around 8 a.m.  I woke up at my normal time of 5:00 a.m. and started around 5:30 a.m.  It wasn't quite as warm as forecasted, but 44 degrees felt amazing!  I had my long sleeves rolled up for the first 9 miles, but then the wind picked up and the temperature started dropping.  It was also slightly drizzly, and really it was dark for the entire run, even after the sun came up.

At mile 10 I started my 1:00 pushes at the beginning of each mile, and I did not do very well with them.  My first one was a little fast but not too far off (6:16), but then in my subsequent ones I could not find 6:30 pace to save my life!  I'd push and suddenly be running 5:50 pace, then I'd try to not pick it up so much on my next and I'd be running 7:00 pace.  I couldn't find the nice in between on any of them.  On the last mile I was just ready to be finished so ended up running the whole mile in 6:38, but that was the only time I could find the 6:30s!  The pushes made me feel kind of wonky -- like end-of-the-marathon-need-sustenance wonky -- and I guess since they are supposed to help my body learn how to conserve glycogen then maybe they served the purpose.  It was just kind of a weird run, because I felt good but "off" at the same time.  I blame the weather.

Sunday - 6.2 recovery miles on the treadmill (7:46).  As much as I'm working to embrace winter, I'm not up for running in windchills of -15 with patchy ice on the road!  So on this morning, someone colder than me was running for sure (i.e., anyone running outdoors!).  When we were driving to church and I saw the road conditions on the back roads where I'd have run, I knew I made the right decision, as much as I do not prefer the treadmill.

Finally, the below post popped up on my Facebook memories this week.  I remember that tempo run, as I was training to break 1:30 in the half at the time (something I'd done 3 times before then, but I'd been out with an injury for a long while and was trying to get back to it).  I had a good laugh at it, because absolutely nothing has changed in regard to me always being hungry for a few more seconds!  But it also made me so appreciative of my progress since then, as last week I ran my 4 mile tempo run in 24:03 on the exact same course...and obviously wanted 4 more seconds. I ran a 1:29:5X half on 12/27/14 on a horrible weather day after that tempo run, so it also made me thankful for taking over 7 minutes off of that time in 2 years!  It makes my goal of taking 3 minutes off in the next year seem a little less crazy I guess (I will for sure need a good weather day, though!).