My running year in review

My last run of the year was after the 5K race yesterday, a 2.5 mile jog home with R., a nice fitting way to finish 2007. This has been a fantastic year for my running. I've logged the most yearly mileage, having done 1,640 miles or 2,640 kilometres.

What a year it has been. I started it off slow, and even began the racing season well below my potential. I committed to doing my second marathon, then focused on my training with the Pfitzinger program. It was not easy: I had a longer work schedule, plus my working commute went from 30 minutes a day to two hours plus.

The training was tough, having me doing hard LT runs, track work, strides and a heavier mileage. It's easy to gloss over how much work it was while I type this sentence, but I remember the hot days, the 4 a.m. weekday medium-long runs, and trips up to the track after work. I barely slept but I knew it was the only way I'd make it up to my potential: a 3:20 marathon.

Along the way, I had a lot of memorable runs in the Washington DC area, getting to know the U.S. capital that R. was settling down in. I took a fairly non adventurous tact at home, sticking to my favourite routes, but the early mornings were perfect time for nice introspective.

I changed my approach to races and got great advice from bloggers like Fran, I treated some like LT runs and fit them in as a part of my training. Then the hard training paid off in dividends. I had faster finishes to races. And then when I did race in the month leading up to the marathon, my personal bests were set, first in the half marathon, then a 10K. The marathon came and I set another personal best and had a far better experience than Chicago.

New personal bests set this year
5K: 20:03 (21:44 previous PB)
10K: 41:21 (42:01 previous PB)
Half marathon: 1:31:33 (1:34:29 previous PB)
Marathon: 3:24:23 (3:35:15 previous PB)

Total mileage:
1640 miles / 2640 kilometres