Hapy New Year!! A Look back at 2008

My mom and I

It's a new year - 2009. One can't help but reflect on the past year while looking forward to the new one ahead. Today, I am looking back.

For 2008 - it has been a great year of running and life adventures. I am thankful each day for all the blessings I continue to enjoy in my life.

On the running front, it wasn't a big year for races or PRs - not as much as 2007 was. My guess is that 2007 was my second year of consistent running and I had a lot of room to grow. 2008 proved to be a little less consistent with my training, less races - but still some accomplishments over the past two years since I have started tracking my training.

2008 Running Goals:

I looked but couldn't find my running goals for 2008. As it turns out, when the New Year comes, I am still just about to run a race - I kind of consider the Disney Marathon as part of my previous year's efforts since most of the training takes place in the year leading up to the marathon. In general, I was seeking an improved 10K time with the Winter Park Road Race (I did better - but training got trumped by my work schedule) and I have sought out the 5 hour marathon (secret hope for San Antonio but it was not to be). I ran less races to focus on my training.

2008 Running Achievements:

I ran a total of 1066 miles in 2008 - more than I have in any other year.
My average weekly miles = 20.6 (highest) and highest week = 48 (highest)
My average monthly miles = 89 (highest) and highest month = 177 in Sept (highest)
My average long run pace in the fall was about 12:25 min/mile (fastest)

I ran 5 races this year:

Race 1: 2008 Disney World Marathon - I ran this race with my husband and set a course PR of 5:35. The very next day we signed up for the 2009 Goofy.















Race 2: Winter Park Road Race (10K) - I started a Higdon 10K training plan to PR at this distance, but was knocked off my training plan by a tough work schedule. I still squeaked out a PR by 3 sec at 1:03:57.

(No pictures at the 15K this year. None last year)
Race 3: Miracle Mile 15K - I used this as a marathon training run - trying to maintain my target marathon pace. I ran the race comfortably (not trying to push) and ended up missing a PR by 1 min.




(last year's picture - they missed me this year) Race 4: UCF 5 Miler - I like to run this race because it is near my house and 5 miles is a cool race distance. I was scheduled to run 15-16 miles for a long run so I ran 8 miles before the race (I ran to the race), then ran the 5 mile race at a much slower than PR pace (more a fast long run pace), then ran the 3 miles home.








Race 5: Rock n Roll San Antonio Marathon - I signed up for this inaugural race to participate with a good Texas friend of mine who was running her very first marathon for TNT. I was SO ready for the distance, but 2 days before the race came down with a nasty chest cold. I still ran a respectable 5:37 - and got really sick for the rest of the week....but I accomplished a lot during my training including my biggest training month ever in Sept (177 miles) averaging 44 miles / week.






So it appears that 2008 was a great running year. Next - 2009 goals!