End of the year, part 1

One of my very favorite parts of the end of the year is tallying my running mileage, considering my goals-met, and thinking of goals for the next year. It’s very exciting to look back and relive the good and the not-so-good from the year. Inevitably I scroll through my pictures month by month with a huge smile on my face. 

“Oh, I forgot about that race”

“I can’t believe I PR’d in that humidity”

“Thank goodness I didn’t give up and just swam through the tears”

Obviously this year is really different. 

I’m struggling to reconcile how happy I am in what I did accomplish running, with how terribly disappointed I am in what happened to my knee, with how proud I am of my recovery so far. 

It’s impossible to come up with one primary feeling to cover it all...so I decided to not try and reconcile the feelings. I’ll let them be separate and not equal. 

As A Runner

As a runner I had a great year. It ended on 7/31 with a total of 862 miles. But up until then I really had an incredible year that I was mostly ridiculously proud of!

I came in 1st female in a 5K:

This was also a PR for me. My plan from here was to break 23:00, but, you know, best laid plans. I never thought I’d see a sub-30:00 at one point in my life, so I’ll take this PR and think proudly of it. 

I PR’d in a marathon and broke the elusive (for me) 4:30:00 in horribly frigid temperatures, on the road no less. 

The Rock n Roll DC Marathon was not my favorite marathon course-wise, and with the knowledge I gained I could run a better marathon in the future for sure, but I did what I set out to do and am damn proud.

I guided Alex in the Boston Marathon

I went from my best marathon in DC to my worst in Boston. I’m still so sad that this was how it went. I’m disappointed that I could not be a better guide for Alex who felt very strong the whole time, but it was really not a good day for me. I will be happy knowing I was there to see it all and experience the honor of running Boston. 

I completed a half-Ironman

This...

This was my favorite, most “holy shit I just did that” moment. I hope I don’t forget how great that felt, because looking at the pictures I still get all fluttery-hearted and excited and I feel it still. I finished this in 96 degree heat, on the road (Maryland), by myself, cried through half the swim, loved the whole bike part, and completed the whole race very smart. I felt strong at the end, and my goal was to finish feeling good. And I did. Ironically 4 days after this, I was told how devastating my knee damage was. 

Such a strange juxtaposition. 

My last race was a destination race...something that I planned to do more of, but at least I got one in!

I flew myself to Oregon to visit a college friend and ran the Twilight Half Marathon. She and her husband ran their longest runs ever by doing the 10K and overall it was an amazing experience for us all. 

And then the Philly running community rallied around me and went on a final run with me before my first surgery this summer. 

To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. I still couldn’t understand how not-running would work out for me. It seemed so incomprehensible. It still is. But the support I have had is amazing. 

My last run was short and sad and certainly nothing to write home about...

...but it was my last run. And at the time I couldn’t imagine not running ever again. 

But here I am, 5 months later, doing really well and looking forward to my next adventures. 

Not going to lie...this all makes me so sad. But it also makes me SO happy. 

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my year as a runner!