2016 is almost over and I’m about to head out the door for its last run, but I just wanted to do a quick review post. Also, I baked a lot this year and ate a lot of ice cream.

Q1: I started off the year in physical therapy, still unable to run without significant bursitis pain. I was taking a fair amount of barre and spin classes to try and keep my strength and cardio fitness up.  I started a new job February 1st with slightly earlier hours, which definitely affected my desire for morning runs (once I could actually run), but which is otherwise great. I baked a LOT of cookies with all of that indoor time after getting a stand mixer in January and one of the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbooks as a Christmas gift (then buying the other for myself as well as a cookie dough scoop). And my first sour cream coffee cake. In March, I added some elliptical miles to the treadmill that were pain-free and figured I could try the Cherry Blossom 5K in April (since I couldn’t do the 10 Miler).

 

 

Q2: Cherry Blossom 5K went well (and we had a great DC weekend), so I slowly started upping my mileage. I skipped the Run As One but made it through the Japan Run and Healthy Kidney 10K. I went hiking in Shenandoah National Park and explored my old Virginia stomping grounds a bit. In mid-June, I ran a 10K PR at the Mini 10K. I kept baking and added Ooey Gooey Butter Cake to my repertoire. Oh, and my trivia team won a trip to Vegas. Said goodbye to Carla who moved to Chicago.

 

 

 

Q3: In July, I started marathon training. My ratio of parties I attended over parties I was invited to started to rapidly decline as I chose rest on the weekends before and after long runs. I met a lot of nice people in my running club during the weekend long runs. I dropped my ClassPass allotment from 10/month to 5/month then finally put it on hold in September after I struggled to get even 5 classes in. I ran a 5K PR at the Al Goldstein Speed Series in August, but wasn’t 100% sure it was a PR until I knew my time for sure and checked my old one from Memorial Day 2015. I went rock climbing weekly for over a month. I took trips to Vegas and Cancun and did my long runs on the treadmill, plus a quick trip to Richmond. I went hiking at Breakneck Ridge and managed to lose my train ticket on the ride up, but did not fall while hiking. Said Goodbye to Gabby as she moved to London.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q4: I ran the NYC Marathon! I also ran a Half Marathon PR in early October, then a 5-mile PR in late November, but 90% of my thinking and running effort was centered around the marathon. I ran my longest runs ever in October in preparation for the marathon and kept being struck by “I can’t believe I’m going to do this!”. I traveled to Chicago, DC, and then Richmond VA for the holidays and ran (outside, along a body of water) in each city.

 

 

 

2017 Running and Fitness Goals:

• PR in the 5K, 10K, 10 Mile, and Half Marathon. I’m running two 10 Milers in the spring (plus maybe Bronx in the fall) and have only done it once before in fall 2015 while injured, so I feel pretty good about my chances for that. I’d like to run a sub-2 hour Half Marathon, ideally at the NYC Half in March. I was hoping for that 10K PR in mid-December but the race was cancelled. I’ll see how I feel about scheduling a local 5K, but my current PR includes Zoo Hill, so I will look for a flat one.
• Move up a corral in the NYRR corral system. I’m in G, but should be able to get to F, hopefully by the middle of the year.
• Continue speed training classes as long as I remain uninjured.
• Use all of my ClassPass classes every cycle, no excuses. Put it on hold again if I have to because I refuse to waste the money.
• My 2015 strength goal that fell by the wayside in 2016 was to be able to do a pull-up. I feel like I’m further away than ever from this, but I think I can start to work toward it again.