Summary of your year in running

[Jennifer Schmidt]

I like this post!

This past year, especially the last 7 months have all been high points from a running standpoint.  I have learned to run hills since moving from flat Florida to Georgia.  I have set personal bests in the 5K, 5 miler, 10K, half marathon and most recently the marathon.  I consistently ran 50 plus mile weeks, which I didn't know I could even do and even hit 60 miles, my final week before tapering for Jacksonville.

I really want to focus on the positive, therefore I am just going to add that I want to continue running strong and setting personal bests.  I am hoping to get back up to those 50 mile weeks by the end of the month and just want to enjoy my running and move closer to my personal goal of qualifying for Boston.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

[Burt McCumber]

How fun to read through all these and see the ones that I could put on my list.  Nice to know I'm not alone.
High Point Losing 20 lbs at the beginning of the year and basically PR'ing in every race I entered.
Low Point Gaining 10 lbs at the end of the year. 

[Chris de Vos]

Highs: Actually getting started with a real plan and learning to enjoy long aerobic miles; 15th place in a small, local relay race was fun, especially with no expectations going in.

Lows: The two races I actually paid solid money for, I bonked in. Building my aerobic system to avoid that in the future!

2010 Goals: Biggest one is to run high enough mileage without getting injured, and balancing the running with everything else (God, school, personal relationships) that should take higher precedence. Other than that, I'd like to PR in all distances, which I feel confident I can do. 

[dave rockness]

"Highs":  Running Boston Marathon, got great mileage in (over 3,000), several pr's, travelling with family to run races, and seeing my children get interested in running.

"Low's":  Bad timing on illness/injuries- 2 weeks w/strep throat right before Boston, sprained ankle 5 days before 20k (still pr'd), achilles injury before Fall Marathon + horrible weather (still pr'd by 1 min), sprained ankle 1 day before next half marathon (pr'd in pace for distance), ankle/achilles pain before Thanksgiving Marathon (totally bonked), then rested/felt so great that I hurt myself on the day after Christmas.

The high's have kept me hooked and the low's have given me life lessons.  I hope to use new found wisdom to assist me in my training habits for 2010 (no "speedwork" on trails, be willing to skip a race if injured, ease way back into training).  The blog's been very encouraging...thanks guys!

[James Moore]

High points: many, many good races. I'd say that this year I've gotten quite a lot of injuries, but I still ran more than ever, had tons of PRs and good places. I attribute that to really taking pressure off of myself to come back to fast from injuries. So I'm glad I've learnt that.

Low Points: My low point was way back in January when my foot just would heal. Then there was the 10th mile of RnR seattle, when I had no idea how I was going to keep going for another 16 more.

[Scott Hughes]

High's:
First full year of running
5 marathons
5 half marathons
Bronze medal- World Senior Games
BQ- 3:28:26
competed in 19 races
Low's:
Ran 5 marathons! too many in a year
Did too much in the late Spring with 2 marathons 5 weeks apart and ran marathon distances the weeks in between.
Worst marathon was Salt Lake- calves cramping for the last 11 miles.
Frustrated over not getting a Boston Qualify until the last marathon I ran for the year that I hadn't planned on running.....
Goals for 2010:
Run fewer miles with better focus on speed.
Run 2 marathons. Ogden & St. George
Have more fun!
Stay healthy
Keep my body in shape and work on getting my marathon time down to 3:15.

[Matthew Rowley]

Highs
    PR at the following distances 10K, Half Marathon, and Marathon
    I took almost 10 minutes of my Half marathon time, and 30 minutes off my Marathon
    Ran 2 marathons Ogden 3:15, and St George 3:01 my previous best and only Marathon was Top of Utah 3:34
Lows
    Droping a drill on my foot 4 weeks before the St George
    Not PR in the 5K the only distance I didn't PR this year

Goals for 2010
    Run a Sub 3 hour marathon, 
    Run 2000 miles
    Stay injury free
    Not get laid off from my job,   

[Mikal Epperson]

Highs:
        *8 marathons
        *4 half marathons
        *first ultra: 50k race
        *Qualified for Boston
        *Ran the Grand Slam for the 3rd. year (something you can do without getting injured if you're a slower runner like me!)
        *Stayed injury-free
Lows:
       *....Can't think of any...I'll have to think this through more...

[Burt McCumber]

Mikal - you didn't get stung by a bee or anything?

[Mikal Epperson]

No bee stings, but definitely the runners bug.  No known cure yet, just more mileage and upcoming races will have to do.   

[paul]

What an amazing year (actually first year) running for me firsts all around from my first 5k in March to first h/m in April  and everything since just keep my motivation as well as desire to keep improving at a maximum.Looking forward to more success in the upcoming year

[James Winzenz]

High: running Del Sol with Burt and his team
Lows: everything else - getting injured and having to stop running for several months (and subsequently missing SGM), gaining a bunch of weight

2010 Goals: get healthy again, lose all the weight I gained, run in some local 5K's through 1/2 marathons, but no marathons for me this year.  I will try again for a marathon in 2011.