6 miles on the bluff trail from jensen park. kind of a crap run. i've been fighting a cold off and on since just after Thanksgiving, and not sleeping well and it's catching up with me. fortunately though, i have achieved my goal of RUNNING EVERY SINGLE DAY IN 2012, so i'll be taking tomorrow off. i'll write up a recap of the year, with fun stats and stuff later. but i just want to say now that each and every mile logged on my blog is an actual running mile, as opposed to a converted - i took my dogs for a hike - i went shopping at the mall - mile. all of my miles have been run outside as well (i haven't been on a treadmill in over three years. i kind of miss the treadmill for the great speed work!). this has been by far the most miles i've run in a one year period. this year also included my highest mileage month (August - 352 miles) and pr's in the half and full marathon. i am so grateful with how well everything went this year, and that i've stayed relatively healthy and injury free. i'm very grateful for Fast Running Blog, which really adds an element of fun to being a runner, and is an invaluable source of experience and information.

3,083.3 miles for the year. about 8.4 mile a day avg. 59 mile a week avg.

i took advantage of my one mile a day requirement just once, in january after some dental work i had done. i waited until evening and ran a gentle mile on the track. my longest run was the Salmon marathon @ 26.2 miles.

here's a breakdown of how many days i ran each specific distance. a whole number reflects a range of that number through .9. for example any days that i ran 10 to 10.9 miles i simply record as "10" .

miles    #days

  1        1

  2        7

  4        35

  5        31

  6        33

  7        36

  8        45

  9        10

10        59

11        18

12        24

13        11

14        13

15        2

16        4

17        3

18        6

19        1

20        3

26.2     1

this breakdown makes clear that i need to work a lot more long running into my training! it also shows that i really like 10 mile runs. also, 220 days were LESS than 10 miles per day, 145 days were 10 or MORE miles per day.

running everyday really put me in tune with my body. i learned that my muscles have very short term memory, thus i kept my mileage pretty high right up until the marathon i ran in september, running 72 miles the week before (off a peak of 85 miles), i always thought long drastic tapers were more harm than good, and ending the week of the marathon, including the race, with 65 miles. i put in a 40 mile week following the marathon and felt great. i'm strong, i just need to figure out how to conjure some speed out of my body. so my focus in 2013 will be on endurance and speed. go figure.

i also learned that for me, minor injuries, pains, niggles etc. are better served with active rest, ie; short easy runs, rather than complete inactivity.

i also learned that excuses are basically lame. i know now that if i want to run, i will. if i don't want to run, i won't. simple.

up until october i was feeling really good about how easy it was to run everyday, and believed i was going to breeze through the year. around the middle of october i started feeling some burnout, mental burnout. but it was minor and easy to deal with each day. except one morning when i had changed into my running clothes and sat down...for twenty minutes...just not wanting to move, not wanting to step out the door and run. it was probably the hardest time i've ever had getting going. i wasn't sore or injured, or even tired, i just had no will to get going. it was a little spooky. luckily, it was during a full moon (or big moon anyway), and i happened to look out the window and saw this huge orange moon just hanging low in the western sky, something about that sight just made me jump out of the chair and out the door. as is the case in 99% of my runs, i felt terrific after just a few steps, and my little drama was quickly forgotten. that morning illustrated for me the fact that you've just got to get going, moving, without thinking about it, no matter how unwilling the mind and body feel. almost without fail the body and mind instantly jump on board and go with you, but you're the one who has to start. often times the only way to start is to just turn off the brain and go through the motions - once you're out there, everything falls into place.

that being said, i did struggle with motivation these last few weeks. a combination of winter weather, sleep issues associated with a couple of colds in a row, and my brain insisting on principle that it deserved a day off if it wanted one, made finishing up with the goal not as pleasant as i thought it was going to be back in september when i was riding high.

i made this goal because i've always slacked. the previous three years on this blog before 2012, i was taking an average of 80+ days off a year. i knew the only way to get more consistent was to make the goal of running everyday. like most things in life, once you make a choice to do something, everything sort of works in your favor towards accomplishing that goal. even with the many obstacles thrown my way during the year, regular life stuff, the fact that i would run each day was never in question. however, if i hadn't wanted to run each day, i wouldn't have.

now that i've completed my goal of running everyday in 2012, i plan on taking it real easy for most of january. like real easy. i anticipate several days off and maybe 120-150 miles for the month. then february i'll start training up for the moab 1/2 in the middle of March. i will hopefully run a marathon this year too - but don't plan on entering any other races. i'm hoping that i can stay consistent (after january) throughout the year, continue to increase my mileage and improve my speed. i'm planning on really giving racing a serious effort in 2014. i'll turn fifty years old in April of 2014 and want to do well in my age group at that point.

well, this is getting long winded and indulgent. i applaud anyone who has read this tale of mediocrity all the way through. hopefully in the next couple of years i'll have some real running accomplishments (much faster 1/2 and full marathons!) to report on.

WT 56.3 miles

three seventy-two