2011 Running and Racing Year in Review

The weather was beautiful for December 31st and the First Night 5K.  The temperature at 4 pm was 59F but pretty windy.  Since the race fell on Saturday, my regular long run day, I decided to go ahead and run earlier in the day.  I ran 15.5 trail miles and then ran 2.5 miles with Hugh before the race.  I didn't feel rested during the warm up so didn't expect to run very well for the 5K.  My overall time was 20:59, average 6:40 pace, and pretty even splits and actually passed quite a few people at that pace.  My time was over 2 minutes slower than my usual time for this race.  I was 28th overall out of 364 runners and 4th in my age group.  I was so glad for it to be over, but then went out and ran 3 more miles to cool down.  I ended up with 24 miles for the day so an enjoyable last day of running for the year.  I was feeling quite hungry and fuzzy brain after the cool down run.

Goals accomplished for 2011 - I set as a goal to get my bulging disc healed or have surgery to fix it since it was interfering with getting full enjoyment out of life.  Thankfully, the surgery was a success and I recovered quickly.  I had some goal races but did not do them - 3 Days of Syllamo and Burning River 100 miler.  I was recovering from surgery during Syllamo and not ready for Burning River so did not sign up for either.  I had hoped to do more cross training and I actually did while recovering from surgery, but did not keep it up after.  I had my worst year for weight lifting since I started in 2001.  I used to be consistent every week and missed months of training this year.  I wanted to take 2 - 3 short breaks from running during the year with 4 - 7 consecutive days of no running.  My first break was almost 6 weeks recovering from surgery.  I also took 4 full days off in October after my 100 miler.

I had a 30 day streak where I ran every day but this is not something I would want to do 365 days per year.  I did this as a short term challenge and to kick start my training for the 100 miler I ran in October. I had not planned to run a 100 miler this year.  I was hoping to run either a 50 miler or 100K, but training was going so well I decided to run the 100 mile.  I had very enjoyable year of running, no injuries (other than recovering from surgery) and did not feel too burned out at any point.  The hardest challenge this year was not running for almost 6 weeks and then getting back in shape.

Total Miles:
2011 - 2460
2010 - 2839
2009 - 2675
2008 – 3014
2007 – 2572
2006 – 1937
2005 – 2090
2004 - ~1000

Marathons (25 total):
2011 - (2) Berryman Trail Marathon, Heart of America Marathon (BQ)
2010 - (2) Go! St Louis Marathon (BQ), Heart of America Marathon (BQ)
2009 - (5) Disney Marathon (BQ and Sub-3 hr), 3 Days of Syllamo (Trail), Boston Marathon (BQ and Sub-3 hr), Heart of America Marathon (BQ and Course PR), Louis & Clark Marathon (BQ and Sub-3 hr)
2008 - (4) Boston Marathon (BQ and PR), Laughing Out Loud Marathon, Heart of America Marathon (BQ), Twin Cities Marathon (BQ)
2007 - (5) Laughing Out Load, Berryman (First Trail Marathon - placed
4th), Heart of America (BQ), Baltimore Marathon (BQ), Bass Pro
Marathon
2006 - (3) Flying Pig (BQ), Heart of America (BQ, Chicago (BQ)
2005 - (3) Mad City, Heart of America (BQ), Portland (BQ)
2004 - (1) Heart of America

Ultramarathons (20 total):
2011 - (5) Psycho Wyco 50K, Grand Canyon 47 mi, Psycho Psummer 50K, Rock Bridge Revenge 50K, Pumpkin Holler 100 mi (PR)
2010 - (6) Psycho Wyco 50K, Free State Trail 100K (PR), Kettle Moraine 100 mi (PR), Flatrock 50K, Rock Bridge Revenge 50K, Ozark Trail 100 mi
2009 - (4) 3 Days of Syllamo 50 mi, Psycho Wyco 50K, Berryman 50 mi, Q50 Ultramarathon 50K (PR)
2008 – (4)3 Days of Syllamo 50K, 3 Days of Syllamo 50 mi, Berryman 50 mi, Rock Creek Trail 50K
2007 - (1) Hocking Hills Indian Run 60K

Number of each type of races for 2011:
100 mi -1
47 mi (Grand Canyon Run) - 1
50K - 3
Marathon – 2
16 mi (part of relay) - 1
Half Marathon - 1
20K - 1
10 mi -2
10K - 4
5 mi - 1
4 mi - 1
5K -8

Total running miles run in 26 races: 416 miles (last year 25 races – 509 mi)

States I ran marathons and ultras in 2011 (4): AZ, KS, MO,OK
All states I have run marathons and ultras (14): AR, AZ, FL, IL, LA, KS, MA,MD, MN, MO, OH, OK, OR, WI

2011 PRs in 4 mi, 10K, 100 mi
2010 PRs in 1 mi, 4 mi, 10 mi, half marathon, 3/4 marathon, 100K, 100 mi
2009 PRs in 5K, 25K, half marathon, and 50K
2008 PRs in 5K, 5 mi, 10K, 10 mi, marathon, 50K, 50 mi
2007 PRs in 5K, 4 mi, 8K, 5 mi, 10K, 10 mi
2006 PRs in 20K, half Marathon, and marathon

Goals for 2012:
1.  Continue weight lifting 2 - 3 times per week as soon as I finish painting the inside of the house (hopefully within the next 2 weeks).

2.  Correct the issue with my right foot turning in when I run.  This isn't causing major problems yet, but it is bad form that could cause problems so need to fix.  Either need a hip adjustment or possibly some exercises.

3.  Do more speed work.  I run short races but would like to also run a  speed session when I am not doing races (which is rare).

4. Take 2 - 3 short breaks from running during the year with at least 3 - 4 consecutive days of no running.

5.  More biking as cross training.


Marathons and ultras planned for 2012 -
January - No plans
February - Post Oak Challenge Double (already registered)
March - 3 Days of Syllamo (50K, 50 mi, also 20K) (already registered)
April - Free State 100K?
May - Berryman Trail 50 miler (already registered)
June - Run a 50 miler?
July - Psycho Summer 50K?
August - Burning River 100 mi (already registered)
September - Heart of America Marathon (already registered), maybe a 50K
October – Maybe a 50K or the C2C 39.3 mile or the Backyard Ultra in Tennessee
November - Ozark Trail 100 mile
December - No plans