Looking Back to Look Forward

What can I say, 2016 was an adventure that is for sure. Everything from joy to pain, progress to setbacks, 2016 certainly didn't hold back. 

• I ended 2015 registering to run the Shamrock 15k with some friends. Mind you, at the time I didn't run at all and I had only done one "race" that year, and it was a simple 5k that I walked. While I eventually had to admit that I would only be able to walk the 8k, Shamrock became the starting point of 10 races I would do in 2016, including a half marathon!
• Can we talk about that Half-Marathon for a minute? I freaking did a Half-Marathon! 13.1 miles, 21km, 69217.5 feet! I did it 21 and half minutes faster than the half-marathon I did on 2010. And while the journey to get there was full of frustration and pain, the sense of accomplishment is amazing. I will forever be proud of that day. 
• Speaking of frustration, pain really is the most obnoxious teacher there ever is. The 2nd half of 2016 found myself doing 17 weeks of physical therapy to heal from some unexplained back pain. While we never were able to figure out what triggered it in the first place, I did learn a lot physically to strengthen and hopefully prevent a recurrence. The team helped me not just get to a place where I was physically able to do that half-marathon, and be at full functionality in normal everyday life, they also helped me stayed mentally in the game. And did I mention the friendships that have happened because of that time. See you at Bitter Runners Wednesday Don.
• Last week I had to skip my weekly Bitter Runners walk, the last one of 2016. While I have missed several since I started almost a year ago, this is the first one I missed due to illness and not because I was out of town or at work. It was really disappointing, like seriously it actually made me a little sad to take the weekly picture and then watch them all run off into the night while I just sat inside waiting for them to come back. I hear this is one of signs that says I have made it as a "runner". But seriously, my fellow Bitter Runners are some pretty dang amazing people and I am a better "athlete" for knowing them.

While I am hesitant to call something a "New Years Resolution", I certainly can't reflect to much on the accomplishments of the past year without searching my heart and setting some goals for the coming year.

• Shamrock 8k- 2017: I toyed with the idea of doing the 15k that I couldn't last year, but ultimately I really want to repeat a race and be able to see side my side what a full year of training can do. Goal is a time of 75 minutes, which would mean shaving off about 10 minutes from last years time. Oh and a smile at the end. I honestly want to cross that finish line not nearly as pissed as I was last time. 
• 14 min/mile. There have been a few time isolated times where I have managed to get my walking pace almost to the 16 min/mile mark, but I really want to get that number a lot smaller. While 2016 was about consistency, 2017 will be about speed. I want to be fast. This should be interesting. 
• Join Stacey for a Miller Woods Trail run before she moves. She has invited me many times, and I keep turning her down because well, I don't want to hold her back, and because she is crazy and does the loop twice. I'm gonna do it though, somehow I will. 
• Start rising early and beating the enemy to the punch.