As 2019 winds down, reflecting on the last year’s progress has been a heart warming experience. This was the first year I set very ambitious goals for my running, and there will be no humble this or humble that skirting around things. I smashed my goals and then some, and it feels pretty great. I’ve hereby dubbed this my golden year in running. My husband called it my “Grand Canyon Year,” which I love in all its over-the-topness.
The goals I started with at the beginning of the year (as posted to Strava, January 4, 2019):
- Run a sub four-hour marathon (PR was 4:13:57 from Baltimore in October 2018)
- Run a 7:00 mile (previous best was 7:30)
- Run (and finish) my first ultra
- Connect more with other runners
Sub Four
I planned to knock this one out pretty quick at Louisiana Marathon in Baton Rouge in January. The official result: 3:48:27. I ran another sub-4 in Atlanta a couple of months later on a very hilly course (no PR, but I’ll take 3:58:38 on terrain like that!). A few months more, and I ran Missoula Marathon in 3:37:20, a nice PR and a BQ.
If you look at my whole marathon history, it’s kind of crazy. For my first 26.2, I clocked a 4:51:34 at Indy Monumental. My slowest race was my second marathon, a painful 5:40:45 at Cincinnati’s Flying Pig in 2014. Had you told me then if I would one day rebound and go sub four, I would not believe it. But my whole mindset has shifted. I believe in crazy leaps because I’ve lived them. I went from “I will never BQ” to “Maybe when I’m 45 or 50…” to “Why not now?”
7:00-Minute Mile
Until 2019, I’d not really done any speed work. I had dabbled once with trying to shave time off my mile back in 2016 during a Runner’s World Run Streak from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. To give some context, I pushed and pushed trying to get under 8:30, and it took me the entirety of that streak to get there. I wasn’t doing work outs, just trying to run harder. Despite my lack of strategy, on 1/1/2016, the very last day of the streak, I finally dipped under my mark with an 8:25 mile.
At the beginning of ’19, a 7:30 mile already felt like a big stretch. I’d only recently hit that mark on 12/27/18. My thinking was that later in 2019 after working on higher speed at distance all year, I would focus on short and (hopefully) even faster. If all went well, I’d be ready for that 7-minute mile in November or December. On January 9, 2019, on a training run for Louisiana, I ran a 7:23 in the last mile of a 6-miler. I wasn’t yet focused on this goal, but it was just happening. It cracked things open in my mind. Maybe this will come sooner than I thought…
Fast forward to 2/21/19. It wasn’t any special day. I was about a month removed from Louisiana, and had added the quick turn around marathon in Atlanta. Training flowed straight from one to the next. Again, unexpectedly, in the middle of a run, it felt like go time and I said yes, let’s see where this goes. I ran a 6:55. It was mile 4 in the middle of a five-miler. Well, okay then. Lesson #1: believe anything is possible and #2: allow for surprises. Had I tried to plan this out or control the process, I bet this goal would have happened much later.
Since then I’ve gotten down to 6:23 (can you guess what one of my 2020 goals is?).
Ultra
I’ve already written about this one extensively in a race recap and recovery post, so I’m not going to wax on about what happened. I’ll just say that this goal kind of scared the hell out of me and it took several years to work up the courage to go for it. For me, this was not just a 2019 goal, but a life goal. Qualifying for Boston was the same. Two major life goals in one year.
That leaves finishing a marathon in all 50 states as my last long term running goal left standing. Which feels kind of cool, but also throws me off kilter. What’s next to guide and push me? I’m that sort. I need things out of reach, scary things to strive toward.
Running Community
While I do love solo runs, there came a point where I just wanted more community in running. I didn’t know exactly what that looked like. In 2017, I joined a women’s running group, the Oiselle Volée. I spent the first year of membership thinking about attending a group run or event, but not doing it. Eventually I put myself out there and I am so very grateful I did. In the past year, I met some amazing women locally and at races around the country that I am sure will be life long friends.
These women inspired me to try new things. I ran my first relay with teammates, which ended up being my first time on the podium. Volée showed me the ropes at my first ever track meet, and I fell in love. I went to Big Bird Camp, where I rekindled my writing flame, ran massive hills, ate the best food, and reveled in the company of strong, interesting women from all over. I got out of my comfort zone and found my run crew. To be my age and feel that team vibe again that I so enjoyed as a young kid on sports teams—it has been an unexpected and wonderful thing.
So, what’s next?
For right now, I am still working on my 2020 run goals. This could be my peak. At 41, almost 42, maybe I’m near the end of PRs and golden anythings. But I don’t think so. I choose to believe there is more. I am ready to keep digging in, reaching up, and running long. Let’s see where the path goes.
#WriteAsRun Prompt No. 3: Year in Review
Reflect on your year in running. Before thinking about goals for a new year, give what has come to pass its proper due. What stood out for you this year? The highlights, the lowlights, and everything in between. Some ideas to get you started: write a story, make a list, or share your top five photos.
December 30, 2019