Goals
In January, my goals for 2016 were:
1. Run 3:15 in the Boston Marathon
2. Run a sub 19:00 5K
3. Incorporate core work 2x a week.
I poured everything into that first goal for the first 3.5 months of this year. When that was a flop, I revised my goal list:
1. Consistency
I am really proud of my consistency this year. Even with an injury that led to no running for a month, I logged more miles than 2015. I would like to continue to build on this in 2017. I also transitioned to becoming a morning runner for several months, which ended up gelling BEAUTIFULLY with my schedule. (Until ice and tons of snow messed it up this month!)
2. Strength training
Like core work, strength training is haphazard at best. Still have not incorporated either core/strength in a routine way, although have some momentum to build on from my participation in the #AMRStride plan
3. Break 19:00 in the 5K
CHECK! I ran 18:53 in the Run Tosa Run in May. Sadly, I did not run anymore sub 19 5Ks as I had a foot injury right before all my 5K races hit the calendar.
4. PR in the 8K
Womp Womp. My 8K time this year was 32:50, far off my 32:12 PR.
5. Do a half marathon and attempt a PR
CHECK and CHECK. My half marathon PR went from 1:33:23 to 1:29:14 !!!!
I ran 10 races this year, which is 2 more races than 2015.
January: Icebreaker Marathon Relay
My team came in first place! This was my first Oiselle Volee meet up and it was so much fun that I signed up for it in 2017.
April: Boston Marathon
3:31:49
1,497 in my age group
1,899 female finisher
8,240 overall finisher
Read my recap here.
May: Run Tosa Run 5K
18:53 (NEW PR!)
1st female
1st age group
8th overall
Recap here
June: Silver Lining for Kids 5K
19:17
2nd female
2nd age group
13th overall
Recap here.
July: Acuity Health Challenge 5K
20:38
4th female
1st age group
13th overall
Recap here.
July: Race for the Bacon 5K
19:49
2nd female
2nd age group
15th overall
Recap here.
August: Hank Aaron State Trail 5K
19:58
1st female
1st age group
31st overall
Recap here
September: Briggs and Als 8K
32:50
5th female
1st age group
58th overall
Recap here
October: Pink Pumpkin Run 5K
19:20
1st female
1st age group
1st overall
Recap here
November: PNC Milwaukee Running Festival Half Marathon
1:29:14 (NEW PR!)
7th female
1st age group
42nd overall
Recap here
Thank you to Athlinks for all of this data!
Mileage
Official 2016 mileage count: 1,206.37
I recognize that this is actually on the low end of annual mileage, but it is what it is. Mileage for 2016 was 15.7% higher than 2015 total mileage. I was happy with the amount, considering I had 5 weeks of 0 miles this year, four due to injury and one post-half-marathon.
Shoes
I retired 4 pairs of shoes this year! (This sounds like a lot because I carried 3 of those over from 2015 with varying amounts of mileage).
Brooks Glycerine
Mizuno Wave Rider
Adidas Boost 2s (Navy)
and finally, my pink Adidas Boost 3s (December 2016 goal acheived!)
I will be carrying 2 pairs of shoes into 2017 with me : Adidas Boost 2s (Magenta) and Mizuno Sayonara 3s. I really like both of these shoes and have just under 300 miles left on each!
I have a new pair of Saucony ISOs to start using and I won a pair of Asics running shoes in a local running contest. I have yet to pick those out.
Nutrition
2016 was also a year that I stepped up my nutrition game. I did a Whole 30 in May which helped form some new habits - namely eating more fats, eating eggs + veggies for breakfast, and decreasing sugar (which admittedly TOTALLY went out the window in December - hello Christmas cookies!). Another good habit that I picked up was eating something immediately after a run - either a Picky Bar or a Rx Bar. I am still trying to hydrate more. I don't know why this is so difficult for me!
I stuck with Nuun for the majority of my sports drink and did gu packs for my marathon. I switched to Gen UCan for my half marathon and had a lot of success with this so stockpiled for spring 2017 marathon training.
Clothing
I replaced the majority of my running wardrobe this year. I still had running clothes from early college! I also had a lot of running clothes that I didn't really love. I donated all of my shorts and bought several pairs of Oiselle Distance Shorts, which are my favorite. I also beefed up my winter running gear by buying several pairs of new tights and a few new lightweight jackets and long sleeve shirts.
2016 was the year I tried, and loved, compression sleeves/socks, trucker hats, and a gaiter! I do not know how I got through winter running last year without a gaiter!
Reading
I read A LOT about running during 2016. Yes, there are my Friday links, but I also read several running books:
Boston Bound
Running: A Love Story
Mile Markers
Hanson's Marathon Method
Ready to Run
The Runner's Brain
Ambassadorships
I renewed my Oiselle Volee team membership this year and participated in the Nuun and Momentum Jewelry ambassador programs. I also had fun helping out a friend by serving as the runner in some photos taken for his business, Serpentijn Art & Athletics.
Best Prizes
I won some fun race awards this year! Run Tosa Run always has an amazing prize pack full of gift cards to Wauwatosa businesses. I won a COOLER FULL OF BACON at the Race for the Bacon and a Bartolotta Restaurant gift card at the Hank Aaron State Trail race.
Best Contests
I enter a LOT of contests. As my friends like to point out, I also win a fair number of contests! This year I won some fun running items through contests:
Entrance to a 2017 race via Facebook contest hosted by Lighthouse Events
Asics running shoes via Facebook contest hosted by Lighthouse Events
Oiselle Flyte LS via #rungiving contest hosted by Oiselle
CEP Compression socks via IG contest hosted by CEP
Nuun + Nuun water bottle via Nuun Twitter contest
Nathan water bottle from
Point being - ENTER THOSE CONTESTS! (My friend Erica hosts a lot of running/fitness related giveaways on her blog!)
Enjoy your New Year's Eve!
What a fantastic year! I've really enjoyed reading your blog each week and getting to know you on Instagram too. Thanks for including Boston Bound in your list of reading!
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