Probably my best race this year, the Sugarloaf 15K.
When I grabbed the rope and rang the shit out of the PR bell just after crossing the finish line at the Maine Marathon, I was not only signaling my nearly 6 minute PR, I was also signaling the end of 2016. I know what you are thinking: The Maine Marathon was Oct. 2. There were still three months left in the year after that race. And didn’t you race two more times after the Maine Marathon?
Yes, yes, that is true. Actually, there is still a month left in 2016, so what am I getting at here?
I guess what I’m saying is that in terms of things I hoped to accomplish in 2016, the goals I set for myself, after the Maine Marathon there was nothing left. My year, the majority of my goals, revolved around making it to that race healthy and running a good race.
Mission accomplished, pretty much.
The two months since the marathon haven’t been hugely productive. After a couple down weeks, I’ve averaged between 30-40 miles a week, I’ve done a few workouts and I did run those two races (Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving Day 4-miler), but I’ve mostly done whatever I wanted and been a little lazy. I’ve ignored strength work more than usual, I do the bare minimum stretching, and I’ve spent about 2 minutes on the foam roller.
So yeah, the marathon was pretty much the end of the year and after chilling out a bit, I’m starting to look forward to 2017. The Mid-Winter Classic is about two months away and then it will be time to start the grind of marathon training to hopefully crush the shit out of Sugarloaf.
Before moving on though, I think it’s a good idea to take a look back. I don’t want to live in the past, but I think it’s a good idea to check in to see what I learned this year, to celebrate what I accomplished, and maybe what I could do differently.
2016’s goals, in writing.
I set a bunch of resolutions for myself early last December, then set some more concrete goals for myself on Jan. 1. Some of those goals were doing things differently (stretch more, run with friends more often, sleep more) and some of them were more concrete goals (PR in the 5K and the half marathon, run a marathon, lose 10-15 pounds).
How did I do?
Well, I PR’d in the 5K by a bunch, even though it wasn’t my focus when I did it. I didn’t PR in the half marathon even though I spent months focusing on it before running my only half this year. And, if you didn’t skip directly to this part you already know that I ran that marathon.
While training for that marathon I did lose about 10 pounds, but in the two months since I’ve packed a few of those pounds back on. I hate taking that step backwards, but I’m trying not to be myself up too much about it.
I did stretch a lot more this year than I have in the past and I did a better job of including strength training this year than I ever have before. I can still do better in both of those areas and I learned this year that to stay healthy and run the way I want, I really need to focus on them. I’m convinced that as well as I ran this year, if my body was stronger, I would have crushed what I accomplished this year. I fell apart at the end of the marathon because my core and my legs were just not strong enough. When I write down my goals for 2017, these things will be at the top of the list again.
Running with friends will always be a difficult one for me mostly because of my schedule. I work nights and almost all of my runner friends work days. Their mornings are a lot earlier than my mornings. It’s OK, I’m kind of a loner, so I don’t necessarily mind the time alone and being able to run on my own schedule is one of the reasons I’ve been able to stick with this as long as I have. Running with friends is a lot more fun and a lot easier, though. Long runs don’t drag on quite as long with a friend, and running fast in workouts is always a lot easier when you have someone working just as hard right next to you. So, that is something I’ll continue to work on as well.
Looking back at 2016 definitely helps me look forward to 2017. I’m already formulating goals and resolutions for 2017 as I think about what went right and what went wrong in 2016. I guess that is kind of the point of this exercise. I can’t go back and do anything differently, but I can do things differently going forward. Looking back on my year, my training, can and should help me shape what I do in 2017, 2018 and beyond.
So with that, I’m going to turn the page and move on to 2017.
See you then.
Run With Scootah 