2015 Running Year in Review

As promised, I’m giving my running its own post for 2015!

This was a big year for me. I ran further than I ever have before. I ran faster than I ever before. I ran races that I never thought I could. I ran after my goals and I crushed them.

So first, lets talk about those miles. For the last few years, I have been doing what I call “Banking the Miles”. I know that the only way to improve running is to run more, especially if you want to run faster or further. That’s what this “Banking the Miles” is all about – being the best that I can be and breaking my own records, not anybody else’s. I beat my 2014 mileage in all but 4 months, and I increased my total miles for the year by 92 miles. I averaged over 30 miles per month – YES! I also hit my highest monthly mileage in August with 60.8 miles.

• January 2014: 15.40 miles / January 2015: 17.48 miles
• February 2014: 29.24 miles / February 2015: 18.09 miles
• March 2014: 27.98 miles / March 2015: 19.08 miles
• April 2014: 43.68 miles / April 2015: 10.51 miles
• May 2014: 46.19 miles / May 2015: 33.52 miles
• June 2014: 22.02 miles / June 2015: 51.10 miles
• July 2014: 33.19 miles / July 2015: 43.91 miles
• August 2014: 17.15 miles / August 2015: 60.8 miles
• September 2014: 42.27 miles / September 2015: 44.29 miles
• October 2014: 11.30 miles / October 2015: 19.15 miles
• November 2014: 17.27 miles / November 2015: 36.98 miles
• December 2014: 16.50 miles / December 2015: 39.59 miles
• TOTAL 2014: 322 miles / TOTAL 2015: 414 miles

Racing of course is a very important part of being a runner. I had made myself a goal at the beginning of 2015 to run a race every month during the year. I accomplished this goal, with a few extra races in there, too. The only month that I didn’t run an official race was March, but I did do my own 10k at home.

So how about those PRs? Here’s what I accomplished in 2015:

• My best 5k was the Canadian Lakes 4th of July 5k. I finished the 5k in 34:41, a pace of 11:01/mile.
• My best 5k that I ran without stopping to walk was the Run for Your Heart 5k in September. I finished in 34:32, a pace of 11:08/mile.
• My best 10k was the Race for Makeuni in October. I did run/walk intervals for a finish of 1:11:20, a pace of 11:30/mile. The 10k that I did on my own in March was the only one that I did without stopping to walk, which I did in 1:23:29, a pace of 13:25/mile. Shows you how much better I do with intervals AND when I have people around me to motivate me.
• I ran my first 8k at the Winterlaufe, so the PR to beat this year is 1:07:40, a 13:36/mile pace. I ran most of this race – only stopping to walk to get a drink – it was a tough one! Lots of hills! I’m running it again this year.
• I also ran my first 10 mile race at the Crim, probably my favorite running experience of the whole year. It was my first big race – by “big” I mean tens of thousands of participants. My time was 2:08:36, a 12:52/mile pace. I did run/walk intervals. I plan on running this again this year… let’s hope I’m as lucky with the weather this year, usually it is BLAZING hot outside for this run!
• Overall I ran 8 5ks, 3 10ks, a 10 miler and an 8k for a total of 13 races. (I did one extra in June!)

2015 was an awesome year in running for me. Here’s to 2016 being an even better one!