With 17 hours left in 2011, I’m sitting around in my underwear waiting for some daylight so I can sneak in my last run of 2011 and evaluating how my running went in 2011. Overall, I’m satisfied with how my running went–I ran over 1,000 miles for the first time since 2004 (holy cow, I didn’t realize it’s been that long since I put together a full year), performed reasonably well in some races (including approaching a sub-20:00 with a 20:17 at the Rockford River Run 5k in August despite having struggled with an injury for a couple of months prior to that).
In January, I posted some goals for the year, let’s see how I did:
| Goal | Actual | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Run 1,000 Miles | 1,105 Miles | A |
| Never fall behind 3 miles/day average | Probably got behind pace at some point. | C |
| No 0 weeks. | Had a few injury-related 0s. | B |
| Volunteer at a race | Fail | F |
| Serious X-training. | Ooops. | F |
| Dramatic increase in number of quality miles. | Sub 6:30: 3 miles (1 last year)Sub 7:00: 29 (6)
Sub 7:30: 44 (32) |
B |
| Sub 20:00 5k | 20:17 | C |
| Sub 1:30:00 13.1 | 1:37:25 | C |
| Run consecutive 6:52 miles (in a half marathon) | All the splits for both my 5ks in the second half of the year were faster than 6:52. | C |
| Do a duathon. | Nope | F |
| Do a relay event. | Nope | F |
So while I met some goals & didn’t meet some others, I met the important ones and came close enough to the performance ones that I’m mostly satisfied. One thing I hadn’t set as a goal but ended up doing that made this year stand out, though, was getting more involved.
Taking the RRCA Coaching Class and making some great new friends (Rebecca & Ann), coaching a kids Running Club, meeting up with a virtual friend I’ve known for over a decade, using Daily Mile, and even reaching out to members of the Run-net community like Norm, Steve, and 3 Non-Joggers. These relationships help make 2011 a great year.
To review my racing, I ran 13 races, a new personal high if you exclude high school track & CC. The races were:
- Waconia Winterfest 5k (2/5/2011)
- Ron Daws 25k (4/2/2011)
- Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon (5/1/2011)
- ALARC legends 10k (6/11/2011)
- Bjorklund Half Marathon (6/18/2011)
- Oulu Rock Run (7/23/2011)
- Rockford River Run (8/13/2011)
- Salomon Autumn Trail Series 1 of 4 (8/31/2011)
- Salomon Autumn Trail Series 2 of 4 (9/14/2011)
- Salomon Autumn Trail Series 3 of 4 (9/28/2011)
- Salomon Autumn Trail Series 4 of 4 (10/12/2011)
- Jack-O-Lantern 5k (10/29/2011)
- Chaska Turkey Trot (11/12/2011)
So overall, I’m happy with my how my running went in 2011. My life has settled down some from previous years and allowed me to focus more on my running. I did struggle with some minor injuries in the second half of the year but think I’ve worked my way though most of that.
- How did your running go in 2011?
- What were some of the highlights/lowlights?
