RUN RECAP FOR 2017

My yearly Run Recap will be short this year (no fancy graphs either) because I just didn't do much!

My 2017 year of running started at the end of January (instead of the beginning) after 5 weeks off with a hip issue (injury? bursitis? who knows...) and a missed race (Mississippi Blues Marathon - womp womp - though it was also cancelled due to an ice storm, so I'd have "missed" it regardless), followed by a happy trail run (Nature Dash) with Christina two weeks later, followed even more quickly (two days later) with a knee injury (super womp womp). I rested, iced, compressed, elevated, and even massaged and stretched, but nothing helped. After a month without progress (and repeatedly returning swelling around the joint and the inability to even walk or sleep normally), I finally resigned myself to a doctor visit, which resulted in an MRI, a specialist visit, a diagnosis (complex tear of the medial meniscus), and a surgery (partial meniscectomy) at the end of March. Physical Therapy started immediately afterwards and I tentatively started back running on Mother's Day (mid-May) after an additional 2 weeks rest, per doctor's orders. I took it really slow (just a mile or two once or twice a week, with cross training/biking/walking in between, for about 5 weeks), then I got sick for a couple weeks, and by the time I started back AGAIN (at the end of June - meaning I only had about 6 months worth of running to log this year), I was ready (and feeling confident enough in my knee's strength and healing status) to commit to it and get myself back on the roads regularly. It took me 2 more months to ease my mileage back up, but eventually I found myself back out with my running group (running 8-10 miles on Saturdays) and signed up for Bootcamp. My mileage stayed low throughout the fall. I did two 6-week rounds of Bootcamp back-to-back, which took up 2-3 days per week with hour-long intense Crossfit-type workouts, and thus reduced the time I had available to run - not a bad thing at the time though, while I gained back some strength (and dropped 24 inches overall!) By Thanksgiving I was feeling so much more like myself - just in time to bump my mileage up in training for the Mississippi Blues HALF Marathon (we all received cheap registration this year due to last year's cancelled race)!

"Race" Recap for 2017 (none of these were raced, but run just for fun - if you've never gone to a race, whether walking or running, I highly recommend it - the energy and atmosphere is FUN!):

February = Nature Dash Trail 5K

September = Mad Scientist 5K

October = Corps Day Essayons Challenge Trail 5K

October = Spooky Sprint 5K

As 2017 drew to a close, I decided to move my training log from DailyMile to Strava (where many more runners, local friends and otherwise, store their run/bike/swim data - the best motivation for ME to keep running is to see what everyone else is doing and feel accountable to meet up with them as often as possible). I had used DailyMile for 5 years and logged a total of 5,066 miles (4,506 miles RUN - the rest were walks/hikes/elliptical/bike) over 833 hours for 1,184 workouts. This equated to 3,842 donuts burned and traveling 0.2 times around the world, for what that's worth (I do love numbers sometimes, even silly ones!)

My DailyMile Mileage Recap (for all 5 years) for RUNS ONLY looks like this:

2017 = 351 miles

2016 = 993 miles

2015 = 1031 miles

2014 = 1150 miles

2013 = 981 miles

My goals for 2018 include staying injury-free (I'm trying to make smart choices about where and when I run, and how much I run), keeping up the Bootcamp/Crossfit-style strength training (to help with injury prevention), bumping my weekly mileage back up to a consistent 20-25 miles/week (to get back to my usual ~1000 miles per year), and eventually bumping it even further in the fall to train for a December marathon (I've wanted to run the St. Jude Marathon for years, but it usually falls on our anniversary weekend and/or the Christmas Recital, so I'm hoping the December 1st date will work for me in 2018). After my knee surgery, I promised Jay I wouldn't train for anything longer than a half marathon for at least a year, and I've kept that promise - I think I'll be ready for St. Jude, especially if I keep on running for FUN and not to race (I'm not sure when, or if, I'll ever feel ready or motivated to train hard and fast again, and that's ok - I'm just happy to be healthy and moving!)