It’s time to soak the black eye peas and cut the cabbage (or collards, depending on your family traditions) and everyone’s recapping their year online. My last couple of posts have been about injury, but looking back on the year reveals that it’s actually been pretty great overall.

I came in to 2016 with a half marathon PR of 2:14 and just over 600 lifetime miles. I was still recovering from a stress fracture from back in May of 2015 and I think my weekly mileage peak at the time was 25 mpw.

Since then, I’ve run two more half marathons, each of them bringing me a PR. My mileage has peaked at 50 mpw, and I survived a cycle of Pfitzinger’s half marathon training. Despite some injury setbacks, I ran 1516 miles this year. Consistency really is the key, it seems.

Outside of running, my husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary and bought a beautiful little house by White Rock Lake together. I usually get to see him three or four times a month, which is an improvement over last year. Our dog is now a squirrel-chasing machine and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this happy or energetic. I have a great job and my coworkers make the day go by faster.

It hasn’t all been good, though nothing is ever all good. We lost my stepfather to suicide this year, but as tragic and horrific as that has been, it helped bring my mother and me closer. We have the kind of relationship we’d always wanted but has eluded us until now. That has been one of the biggest blessings of my life.

Looking forward

In 2017, I’m looking forward to 2000 miles and hopefully some new PRs. I’d like to volunteer more at DRC races and try to get someone in my friends or family into running. I want to entertain more often and try to find some recipes from Run Fast, Eat Slow that my husband will actually eat. I’d like to do strength or flexibility work three times a week at minimum and try to post here more regularly.

There are fireworks going off in the neighborhood now, and I’m too exhausted to stay up another half hour, much less until midnight! This afternoon’s incredibly challenging workout with my online ARTC folks just wiped me out. I’ll post about it later this week because it’s definitely one to keep in mind for when you’re wanting a kick in the pants for training.

Until next year!