2009 in Review

2009 was a pretty good year as far as running was concerned. It wasn't a good year in terms of race times though. I had my ups and I had my downs. I was mainly healthy the entire year but yet had some festering problems that continue into 2010. I have met some cool runner blog friends (cyberly that is) and even follow more people via their blogs. I have put on a lot of miles and intend to put on even more this year. So here are some stats from my year:

• I ran a total of 1481 miles in 2009, that is 244 more miles than I did in 2008.
• I ran 20 or more miles in a single run 13 times.
• I ran 15 or more miles in a single run 21 times.
• I ran 6 marathons in 2009, a new high for me. I am up to 19 total.
• I added 2 new states in my quest for all 50. Texas and Indiana. I have 8 total.
• I ran my first Indoor Marathon in January.
• I ran one last 5K race pushing my youngest daughter. This may be the last race with the jog stroller.

Here are some of the highlights for me in 2009:

1. The Heart of Texas Challenge. In February, my friend Paul and I travelled to Texas and ran the Surfside Marathon followed the next day by running the Austin Marathon. 2 marathons in 2 days was quite a challenge. They were not fast by any means but I did finish both of them.
2. I ran the Whistle Stop Marathon in October in 3:55. My first sub 4 in 2 years.
3. In May, I ran the Door County Half Marathon in 1:40:02, a PR for me for a half marathon by itself.
4. In the Spring, I started to organize and was the race director for a Kid's Marathon in Milwaukee which finished in September. We had 197 kids participate and received many compliments. We are planning a second Kid's Marathon in 2010 and anticipate double the participation.

Not everything went well, here are some of the low-lights for 2009:

1. Of the 3 marathons where I was running for a good time, 2 of them were "crash and burns". Those were the Icebreaker Marathon and the Indianapolis Monumental Marathons. Funny thing is that even though I ran poorly in these races, it had nothing to do with the course, weather, or marathon itself. I highly recommend both of these.
2. I had a persistent ankle issue since March. I have learned to deal with it but will work with the Chiropractor in 2010 to try to solve it.
3. I am a better short distance runner than a long distance runner so I was disappointed that in the 2 5K races I ran, I did not break 20 minutes. This is a time I plan on breaking once again in 2010.

There are other running memories I have from 2009 that were fun such as running an 8K race in Naples, FL, doing a 20 mile run in Door County, WI, watching friend run PR's in their marathons and even some breaking 3 hours for the first time. I ran lots of time with my friends Mike and Chaz over many miles and many hills. I traveled to quite a few destinations for races which is always fun.

Now it is time to plan for a great 2010. I will share some of those plans in the next post or 2.