My running year started out slow, but sometime around April I picked it up, and it ended up turning in to a fantastic year. Here’s a little recap:

Black Cat

January/February/March – My main accomplishment in the beginning of the year was that I kept running. When it’s dark and cold, I have very little desire to leave the house. For motivation, I signed up for the Black Cat 10 miler, held in early March. And a 10 mile race looming in the future was just enough to keep me going. Including an 8 mile run during a blizzard!

April/May/June – After the race in March, I decided I was ready to consider another marathon. I added to and lengthened my training runs to make sure I would be committed to the training program.  Undertraining was my biggest issue last time, and I didn’t want that to happen again.  By June I was confident I could handle the training, and I signed up for the marathon.

July/August/September – The summer was dedicated to marathon training. These were good runs, but they were loooong and so so hot. I finished most of them feeling accomplished, but on occasion I also felt slow and there was one particularly rough run where I tripped and finished up with scrapes on my arm, leg, and palms.

October – At the end of the month, I finally got to run my marathon.  I had spent so long training, and was really really excited to finally do it. Although it wasn’t easy, my wonderful support team, cool sunny weather, and a flat beautiful course made it a great day for a run.  I ended up finishing with a > 50 min PR!

November & December – I wrapped up the year with a handful of holiday races and the Runner’s World Holiday Running Streak. The marathon was a terrific challenge and I’m looking forward to the next one, but nothing can compare to the fun of holiday races. Especially, when I get to run them with family 🙂

The Holiday Running Streak – I don’t feel like I need to recap this in too much detail, because it just happened. I had a great time, found it a lot easier to keep up than I thought, blogged about every run, and was surprised how difficult Fridays were! I enjoyed the streak, but by the end I was ready for it to be over. 

Running on the Go – In addition to running on my home turf, Jeff and I were able to get in several great runs while traveling this summer and fall. We discovered City Running Tours, and went on an awesome tour of Chicago in July and another fun one of Washington DC in the fall. Also while in Chicago, we ran the lakefront trail, and while visiting Charleston, SC for my sister in law’s wedding we got to run the Arthur Ravenel Jr. bridge with the bride to be!

Races:

• 01/01: Wicked Frosty Four – Salem, MA: 4 mi, 42:21 min, 10:35 min/mile
• 03/02: Black Cat 10 Miler – Salem, MA: 10 mi, 1:46:00 hr:min, 10:36 min/mile
• 10/13: B.A.A. Half Marathon – Boston, MA: 13.1 mi, 2:18:44 hr:min, 10:35 min/mile
• 10/27: Niagara Falls Marathon – Buffalo, NY & N.F., Ont.: 26.2 mi, 4:51:11 hr:min, 11:06 min/mile
• 11/28: Holden Road Race – Holden, MA: 3.1 mi, 29:25 min, 9:29 min/mile
• 12/01: Run-A-Latke 5k – Swampscott, MA: 3.1 mi, 27:19 min, 8:48 min/mile
• 12/07: Reindeer Run 5k – Beverly, MA: 3.1 mi, 25:57 min, 8:22 min/mile

Total Mileage: 901.21 miles

All in all, I had a great 2013 and I’m looking forward to some more fun in 2014.