She Runs by the Seashore

So, 2014 is over. Which means it’s time for a rundown blog post. (Get it? Run-down.)

As I’ve mentioned before, I met two of my three running goals that I’d set to accomplish this year. I accomplished the goals I felt would be the hardest — getting a new 5K personal record — and the easiest — running 1,000 miles during the year. The goal that I didn’t achieve was breaking 50 minutes for a 10K, which I’ll be adding to my list of running goals for 2015. Those goals are listed after the list of races below.

I ran 1,152.78 miles in 2014, which has to be the most I’ve ever run in a year. I’ve been tracking full years since 2011, when I ran 625.8 miles, and each year since then, my mileage has dramatically increased.

I ran 783.1 miles in 2012 and 903.04 miles in 2013. I’ve been running since I began training for high school soccer tryouts in 2004, but my distances have greatly increased over time. My love of running has also grown over the years, and I feel like I am always meeting more running friends.

I’ve already written about the races I’ve done this year, so I’m not planning on rewriting what I’ve already done. Most of them I wrote about on my old blog, The Road to a Marathon. Here are the links to each of the recaps I wrote after each 2014 race, in chronological order.

Tim Kennard River Run 10-Miler

OCMD St. Patty’s Day Boardwalk 5K

Dorchester Family YMCA Crab Run half marathon

OC Island 2 Island Half Marathon

Run or Dye in Salisbury

Smile for Freedom 5K

1-mile race at All-Comers Track Meet

Second race of Summer Cross Country 5K Series

Pemberton Half Marathon

Mike Sterling/Crab Derby 10K Race

National Press Club Beat the Deadline 5K

5K Run/Walk for Wor-Wic

Dogfish Dash 10K

HERO 5K

Across the Bay 10K

Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon

I really enjoy blogging anyway, but it’s a great way to keep track of all my races, too. I counted them in my head the other day during #bibchat on Twitter this week, and I missed a few.

I ran just about every regular race distance in a total of 16 races. I did one one-miler; six 5Ks plus Run or Dye, which I’m not sure counts as a race; three 10Ks; a 10-miler; three half marathons — one of which I didn’t quite finish; and one marathon.

I earned new PRs of 22:36 in the 5K and 50:15 in the 10K (assuming I turned around at the right spot — otherwise it’s 50:20, a time I also ran this year). I stopped running my races with a watch, which I love.

I’m very happy with how 2014 went with my running, aside from pushing myself too hard at the Crab Run and not finishing that race. I’m looking forward to my running year in 2015, and I’ve already started it off with a 5-miler today.

Here are my goals for 2015.

– Run a 10K in less than 50 minutes. This goal is back after I didn’t meet it last year.

– Run 1,200 miles. I wanted to run 1,000 miles this year, and I ended up with just more than 1,150. 1,200 miles is an average of 100 miles a month, and I think it’s an attainable goal.

– Have a run streak for any one month. This might be hard. While I love running, there are various things that can affect my ability to run every single day — at least, if I let them. But, I’d like to run every day in a single month, with at least one mile per day. This also gives me 12 chances — although I’ll want to rest after the two marathons I plan to run, so April and October are out.

Of course I’m always looking to PR in any distance, but I’ll focus on these three goals. I already have several races set up for 2015. Keep track of what I have coming up by going to this continually-updated page of upcoming races on this website.