She Runs by the Seashore

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One of my biggest goals for 2016 was reaching 1,200 miles for the year, particularly because I so narrowly missed the goal last year. I also knew that even though I have been slower recently, this goal was reachable even when speed-related goals may not have been. So, I was excited when I met that goal on Dec. 24.

I had gotten behind in my mileage, but I stepped it up at the end of the year, with some strong months for me, including my highest-ever monthly mileage of 138.88 miles in a month this December.

I track my miles on Excel, so today, New Year’s Eve, I was able to determine that I ran 249 of the 366 days in 2016 (it was a leap year).

So, did I meet my 2016 goals? (I’m referring back to this post on my goals.)

1. Run that less-than-50 minute 10K: Nope. So, this goal will continue into 2017 for the fourth year. I haven’t been my fastest lately.
2. Run 1,200 miles. Yes! My total for the year was 1,223.42 miles.
3. PR in the marathon. I didn’t meet this one either. I did one marathon in 2016, the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, and although I had a fun time, I didn’t have a great race. This goal will also carry over to 2017, and I expect to have three marathons on the calendar.
4. Do more strength/core training. Yes! Although I don’t have a set schedule or do as much as some runners do, I definitely branched out in 2016, with at-home ab workouts, barre classes and the recently-mentioned yoga and spin classes.

I was also able to be a pacer for a race and I always get to run in cool places.

Did I meet my blog goals? 

1. Surpass 100 blog followers. No, but I did go up from 43 to 79, so I nearly doubled my email/WordPress following. It’s easy to follow the blog from my homepage (sherunsbytheseashore.com).
2. Gain more views than I did this year. Yes — This year, I had more than 1,000 views beyond last year’s total of 6,383.
3. Get to 400 Facebook likes. Not quite, but there’s still time! I’m currently at 389 likes, which is still a large amount of growth from 248. (Here’s my Facebook page.)

I ran 24 races in 2016. Not all of these may qualify as real “races,” but I’ll do a breakdown below. My number of races was also higher than last year because 11 of the below events were either free or free-to-me. (I did bring donations to races that requested donations.) If I had unlimited money, I may do more, but it can get expensive. It’s also nice to not race every weekend.

Marathon: 1, Yuengling Shamrock Marathon. (Part 1 is about the VIP Experience.)

Half Marathon: 3, OCMD Island to Island Half Marathon (pacer); Pemberton Half Marathon (unofficial/with friends); Rehoboth Seashore Half Marathon.

10-Miler: 3, Tim Kennard River Run; Baltimore 10 Miler; Bottle & Cork 10 Miler.

10K: 3, Run for the Animals 10K; Mike Sterling Crab Derby 10K; Across the Bay 10K.

8K: 1, Dogfish Dash

5K: 9, Zoo Stampede; eRace the Stigma; Tacky Prom Free 5K Fun Run; I Thought They Said RUM Free 5K Fun Run; Hero 5K Free Fun Run; Summer Cross Country 5K Series (first race of the series); Salisbury Fire Department Downtown 5K Fun Run; Run, White & Blue 5K; Sneakers and Creepers 5K.

1 Mile: 2, All-Comers Track Meet; Second All-Comers Track Meet.

Fun Runs (Races?): Five on 25 Fun Run & Prediction Challenge; Beer Mile.

I didn’t get any new PRs this year (not even for the 8K, because I also did that race last year) — unless you count the Beer Mile, since it was my first one.

Other highlights (not in any particular order, and I’ll probably miss something):

• I signed up for my first ultramarathon, which will be the Algonquin 50K on Feb. 11.
• I’ve been training for The Louisiana Marathon, which is on Jan. 15.
• I did two running streaks (one ends tomorrow).
• I loved being a race pacer and hope to have more opportunities to pace races.
• I started a weekly Tuesday night run for the Eastern Shore Running Club. (It’s at 6 p.m.; we currently meet at the Salisbury Bible Fellowship/Pine Bluff Self Storage parking lot.)
• I had fun running with the Eastern Shore Running Club, Pemberton Running Club, Delmarva Moms Run This Town and Midshore Multisport.
• I had fun with friends at races, including some weekend trips with my friend Veronica, and getting to see my mom and stepdad at the Across the Bay 10K.
• I enjoyed my boyfriend Mike’s and my annual friendly face-off at the Dogfish Dash.
• I had fun promoting the Memorial Day 5K and Turkey Trek 5K for my new-in-2016 job with Wicomico Recreation, Parks & Tourism.
• I won some cool age group awards and even had an overall female win at the eRace the Stigma 5K.
• I became a Sweat Pink Ambassador and an ambassador for the St. Michaels Running Festival Half Marathon.
• I learned I’m pretty good at predicting my race times.
• I loved the opportunity to make selfie frames for the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Half Marathon.

Race recaps can be found above by clicking on the race name. My monthly recaps can be found here, and my scenic run recaps can be found here.

I’m planning on writing a post on my 2017 goals tomorrow, New Year’s Day. It will include at least the two holdover goals from above!

Like She Runs by the Seashore on Facebook here.