My word for the fourth quarter of 2024: Busy

Posted on by Vanessa Junkin (She Runs by the Seashore)
Selfie of Vanessa Junkin holding ice cream with the text "October 120.75"
Paved trail in the woods with the text "November 125"
Photo of sunset over the beach with the text "December 82.28" in one corner and "2024 1,175.7" in the other corner.

I started out my last quarterly wrap-up with saying how busy I was, and that’s continued into 2025. But before I do my wrap-up of 2024 and move on to 2025 posts, it’s time to recap my last quarter of 2024. And really, let’s make “Busy” the word of the quarter. From helping plan a race to participating in numerous races, Winter Tour runs and events, it was a packed few months.

  1. I ran 120.75 miles in October, 125 miles in November and 82.28 miles in December. As I trained for the NCR Marathon, I logged my highest-mileage month of the year in November and my second-highest-mileage month of the year in October.
  2. I ran my fast 1600s in 8:27 (October), 8:55 (November) and 8:58 (December). I slowed down some toward the end of the year — something to work on in 2025.
  3. I ran five races. One of them was my 18th marathon, the NCR Marathon. I also paced two half marathons, the Historic Drawbridge Half (3:00) and the Rehoboth Seashore Half (2:45). I also ran the Ocean City Running Festival Half Marathon and the Bay Bridge Run in November (November was a busy race month!).
  4. I also started The Winter Tour. I got started on this running tour of Delmarva on Dec. 14, after participating in races the prior two weekends. During December, I ran the Winter Tour courses in Berlin, South Pole (Pocomoke City trails), Snow Hill (which included some new trails) and the Redden State Forest, a new-to-me location I’d been wanting to check out.
  5. I worked with a committee to help put on ESRC’s first race in recent memory. I was proud to be part of the team to put on the Pirate’s Wharf 5K, which went well and helped raise funds for ESRC’s general fund and scholarship fund. Stay tuned for the second annual event this October!
  6. I ran in some fun locations. In addition to the race and Winter Tour locations, I ran at Trap Pond (outside of the Tour), the NCR Trail (outside of the race), Pirate’s Wharf Park (while preparing for the race) and Ocean City.
  7. I did some fun runs. These included a World Mental Health Day 5K fun run; a Run, Vote and Brunch with friends during Early Voting; the annual Reindeer Run, in the shape of a reindeer; and the Crouse Family Christmas Day 5K.
  8. I also dealt with plantar fasciitis. Unfortunately, I had some plantar fasciitis issues that hindered my running. Thankfully, I was able to get through my marathon with less problems than the Ocean City Half earlier that month, and I’ve made efforts to make improvements.

One post left for 2024!