Running Rewind 2010

I don’t know how it could have possibly taken me this long to post a final recap of the running year that was 2010. I’m sure it couldn’t have anything to do with the business of Christmas or New Years. Nah, that’s just crazy talk.

I guess since I’ve never done any real end of the running year summaries, this one might as well include a quick total from the other years in my running career. Before April of 2008, I had never run at all (except in dire bathroom emergencies), so I was thrilled to have logged 602 miles and run in 6 races that year. One of those was a 10k that I ran near the house. It wasn’t official, as I was the only runner. But, since I was also the race director, I counted it as an actual race. So there. I capped off my first 8 months of running with my first half marathon in Charlotte, the Queen City of the NC.

2009 saw my mileage double and I ended the year with 1260.4 miles. I only ran in 5 races, but the last one was also my first marathon, the SunTrust Marathon in Richmond, Virginia. I ran that one in memory of my brother, who would have been 40 years old on the day of the race. I even made some spiffy tech shirts to commemorate the day, and then I almost died in the last 10k. Of course, I’m sure my brother was laughing at me. At least I finished.

2010 felt like a turning point for my running. I set a new high in mileage with 1521.8, but what really happened for me was that I went from just being happy to run in races to actually running them with time goals. Of course, in all but one of my 6 races I failed miserably in meeting those goals, but I did succeed in providing the crowds that came out with the kind of comic relief only a slow, middle-aged guy can.

My second marathon was back in the Queen City, this time adding the other half to the same course I’d run in 2008. This may have been my most successful failure ever, as I failed to hit even my slowest time goal, but did manage to take a whopping 25 minutes off my time from the Richmond race in 2009.

All in all, it was a great year. More miles, faster racing, no injuries. I’ll take that all day long, and am looking forward to a great 2011. Hard to believe that as slow as I am at times, I still hold onto the pipe dream of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I don’t think it’ll happen in 2011, but you never know…

Rewind stats:

• Total miles:1521.8
• Average per month: 126.8
• Average per week: 29.2
• Total races: 6
• New records: 5k (24:00) and Marathon (4:23:32)

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