2009 was the year of rebuilding. After the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, TN in December 2008 I ended up with a terrible case of ITBS that extended from my right hip down to my knee. The first few steps walking were difficult and running was out of the question. Most of the month of December 2008, I continued to walk but there was no running. I began the first full week of 2009 still walking. On the first Saturday group run with the Cruisers I met them at Peter's Canyon. Again I walked while the rest of the group ran. I'm usually at the front of the pack, it was odd bringing up the rear. It had been nearly a month since I'd run a step. I decided to give running a try and ran for about 10 minutes before walking in the rest of the route. I continued physical therapy with a PT who is also a runner up for the first several months of the year. The graph below shows my mileage buildup to the marathon on Labor Day.
The orange dots are my marathons - Heart of America in Columbia, MO; Des Moines Marathon and Harrisburg Marathon in PA.
I ended the year with 1443.7 miles, my second lowest full year mileage since 2004. My monthly mileage totals look like this.
Besides the three marathons in 2008, I ran 6 other races.
Two half marathons, both for fun, both with Terry - The Wine Country Half in Paso Robles and the San Francisco Half. I had the opportunity to meet Dori and her husband in Paso. What nice people they are. Running the Golden Gate, even shrouded in clouds, was still a blast. Lisa joined it at this one and walked the 5K along the Embarcadero.
I ran one of my fave trail runs - the Malibu Creek Trail Challenge 14 miler. It was my slowest time ever at the event, but in May I was just glad to be running pain free again.
I ran two 5K's - Surf City on July 4th with my old running buddy, Brian and recently the Santa Monica-Venice Christmas Run. In Santa Monica I got a little hint of the speed I used to have, coming within 60 seconds of my PR.
The highlight of the year was probably setting a 10K PR at the Santa Monica 10K. I was shooting for sub 50:00 and just made it. My friend Terry is eternally upset with me for that one. She has run many 10K's and has never been able to go sub 50, so me doing it the first time out set up the challenge. Lisa walked the 5K here as well.
The three marathons brings me to 16 total in 6 years, 32% if the way done. At this rate I should be finished by 2023. I'll be 61, yikes!
The plans for 2010 are still pretty fuzzy at this point. On the horizon for sure is the Surf City Half Marathon where I'm shooting for a PR and will finish up the California Dreamin' Series. I had really wanted to finally run the Camp Pendleton Mud Runs this year. Registration opened on New Years Day and was sold out before noon, so I missed out again. So that's one race that will be on the plans for 2011, already.
More of 2010 plans to come in future posts.
I took the photo at the top of the post during my Sunday Morning Bonelli Loop this morning. The perspective makes it look like my legs are huge and that I have a pinhead. It took several tries to get a half way decent shot.
9 comments:
Good retrospective... you came back a long ways in 2009 from where you started the year. Way to persevere. The three marathons this fall and continued health bode well for your current pattern!
And much for us to talk about for fall 2010 races!!!
That's the kind of year that makes it look like you did more, with less :-) LOL... which is still way more than I. 2010 is going to be a good year for you...
Amazing that the mud runs sold out that quickly. I'd hoped to do one this year too but I guess that's yet another dream deferred. Best of luck in hitting all your goal posts.
Good Luck on your PR goal! That is something that will definitely be exciting : )
I landed here by mere chance when clicking on the button to show some random blog. It is really a nice blog. You remind me of a colleague of mine. Wish you the very best for 2010. Here some greetings from over here, from the other side of the Atlantic, in case you feel like popping over: http://www.stockholmmarathon.se/Start/index.cfm?Lan_ID=3.
Happy New Year! :)
Darrell, yes, facebook is part of it, but most of it is just life being busy. With a new job, I really don't get to the blogs till the weekend, if then. I'm still trying to read, but don't comment much. I'm trying to write once a week, even if it's quick. FB is nice because it's fast - I can scan down the page, see what's going on and hop off. It's quick to post too. It does make me feel guilty about blogging though!
Loved the recap
You have had an amazing year, Darrell! A belated Happy New Year to you, and thanks also for all of your kind and encouraging comments. All the best to you in 2010!
Post a Comment