Wednesday, January 4, 2017

2016 Year in Running Review

It's been a pretty amazing year! We have been in California for a little over a year now and I am loving running here! It's been great exploring new running routes and running new races. Not only did I run the most races I've ran in a year, but I ran my first marathon and also ran the most miles I've ever ran. However, I think the best part of the year was making new running friends and meeting people from the Interwebs!

In 2016 I ran a total of 1,358 miles. It's the most I've ever ran ever in a year and I'm pretty sure it's due to training for a marathon. Lots of miles were ran training for my first full marathon in Chicago.
I ran a total of 15 races. 

I ran:

1 marathon
half marathons 
2 12Ks
110K 
1 8K
5Ks

I ran in 4 states:
California
Washington

Illinois
Nevada


The year started out with the Davis Stampede 10K in February. I had planned on doing the half marathon but I was coughing up a storm and had acute bronchitis so I switched to the 10K. I still did decent despite being sick.
My next race was in early March, the San Jose 408K it was my first race as an ambassador for Represent Running. It was also my first time in San Jose, we stayed the night and it was neat to explore the city a bit before the 8K race. I enjoyed meeting other ambassadors for the race - lots of people from IG, so it was neat to see them in real life! I ended up PR'ing which was pretty awesome.
Almost a couple weeks after the 8K, I ran the Davis Lucky Run Half marathon. Deep down I was hoping to PR in the race but it didn't happen. I started out way to fast in the run but I still got sub 2 hours which was my initial goal so I was happy with that. 
Next up in April, was Rock'n'Roll San Francisco. This was my first race as a part of the Rock'n'blog team and as one, I scored free VIP which was awesome. I got to meet some awesome twitter friends along with other rock'n'bloggers. The course was awesome because we ran on the Golden Gate Bridge. I finished pretty strong considering it was a hilly course.
Towards the end of April, the whole fam ran the Stride for Aggie Pride 5K. Hubby ran with our youngest while I ran with our eldest son. The last time he ran was in December and he ended up with a 5+ minute PR. He did awesome!
Our eldest son caught the running bug and wanted to do another 5K, so we signed him up for the Pony Express 5K in Sacramento the following week. It was a good run however the course turned out being about .45 short so our times seem faster than they should be. We did manage to place in our age groups which was pretty cool.
Next up was Bay to Breakers. Such a fun race with friends that I had made in town. It was so fun to see all the costumes and interesting to see those that had nothing on. :p 
In June I went to Seattle for the Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon. This run was pretty memorable since I ran it as a part of Team Triumph Puget Sound and helped push our Captain, Anthony to his first half marathon finish. It was so touching and loved his smile throughout the race. It was another race where I got to meet people I had not met before at the #werunsocial meetup and I also got to meet up with twitter friends. 
In July I had my first two race weekend. I ran the Davis Moonlight run half marathon on a Saturday and then the Across the Bay 12k on Sunday. The Davis run was my first evening race. It was a good local race and I was on track for a PR until my calf started to cramp up. I finished my fastest half for the year but not a PR. However, I did manage 3rd place in my age group!
The Across the Bay 12K was the next morning and since I ran pretty hard the night before, I went into this race to have fun and take it easy. I ran with a friend and enjoyed the course. It was a beautiful day and we got to run across the Golden Gate Bridge on this race as well! It was nice to see the bridge this time around and even got a treat as we saw whales below.
My next race wasn't until October and it turned out to be a week before my first full marathon. I ran Rock'n'Roll San Jose Half Marathon as a fun run. I had a good time meeting people at the #werunsocial meetup and also running with friends.
The Chicago Marathon was my big race of the year. It was my first full marathon and I enjoyed every bit of the weekend! I got to meet my sister there and we had a blast exploring the city. We met up with lots of blogger/twitter friends and also met up with a bunch of running celebrities (Kelly K Roberts, Bart Yasso, Sarah Crouch, & Meb). It was so awesome. The race itself went really well. It was hard and tough especially towards the end, but I finished with a decent time and very happy with how the race went. It was a great first marathon experience for me!
My next two races were in November, the Rock'n'Roll Remix Challenge in Las Vegas! I ran the 5K on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday. The 5K race was ok but the funnest part was the werunsocial meetup beforehand. There were donuts and I met lots of cool people.
The half marathon on Sunday went great despite some issues in the last mile. Running the Strip at Night was awesome! It is such a cool experience with the streets closed just for us runners. It was a great to see so many people prerace at the werunsocial meetup as well. I even saw my good running buddy that came all the way from New Jersey. I am so glad I did Rock'n'Roll Vegas. It's a fun one! The bling is awesome too!
The year ended with a 5K with my eldest son, at the Davis Turkey Trot. He did awesome and ran his fastest 5K to date. He also placed 3rd in his age group. I'm so proud of him and love that he enjoys running. 
That's my 2016 Year in Running review. 2016 has been awesome! I can say that I'm a marathoner and I enjoyed meeting so many people this year. I'm excited to see what 2017 brings!

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