2012 leads into 2013 quite nicely.

I started out 2012 hoping to get back to my former self of running sub-2 hr half marathons. I signed up to run with the fleet feet training group & had fun.  It's a great program & I would recommend it to beginners or those who need to meet new runners, make friends, etc...  Hindsight, the program wasn't aggressive enough for me.  I needed to crank it up in a bad way & I did.  I put the two Springtime 1/2's behind me, lost roughly 15-18 lbs by June, started Chicago marathon training, & cranked out some miles with our Nolensville run club.  I found motivation to push myself without injuring myself this year.

This pretty much started with me using the myfitnesspal app in late February. I've been on it for over 305 straight days logging food & exercise. I'm still maintaining the loss. I'm going to continue with it even after I pass the 1 year mark.  Why? Because it works!  I found the muscles that I knew I had once that weight was gone.  It certainly helped with speed too!!

If you look to the right on this blog, you will see all the PRs I set just since Oct of this year.  I'm damn proud of myself & it makes me want to set the bar just a little higher for 2013.  The first PR of the year was Chicago.  I'm proud of it but I know I can do better.  The two biggest things I'm working on for my 11th marathon are my nutrition on the long runs & speed. We are practicing nutrition intake every weekend. I'm also doing some form of speed work almost every week.

As you know from reading this blog, my husband qualified for Boston 2014 in Chicago.  I have until September to qualify if I want to run it with him.  My first ever attempt will be at the New Orleans marathon in February.  Little did I know that when we were there in Dec 2011 for our anniversary & Saints game that we would ever want to come back.  I told Joe that I never wanted to go back there unless we ran the marathon.  Fast forward to Oct/Nov of this year & the NOLA marathon fit right into our busy schedule.  We now have 7 other members of our run club coming too.  :-)

The 1:48:09 half I did in Indy in early November gave me hope that maybe one day I just might be able to run a 1:45 half or faster.  I also took a full minute off my 5k PR & totally smoked my 5 mile PR.  I still have a lot of work to do in 2013 but I have hope & my confidence builds every week.  I did the training that I had always known about & never made excuses not to do it.  For that I'm proud to pat myself on the back.  I did ALL my weekday runs & ALL my weekend long runs for Chicago & they didn't all go well but I did them. You CANNOT expect to hit your goal on race day if you don't do the required training both during the week & on weekends.  I got lucky once or twice but never again will I ever do a marathon half-assed. It's not worth the injury.  Respect the distance!
I also continued to do at least one day of weights, my Yoga/Pilates DVDs, & some P90x. My abs have never looked better.  :-)

We also participated in another TN Ragnar Relay.  Our 2nd one proved, it's best to be in van 1 if everyone's going to the start line otherwise let van 2 sleep in & meet at the first exchange.  Just my 2 cents.  :-).  I won't say never but I will say van 1 please or let me sleep in & I will see you in Jasper, TN.   I really don't see us doing another relay unless we do one out of state.

Two Goals for 2013:

NOLA marathon-qualify for Boston 2014
Run a 10k PR

I'm leaving it at that.  Two running goals since this is my "running" blog.  :-P
I hope everyone had a great 2012 year of training & races. I couldn't have asked for the year to go any better.

What are your running goals for 2013? Did you learn anything from 2012?