"...In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or
brilliance. They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not."

~ Anonymous
(taken from Matt Erbele's, It Takes Time to Get Good)

Thursday, January 1, 2009

2008 Wrap up: The year of the runner


2007 vs 2008: This is the first time that I have 2 years of relatively consistent exercise to compare.

2007
Run: 430.15 miles
Bike: 108.26 miles
Swim: 2037 yards
Number of races: 2

2008
Run: 851.2 miles (increase of 421.05 miles)
Bike: 1538.3 miles (increase of 1475. 04 miles)
Swim: 65,990 yards (increase of 63,953 yards)
Number of races: 25 (increase of 23 races)

Jan 1 of 2008
I wrote out a summary of one of the toughest years (2007) I had had in a while and the beginning of my quest to turn it around. Then I set down a "List of Shit I would like to do in 2008" (I have a horrible track record with "resolutions" so I lie to myself and say they are not resolutions when really, aren't goals and resolutions the same thing?)

Let's see how I did: 2008 Goals and Actual

Fitness Goals


1. Run 800 miles in 2008 (a little over 15 miles per week average)

Actual: I ran 851.2 miles


2. Complete the Napa Valley Marathon and at least one other marathon, at least one half marathon, and at least two other races including the Pacific Grove 2008 triathlon and a 10 K with my friend Shelley.

Actual:

Ran 4 marathons, 1 - 50K Ultra-marathon, 6 - 1/2 marathons, and 9 other races of varying lengths, including the 10K with Shelley and Andrea! Completed: 2
sprint distance triathlons (one was a long sprint at 3/4 mi swim, 16 mi bike and 5 mile run), 2 olympic distance triathlons, and 1 half iron distance triathlon.

RBR Girls after I ran the entire Napa Valley Marathon March 2008

Completed: a 65 mile bike ride at Solvang.

LA Run Buddy and I after Solvang Metric Century

25 races total. WAY exceeded what I thought I was ever capable of. I had an absolute blast and I met a ton of people both online and in real life that inspired me to keep on keeping on. Decided to register and train for Ironman Coeur d'Alene.


3. Swim lessons, starting in June (after school gets out until the
Pacific Grove triathlon)

Actual: Joined pre-masters class and completed two open water swim clinics.


4. Do Pacific Grove Triathlon in under 4 hours


Actual: FINALLY did the Pacific Grove Triathlon in under 4 hours!

Team RBR after The Triathlon at Pacific Grove

School Goals


5. Be a whole lot closer to finishing my masters degree. (i.e. be finished with classes and research and be writing thesis)


Actual: Done with classes. No research, no thesis. Chose committee members and taking Comp Exams in Fall 2009.


Family/friends


6. At least three vacations with hubby (Africa and Seattle are planned for summer 2008, then one weekend get-away)

Actual: Africa, Seattle, Lompoc mini-vacation from hell, and Hawaii.

Hubby and I in Hawaii 2008

7. Date night with hubby once a week at least 3 weeks out of the month

Actual: Maybe once a month. More likely once every other month. Serious room for improvement.

8. Lunch/breakfast with Mom and/or Dad once a month.

Actual: Nope. Not even close. But I saw them a lot more than the previous year.

My Dad and I after Dammit Run 2008

9. Send all family and friends' birthday cards ON TIME!

Actual: Nope. Most family cards sent on time. LA Run Buddy's card was miserably late and I totally bailed on several other birthdays.
Did not send Christmas cards at all this year. HUGE room for improvement.

All in all an awesome year. I traveled more, did more, and had more fun than I have in my entire life. I accomplished more than I ever thought remotely possible and I did the unthinkable

I became a runner.




13 comments:

Angela said...

I think that overall, you can say you met some awesome goals in 2008!

Adam said...

Wow, what a great year.

Best wishes for 09

Krista said...

what a great post! inspiring! run bitch run!

Unknown said...

Wow! What a HUGE difference a year makes. And you're smiling in pretty much all of the photos you post, so I know you're living life and having a blast.

All the best to you in 2009. :-)

Diana said...

What a great year. I thought mine was good. Holy crap....you got a lot done, just a little jealousy coming through. I am still happy with my year, it was my first actual keeping track of anything and it was a good base to start to build on. One key note....always keep family on the front burner, without them, we are nothing. Here's to a great '09!!!!

Jo Lynn said...

That's a boat load of racing! I'm impressed. You met and exceeded some great goals. Way to go!

IronWaddler said...

It sounds like you had an awesome year. Anxious to follow 2009.

Klassenator said...

Congratulations on all your accomplishments from 2008.


You've been an inspiration to me.

Southbaygirl said...

wonderful year and you've been a runner for awhile now!!! Good job! I can't wait for us to meet, run together whatever!!! 2009 is our year!

Amy said...

I found your blog from ...who knows?! (Krista) and I love you! :) Is that too much to say on our first meeting? ;) This is great...

This past year I took up running and it's a serious drug! I love it and can't get enough...pretty ticked that its snowing here and I can't get out there...I'm just waiting for enough slush to disappear to get out again this week!

Loved your log...I've been keeping one...but didn't really think about how many miles I've logged throughout the year. Very cool!

Thanks for the inspriration...woo-hoo!! I'll be back.
Amy~

Anonymous said...

That is a pretty impressive wrap up - well done to an awesome year.

PS. I didn't send Xmas cards either!!!

Tina Mickelson said...

Ok, so heres the deal. Can't really afford to do Big Sir right now (the atempt to save money has overridden my desire to spend it for the moment)But my in my head goal was to do the RnR half in Seattle in July since we have friends and family up there. If I feel like I can after the half program I'll just continue onto the full. We will see. I'm excited to see your race reports this year! You should do Cowtown with me in October... the Citizen Hotel was wonderful!

ShirleyPerly said...

What an incredible year you had!!! And I think that's probably why you had more fun too.

Congrats on all your 2008 accomplishments and I'm sure 2009 will be a stellar year for you too. Look forward to finding out!