Year in Review

By Carissa

**Hello from your Sole Sisters.  It's been quiet here on the blog but not because we aren't having adventures in running and cross-training.  We have been busy with family and all the other wonderful things that vie for our time and attention.  Thank you for sticking with us.**

Did you have exercise goals for 2013?  

Do you remember what they were?  

Did you accomplish them?

At the beginning of 2013 I hoped to accomplish the following:

• Run Boston Marathon with a target goal of 3:20.
• Run a fall marathon and set another Personal Record (PR).
• Break 1:30 in the half marathon.
• Complete a summer triathlon.
• Most importantly... the purpose of my running is the joy of running fast, strong, and the pursuit of discovering my unique personal best within the time constraints of my top priority: my family.

I did run the Boston Marathon.  I trained hard for it.  Harder than I have ever trained before.  Unfortunately on the day of the race my body didn’t respond to racing well.  Fatigue hit early and I finished the race in 3:24.  I was thankful to come away with a PR but disappointed that I wasn’t able to break 3:20, something I felt I was capable of based on my training.

Since the Boston Marathon I’ve lost my desire to train for another marathon.  Could it be due to the trauma of the bombings?  Could it be the uncomfortable prospect of training hard for weeks on end only to feel poorly on race day?  Another culprit could be fatigue.  More and more I feel overly tired from the hard work that a training program requires. I did not pursue a fall marathon because I didn’t have the desire to train for and run that distance.  

Breaking 1:30 in a half marathon also didn’t happen this year.  In October I started training for the Holiday Half.  Training was going well.  I was getting faster and practicing pacing at a 7 minute mile.  This wouldn’t give me a 1:30 finish time but it would have given me a PR.  A few weeks out from the race it filled up and I hadn’t registered yet.  I couldn’t believe I had made such a mistake.  I reached out to the runners I knew and to the race director but I never was able to find a transfer or secure a spot.  In the end two months of hard training didn’t get put to use in a half marathon race.

Running along the California coastline.

The summer triathlon did happen.  This is the athletic accomplishment that I am most proud of this year.  It took some big steps on my part considering I entered the year without road biking experience and barely a swimmer.  I really enjoyed the cross training and variety of training for a triathlon.  What I didn’t realize was how time consuming the training would be.  For me, the training time commitment and intensity was comparable to training for a marathon.

My last goal: to run my best within the time constraints of my family was accomplished also.  The commitments I have at home guided my goals and days.  Workouts were skipped, shuffled, and revised based on the needs of my family.   

My boys before our 5k on Thanksgiving morning

Some unexpected highlights from this year were:

• Being one of 75 athletes whose story was used in 4:09:43 by Hal Higdon
• Falling in love with road biking.
• Winning a $50 gift certificate for second female at a local 10k.
• Finishing first woman at an 8k in The Dalles, Oregon
• Our whole family running a 5k on Thanksgiving

Best of all were the miles passed with friends: on the road, trails, treadmill, pool, pond and in the gym.  

How about you Sole Sisters?  What's your year in review?