Let me start off by saying that I totally blew the one “resolution”
that I made for 2017. I cannot do 100
push-ups, I still cannot do one good solid push up. Perhaps, that will change this year, perhaps
not. Now on to running.
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| "Enjoying" the 2017 Polar Dash Half |
No marathon, no ultra.
That defines 2017 for me. I just
ran for pleasure and threw in a few half marathons to make it interesting. After 2015, the year in which I completed my
first and only 50 mile run and 2016, the year of my “last” marathon and all the
training that went into both, I just wanted to enjoy running and I did. Did I miss being out with my running buddies
on those 15, 17 and 20 mile training runs?
Not really. Did I miss having to
get up at 4 AM to complete long runs before it got hot during the summer? Not at all.
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| Finishing the 2017 Hot Chocolate with Ann, The Rockstar |
So what did I do in 2017? I ran or walked twelve 5Ks, one
10K, one 8 miler, one 10 miler, one 100 mile relay (ran about 12 miles) and
three half marathons. I was going to
write about each of them but I didn’t. I
ran 1,006 miles in 2017 and stayed healthy the whole year. Did my pace improve? No.
Did I lose any weight? Hell no!
Yet, I think 2017 was maybe my most enjoyable running year yet. I ran when I felt like it, I didn’t get too
hung up on pace, and I ran with great people.
As in other years, the highlight of the year was doing the Hot Chocolate
5K with the Cancer to 5K team. Seeing
new people get turned onto running just makes me happy.
2017 is a wrap.
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| Volunteering at the 2017 Chicago Marathon Expo |
2018 is going to be another great year. I’ve been selected to be a 2018 Chicago
Athlete Ambassador which means that I will run some races for them and in exchange
write race recaps. I’m hoping to meet
some new people in this role and maybe running a couple races that I’ve never
run. I feel very honored to be selected. I’m also going to run the Chicago Marathon
for the 3rd time. I know, I
know, I said “never again”. All
marathon finishers know that that’s never true.
My niece, Rebecca, is going to come in from Israel and run/walk it with
me. This time, I swear, I will do
whatever I did in training and finish strong.
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| Fun with Friends |
2018 is also going to be a year of cross training. I’m starting to get interested in swimming
again and plan to work myself up to be able to join the Naperville Waves
sometime in the next 12 months. Plus, I’ve
started a Yoga for the Inflexible course and am proving that the course name is
appropriate.
It’s only January 11th, and I’ve registered for
three half marathons (F^3 in Chicago, Naperville Women’s Half and the Bjorklund
Half in Duluth, MN), and four 5Ks (Geneva
Super Shuffle, Universal Sole Valentine’s Trail Challenge, Shake it Off 5K in
Bolingbrook and the Five-O 5K in Libertyville.)
I’m sure there will be a lot more and a lot more fun miles with friends.
I Call it Running, and perhaps it is!!
