A Running List: My 2016 Running Year in Review

My running goal for 2016 was to keep enjoying my running and to heal my hammie injury.  I did both but had some unexpected struggles along the way. I recovered fine and had a solid run in Los Angeles and my best run of the year in March at the NYC Half. I struggled with burn out from May on through the NYC Marathon in November. Despite some rough times, I enjoyed my year in running and am super grateful for all of my miles this year. You can see my quarterly reviews for race summaries and products I loved (Q1, Q2, Q3). I’m linking up with Courtney, too!

Here is my 2016 running year in review:

# of Miles Run – 2385. Average 6.4 miles/day and 45.7/week.

# of Races Run– 20 – 3 less than last year! New to the line up this year were the Country Music 5K in Anaheim, CA, the Elmhurst 4 on the 4th and the Carrera del Muerte 5K. 20 races – marathons (3), half marathons (5), 10 milers (2), 8k (1), 4 miler (1) and 5k (8). I also did a 10K fun run and a 5K fun run (untimed races). Most of the results are on Athlinks if you are interested.

# of Miles Run in Races –197.9 – 61.6 miles less than last year. I did a lot more 1/2 marathons last year and in the previous few years!

# of Age Group Awards-12! My times were much slower this year than the last few. It was my last year in the 40-44 age group. I was surprised that some of the usually competitive local races were not as competitive as last year. Lucky for me, I guess!

Fun Race Destinations– NYC (3), Los Angeles, San Francisco, Carlsbad, CA and Anaheim, CA.

Coolest Non-Race Runs: – Cuba, Healdsburg, CA and Central Park in NYC.

Best Race– NYC Half. This was the only race this year that I felt really strong and effortless and had a faster than expected result.

Worst Race– Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10. The weather was milder than usual for this hilly 10 miler. I just had no legs or endurance. I ran my slowest 10 mile race EVER. I ran faster when I was not training at all. That scared me into getting a physical. (Everything turned up fine.) The SF Marathon was a close second performance wise, but I had so much fun and great support that I really didn’t care!

Personal Records (PRs)- 0. Should have run that 12K or 50K or something I have never done. Maybe next year!

Star Sightings: I met Dean Karnazes three times – at Expo West, at the National Running Day run with North Face and at the San Francisco Marathon. I promise I’m not a stalker! We also saw the Olympic Trials in LA the day before the marathon so were complete fan girls for Meb, Shalane, Desi and Kara (and many more!!)

Ambassadorships: I added Fitfluential, a Sweat Life, Run Gum and Redd Bar to my Ambassador positions! I still work with Esprit de She Chicago, Janji Corps, CEP Compression and SOS Rehydrate.

Number of Sidelining Injuries– 0. I started the year with my 2015 hamstring pull and recovered quickly to run the LA Marathon and many other races early in the year. I had some pretty bad burn out this year and my times were slow (for me) and inconsistent. I took it easy after NYC Marathon so hopefully 2017 will be a good one.

Best Running Advice I Received This Year: Eat real food.

Best New Running Product I Tried: This is SO tough – like picking a favorite child, friend or pet. The list is long and I recommend you check out all of the awesome products I checked out this year! Go to giveaways and check out my reviews.

Popular Running Posts:

For a blogging runner, that’s a lot of running blogging! My goals for 2017 are to recover from my burn out, keep having fun and to try some new things. I signed up for a few races so far and plan to run Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon with Lauren and friends. That should be an awesome new challenge! I’ll keep you posted on anything else I hatch. Let me know if you have any ideas for me, too!

How was your year in running?? Please tell me about it in the comments.