My 2015
Running Year in review:
Not sure
how to start this post. Should I go with stats first and then a short write-up
or the other way around? Perhaps I should attempt a mixture of the two? I will
try the latter.
Total Distance
run: 1,343.5mi
(that’s 30,954,240 BigMacs stacked on top of each other, in case you wanted to know)
(that’s 30,954,240 BigMacs stacked on top of each other, in case you wanted to know)
 |
| Production value. I just ate that thing. Doesn't look as advertised though... No stock photo here! |
Compared with the last 3 years (’12: 459.6mi /’13: 1,239.5mi/’14: 1,079mi),
this was a new personal record. I did think I would’ve cracked the 1,500mi mark
by now. However, I tend to only look at this at the beginning of the year and
forget about it throughout. Nothing good usually comes from purely pushing for
a straight up distance over the course of the year. It wouldn’t help account
for injuries and put the focus more on quantity instead of quality.
Total Time run: 215h 59m
(that’s a little longer than watching all episodes of The Office (three times) or watching all of Friends 2.5 times)
Also a new record for the year, although it only surpasses 2014 by a mere 25 hours. Given that the difference is only 104 miles, I hope to soon be able to match this time goal, but by having quite a bit more miles under my belt.
Elevation Gain: 41,663ft
I don’t really have any comparison to previous years for this stat, but it sounds interesting (given that Mt. Everest is a “puny” 29,029ft. If I may bore you for a moment, I would go into the fact that it may sound like an impressive elevation gain, but it is a mere 31ft per mile and the majority of the elevation gain came from a few select runs in some mountainous regions while I was travelling. If I took those out, my average gain would truly reflect where I live and mostly train: pancake flat eastern South Dakota.
6 of 9
races resulted in PRs and I got my first win at a 5K and a 50K. That in itself
makes me very happy, as I am able to race both, short and long distances
semi-competitively. The only sour spot on the year is that I wasn’t able to set
a new 5K and 10K PR. Well, I didn’t race a 10K, so I couldn’t score that one,
but I tried (-->)twice at the 5K.
The first was without the right training beforehand and was a novelty as it was held on an indoor track and I signed up for the experience and to support my running club. I jumped on the second one only a couple of weeks after my 58.5mile performance at the 12 hour race in Nebraska. I learned about the race in the paper the night before and decided to run it at a pace that wouldn’t threat injury. As it was a small town event, I was able to pull off a victory with a minute or so to spare, so I never truly got into racing mode either. Excellent excuses J. Hopefully 2016 will bring a 5K and/or 10K somewhere along the line with my training.
Total Time run: 215h 59m
(that’s a little longer than watching all episodes of The Office (three times) or watching all of Friends 2.5 times)
Also a new record for the year, although it only surpasses 2014 by a mere 25 hours. Given that the difference is only 104 miles, I hope to soon be able to match this time goal, but by having quite a bit more miles under my belt.
Elevation Gain: 41,663ft
I don’t really have any comparison to previous years for this stat, but it sounds interesting (given that Mt. Everest is a “puny” 29,029ft. If I may bore you for a moment, I would go into the fact that it may sound like an impressive elevation gain, but it is a mere 31ft per mile and the majority of the elevation gain came from a few select runs in some mountainous regions while I was travelling. If I took those out, my average gain would truly reflect where I live and mostly train: pancake flat eastern South Dakota.
 |
| The Burj Khalifa is somewhere around ~2700 feet. Mt. Everest is ~11x taller than that. I'm SUCH an awesome person for having climbed that much!!! |
Cross-training:
Biking: 168.7mi (11h 38m)
I had a couple of really good outings and get more comfortable for longer distances on my bike, but actually envisioned at the beginning of last year that I may exceed my running distance. This is far
from possible, but may be in my future. Unlikely to happen in 2016,
but maybe ‘17/’18 as I get more serious about triathlons.
Swimming 4.92mi (3h 50m) Wow, this was more impressive when I left it at 8,660 yards before translating it into miles. Any swimmer friends of mine will look at this is and give this a slight smile and realize how cute this little distance is. If I am serious about any future triathlons, I will have to step up my game in this regard in 2016. It often came down to time conflicts and I chose running over swimming. There is an interesting long distance swimming event in North Dakota that has intrigued me for a good year and a half now. The length is only about 36 miles. Not 3.6, but 36. Maybe something for the more ‘distant’ future.
Biking: 168.7mi (11h 38m)
I had a couple of really good outings and get more comfortable for longer distances on my bike, but actually envisioned at the beginning of last year that I may exceed my running distance. This is far
 |
| Me riding on the regular |
Swimming 4.92mi (3h 50m) Wow, this was more impressive when I left it at 8,660 yards before translating it into miles. Any swimmer friends of mine will look at this is and give this a slight smile and realize how cute this little distance is. If I am serious about any future triathlons, I will have to step up my game in this regard in 2016. It often came down to time conflicts and I chose running over swimming. There is an interesting long distance swimming event in North Dakota that has intrigued me for a good year and a half now. The length is only about 36 miles. Not 3.6, but 36. Maybe something for the more ‘distant’ future.
Races:
Prairie
Striders Indoor 5K (9th)
Sandhills Ultra 50K (5th) -PR
Kalamazoo Marathon (40th)
Dizzy Goat 12 hour (3rd) - PR
Mobridge 4th of July 5K (1st)
Sioux Falls Marathon (16th) -PR
Jack 15 (10th) -PR
Icebox 480 (5th) -PR
Riddlebox 50K (1st) -PR
Sandhills Ultra 50K (5th) -PR
Kalamazoo Marathon (40th)
Dizzy Goat 12 hour (3rd) - PR
Mobridge 4th of July 5K (1st)
Sioux Falls Marathon (16th) -PR
Jack 15 (10th) -PR
Icebox 480 (5th) -PR
Riddlebox 50K (1st) -PR
9 races for
the year isn’t bad. Considering a couple of last minute 5Ks, thrown in, I
basically raced long distance every couple of months. I bet my wife won’t
believe that, as I constantly talk about potential races and she must feel I am
racing every 3 weeks.
Important to me was race selection, which was based heavely on timing and how my training was coming along. It’s easy to be tempted to overrace, but I don’t think I can achieve my best times/performances if I simply throw myself into every race possible. A couple of races turned out to be PRs, but were only 1-2 weeks after other races and I am sure I could’ve done even better had I rested more prior.
Important to me was race selection, which was based heavely on timing and how my training was coming along. It’s easy to be tempted to overrace, but I don’t think I can achieve my best times/performances if I simply throw myself into every race possible. A couple of races turned out to be PRs, but were only 1-2 weeks after other races and I am sure I could’ve done even better had I rested more prior.
6 of 9
races resulted in PRs and I got my first win at a 5K and a 50K. That in itself
makes me very happy, as I am able to race both, short and long distances
semi-competitively. The only sour spot on the year is that I wasn’t able to set
a new 5K and 10K PR. Well, I didn’t race a 10K, so I couldn’t score that one,
but I tried (-->)twice at the 5K.The first was without the right training beforehand and was a novelty as it was held on an indoor track and I signed up for the experience and to support my running club. I jumped on the second one only a couple of weeks after my 58.5mile performance at the 12 hour race in Nebraska. I learned about the race in the paper the night before and decided to run it at a pace that wouldn’t threat injury. As it was a small town event, I was able to pull off a victory with a minute or so to spare, so I never truly got into racing mode either. Excellent excuses J. Hopefully 2016 will bring a 5K and/or 10K somewhere along the line with my training.
I also got
to knock off the following places of my 50/50 (states & countries) marathon
list:
Michigan
Nebraska
Tennessee
Nevada
Hong Kong
Hungary
Belgium
Michigan
Nebraska
Tennessee
Nevada
Hong Kong
Hungary
Belgium
I had to
quit on a couple of attempts (after 13.5 miles in Arkansas and 14 miles in
Illinois) due to weather, but am happy with getting these 7 (especially the
countries, as they are likely harder to achieve long term).
I am now at
20/100 total and look forward to knocking off a few more in 2016.
 |
| my 2016 plans :) |
In review,
it was a great running year for me and it mostly came through the help of my
buddy/coach Kyle who is helping my preparation by providing my training plans
and advice on when to back off and when to push. I can only recommend working
with him to anyone looking to improve PRs or conquer new distances (look again,
6 PRs and a couple of wins. I had never won a 5K or 50K before!)
Alright,
Get Outside!
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