Stats nerds: this one’s for you. I’ve done a yearly running recap for the past two years, and while I question whether or not others find it particularly interesting, I’m a huge fan. I ❤ stats, so, uh, hope you do too. Haha. As always, thanks to Kim for the template.
Races participated in: 10 — the most ever for me!
Races “raced” (of x amount above): Definitely two (Jingle Bell and the Santa Hustle), but I think you could make arguments for my racing the Shamrock Shuffle, the Chitown Half and Ravenswood as well.
DNFs: 0
DNSs: 0
Distances
5K: 3
8K: 1
10K: 1
10 Mile: 2
Half Marathon: 2
Marathon: 1
New-to-me distances: 10 mile.
States run In: 2-3, depending on how you want to count Washington, D.C. I ran in Illinois (obviously), D.C., and a tiny bit in Maryland. Although I suppose technically I also ran in Michigan, but I didn’t run any races in Michigan.
Road: 9
Trail: 1. Darn you, Georgetown 10! I was not ready for that!
Months run In: 12.
Hottest race: The Magnificent Mile Chicago Women’s Half Marathon by a LONG SHOT. I need to stop running half marathons in August.
Coldest race: Santa Hustle. Man oh man was I cold that morning. Running into a wind out of the north for the second half certainly didn’t help matters.
Windiest race: Hmm. I honestly don’t remember any races being particularly windy. We had wind at the Santa Hustle, admittedly, but not to such an extent that I felt like it made running impossible.
Wettest race: We’re going to go with the Georgetown 10 (even though it was sunny on race day) due to the mud situation.
Races I ran for free: 5
Race entries I paid for other people: 0. Hi, I’m the worst.
Total spent on race entries: $272.79 (I can already tell you that 2015 will blow that number OUT. OF. THE. WATER. I’ve already spent over $200 on just three races. Blahhhh 😦 ).
Average cost (total/races I paid to run): $54.56
Cheapest race: Jingle Bell.
Most expensive race: Chicago Women’s Half (of those I paid to run. Otherwise, the Chicago Marathon.)
Participation medals received: 7, 8 if you count my OAR team medal.
AG medals received: 1
And I am oh-so proud of it 😀
PRs:
5K: 24:17 (1:07 PR)
8K: 41:38 (48 second PR)
10 Mile: 1:31:32 (14:06 PR)
Half Marathon: 2:02:50 (19:44 PR)
Marathon: 4:57:51 (27:39 PR)
Yeah…guess I can’t complain too much about that 😛
Races run alone: 5
Races run with others: 5 in terms of “A friend or friends and I all ran this same race.” Two in terms of “I ran this race side-by-side with another person.”
Acted as pacer: 2, unofficially. I ran the BTN Big 10K and Women’s Half with some of my CARA friends, but we all really paced each other rather than I paced them. Though my one friend doesn’t trust her watch all that much, so I suppose technically we used my watch to pace us. Does that count? Haha.
Favorite medal: Oh boy. Tie between the Chitown Half medal (because I was so proud of that PR) and the Chicago Marathon medal (because of course.) Oh! And my Jingle Bell AG medal, because I’m really proud of that one, too.
Bib: Chicago Marathon? Maybe Chicago Women’s Half because I was in Corral B, and I’m never fast enough to be in that high of a corral? Haha.
Picture: My marathon finish line picture was pretty excellent this year.
Though I do really love those pictures of me and my new enemy at the end of the Santa Hustle. Sorry for being a jerk…kind of 😛
Miles run in 2014: 620.62 (+91.18 from 2013)
Despite spending far more time in physical therapy than planned, on the whole I’m really happy with this past year’s running. I wanted to PR my half marathon and marathon, and I accomplished both of those goals quite handily. I found a wonderful community in my CARA group and I feel like I settled into my “place” in the running world, if you will. I’m looking forward to some new adventures in running (and hopefully less injuries!) in 2015!
Linking up with the Chicago Running Bloggers 2014 Running Recap Blog Hop!
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You did have a great year! Look at all those PRs! I’m looking forward to seeing what you have planned (and accomplish) for 2015 🙂
Thanks Erin! At least right now, it’s looking like 2015 will be a nice balance of what I’ve done lately (another marathon, a couple of halves) and crossing off some bucket list items (Ragnar!), so I’m excited to see how that all shapes up 🙂
Hahaha I bet that was rough to see how much $$ you spent on running this year — but it’s totally worth it in the end! It’s what makes you happy so spend away 🙂 It’s one of my goals to run a race in DC — I used to take fun runs around the city and it was a blast running through such historic and important places. Happy New Year!
What’s even scarier is how much worse it would have been if I hadn’t taken advantage of so many free entry opportunities. That stuff adds up so fast! I really liked running a race in DC — the Georgetown 10 was not at all what I expected, but what I really liked was being a part of a different running community, even if it was only for a day. That was really cool!
That’s a lot of PR’s! Way to go!!
Thanks Maggie!
Happy new year, Bethany! You had an absolutely incredible 2014 and this is a fantastic recap. You SMASHED your PRs! I really do love that picture of you at the Chicago Marathon finish line. You look beyond fabulous! Cheers to 2015 bringing with it even more fitness wins, health, prosperity, and happiness. I’m already getting excited about the races on my calendar for this new year, you too!?!?!?
Thanks so much, Emily! I’m definitely looking forward to what I have coming up this year in running — lots of exciting things on my calendar! Happy New Year to you, too!
That is an awesome recap! There are always races where I’m not sure if it will be my best, but I always try to finish. Here’s to a great 2015!
Thanks Kaitlin! I think sticking it out and finishing a tough race, even when you know you won’t have a good finish time, teaches you a lot about perseverance and not quitting even when it’s hard, and that can make a huge difference in your running overall, since it’s definitely not always easy.
Congrats on a great year in running in 2014. I ran the Chicago Marathon too. The Chi Marathon medal is sweet – I love the pic that you took of it. Happy 2015!
Thanks! That’s awesome that you ran Chicago this year — it was such a perfect day for a marathon. Happy 2015 to you as well!
I love this recap, it’s a great way to look back at the year. I don’t even want to know how much I spent on running haha! I also ran 10 races this year and I couldn’t believe it! Your Chicago Marathon finish line picture is seriously the best I have ever seen.
Thank you so much, Courtney! Yeah, adding up that running bill can be a bit humbling…I’d probably have more self-control if I did it while it was all happening instead of waiting for the end of the year haha!
Woo hoo! Awesome with all the PRs! Do you think you will try a trail race this year? Maybe a technical trail?! They are super fun!!! 😀
Thanks for the shout out!
I don’t know! To be honest, I had never even really considered it until you just mentioned it right now haha. Since I don’t have a car, getting to a trail race is a bit trickier than getting to a regular road race, but I’ll have to keep that in mind. It could definitely be a fun new challenge…