I’ve had plenty of time to think about how I’d like 2016 to be. Aside from the obvious things I'd like, such as continued health for myself and my family, and staying gainfully employed, I came up with a few things I'd like to see happen in 2016:

Building strength

My body has turned to mush during my time on the bench.  I haven’t lifted weights, done any crunches, lunges, squats or of course running.  I need to build strength in not only my injured ankle, but both upper body, core and lower body.  In other words, I need an overhaul!  I’m planning to hit the weights hard when I get back from my sales conference after the first week of January.

Eating clean

I’d like to see what my body is capable of – not just how good I would look in a smaller size, but how much better I can perform during training and racing by eating better and weighing less. I already saw firsthand when I lost weight back in 2013 how much faster I got in a short period of time, just dropping 15-20 lbs.  I need to somehow shift my mindset about food being fuel and not just something to enjoy for fun when I'm bored. Unfortunately this will involve sacrifice and willpower, which are not my strong suits.

Races to run!

I want to run them all! See my race schedule to view the full list of what’s on deck for next year, but I plan to stay busy!  Definitely going to do venture to NV for Hot Chocolate Las Vegas, do another Ragnar (of course!) , pick up 2 new states (TX) for Rock n Roll Dallas to fundraise for St. Jude (check out my fundraising page!), and VT for the Mad Marathon (half) this summer!  I also picked out my replacement full  - Revel Canyon in CA next November! I think this should be a good one! Still chasing the elusive goal of a new marathon PR (under 4:24) and I just need to knock like 30-45 seconds off of my 1:50 half marathon PR and I’d be a very happy girl!!! If this clean eating thing works out, I think I can do it! 

Wishing you all a run-derful New Year!

As 2015 comes to a close, I am pausing to reflect on my running year – the good, bad and the ugly.

Some of my favorite things that happened in my running and racing life this year are:

• A surprise 1:52 at Rock n Roll AZ (half) in January. I had low expectations and was really pleasantly surprised with the outcome. 
• Picking up a new state (South Carolina) when I ran the Hilton Head Half with friends in February. 
  
• Experiencing the awesomeness of Ragnar when I overcame my fears and jumped into Ragnar Del Sol in February.  Needless to say, it created a new obsession.
  
• Qualifying for the Half Fanatics by running 3 half marathons in 90 days
  
• A new 5k PR in April at the Run 3rd 5k
  
• Meeting and running with one of my Twitter BFFs in real life at the Charlevoix Half Marathon
  
• Running the Crim 10 mile (my favorite race) in my hometown of Flint, MI in 1:30
  
• Finding a new local race –the Haunted Half – that I got to run in a Wonder Woman costume
• Surviving my first Xterra trail race at Estrella Mountain
• Experiencing a Ragnar Trail race (McDowell Mtn)
• Running a 164 day runstreak!

The year also brought many challenges:

• I saw my finish times start to uptick again. I thought I was done with anything over 2 hours, but I had 2 races with a 2:01 time – Fox Valley half and Going the Distance half, and also a few near misses – 1:58 and 1:59. This was discouraging after experiencing so much progress in 2013 and 2014.
• I trained for the Tucson Marathon throughout the summer which was a little rough – throughout July, August, September and October here in AZ. Ugh.
• Ending my runstreak due to injury
• Feeling completely out of shape once I had to stop running

Obviously the biggest challenge of all has been my ankle injuries and sitting on the sidelines. This meant missing my marathon I trained so hard for.  Initial injury was Nov 7 and was diagnosed with a fibular fracture after another injury Nov 28 and I haven’t ran since that day. Impatiently waiting a few more weeks for clearance from the doctor (hopefully).

I created a fun flipagram that shows some of this year’s highlights.  Here’s hoping that 2016 brings new running friends, new adventures and a HEALTHY running year!

I’ve never broken anything in all my 47 years…until now.  What started as just a sprain (or so I thought) during Ragnar Trail,  ended in an epic DNS.  Although I thought I was starting back super slow and smart after my sprain (see original post) ,  I had a freak incident while bowling at my son’s birthday party (yes, bowling) a few weeks later. I pivoted on my recovering ankle and instantly knew that something was wrong. .Shooting pain.  I sat and sulked for the remainder of his party, I was so scared that it was something bad.

I waited until Monday and went in to see my regular doctor. She thought that at first glance, it looked like just a sprain but since I was complaining about pain all the way down my leg, she sent me for xrays just to be sure. 
I had to wait for 2 days to get my results.  By this time, I already knew there was no way I could event walk the full or the half at the Tucson Marathon. I finally got my results and sure enough, there was a fracture.  In had an “invulsive fibular fracture”.   My doc sent me to get a boot until I could get in to see an orthopedic surgeon. Surgeon I thought? There was a chance I needed surgery? What a nightmare.

I immediately hated this boot.  I don’t know how people wear this. It is so heavy, clunky and awkward.  In just the 24 hours that I had it, I noticed my other hip overcompensating, and an overall fatigue. I couldn’t drive with it on. I finally got in to see the surgeon and immediately got good news.  He said I did not not need to get surgery. Hallelujiah!  And, he said I had a choice of the boot or an air splint.  I dropped that boot like a bad habit.  The air splint is really light and I can still wear a shoe on it.   He said I should heal up in 4 weeks or so! 

Meanwhile, the Tucson marathon was today.  It’s the first full marathon that I registered for but never got to start.  So sad. It would have been #11, and the weather turned out pretty good for it.

I have a replacement marathon all picked out, and have spent lots of time planning ahead for 2016 races (new post coming soon) for when I will hopefully get a clean bill of health.

Running is true gift, and I will never take it for granted!