It's no secret that I'm looking ahead to 2013 with great anticipation. But as crummy as you have been in some respects, in others you have been almost stunning. What, exactly, made you stunning? The running. Oh, thank you 2012 for the running!
- I raced more this year than ever before (10 races, if athlinks.com and my memory are to be believed, plus Ragnar makes 11).
- All 11 of those races were between May 5 and November 25.
- Six were half marathons.
- Three of those were on trails, which was a new thing for me.
- I was first in my age group in the second of those trail halfs.
- I was third in my age group in the third of those trail halfs.
- (By the way, now I LOVE trail running.)
- I ran two marathons.
- One of those was technically a "trail" marathon.
- I BQ'd that there trail marathon.
- And it was a PR by nearly 17 minutes.
- And I was third in my age group.
- The marathon before that one? Also a (then) PR.
- Ragnar was easily one of the 3 most fun things I've ever done. Ever.
- I ran my first 50K.
- Or rather, 50K plus 2 extra miles.
- That's 33 freaking miles! That's a lot of miles.
- I didn't love it, but I will do another.
- Maybe in 2013?
- I ran the Torchlight run. Just for fun, because I won an entry at a SGLRG event.
- SGLRG? What an amazing group of people who helped me to be a faster happier runner (and person).
We all have different ways of coping when bad things happen. We can eat. Drink. Act out. Retreat. Talk it out. Keep it in. I did a little of each of those things. But the very best thing I did was run (okay, maybe the second best thing I did was run). I ran with people and I ran alone. I ran with friends and with strangers (who became friends). I ran as therapy. I ran in tears. I ran with smiles. I ran through heartache. In the end, I outran the heartache.
The point is that I decided self-pity and inaction weren't my thing, and so I just...ran. All that running, it took me places.
In 2013, it's taking me to Boston!
So 2012? Thanks, I guess. You doled out some unexpected things. Some good, some bad, but I learned a lot about myself in the process and I honestly wouldn't change a thing. I hope to be able to say the same thing this time next year, but for different reasons.
And 2013, I await you with open arms. And hopefully, with very fast feet. In fact, here are the feet, today, in training in Ballard:
xoxo
Ericka
