Best of 2009

I reviewed my 2009 goals today and was pleasantly surprised to see that I did pretty well. The rundown:

Goal 1: Run a sub 54:00 10K. So close. But just couldn't quite eek it out.

Goal 2: Run a 4:30-ish marathon. Done.

Goal 3: Run sub-2:05 half marathon. Done. Although as the year went on, my goal morphed into a sub-2:00 half. That one will have to stay on the list for next year!

Goal 4: Get a Mora Classic medal. I'm 3/4 of the way there. The final event is in February (the cross country ski). Guess I best dust off those skis and get my butt in gear.

Goal 5: 2009 miles in 2009. Um, big fat fail. I'm not even going to hit 1000 for 2009 - more like 930. On the positive side, that's more miles than I ran in 2008.

Although I've had a lot of running highs in the past year (and a couple of lows), there are three memories that really stand out as my favorites. The first: the Madison Mini Marathon in August. I didn't set a PR, but the race was so much fun and really restored my love for running after a tough couple of summer races.

My second favorite running moment of 2009 was running with Sophie in her very first race at the Grantsburg 5K in June. Sophie ran the distance of a football field and got her first race medal. I'm happy to report that running seems to be in her blood - she can now make it a whole lap around the track (and today, when she saw me in running clothes, asked if we were going for a run at the running track).

But my absolute favorite running moment of 2009 was running the lap around Lambeau field at the finish of the Green Bay Marathon. It wasn't just the thrill of running on the field (although that certainly was a part of it). Everything just came together - all of the hard work put in through what I considered my best training cycle ever, all of the times I kept pushing during the race, and all of the emotions of being close to the finish and knowing I had smashed my marathon PR. Definitely a runner's high if there ever was one.

Aside from the running highlights, I am also proud of how I incorporated cross training in the past year. I added biking this summer (and have stuck with it this winter using my trainer), I fell in love with kettlebells two months ago and have been going strong, and I've been regularly submitting myself to Jillian Michaels' various forms of torture.

It's been a great year and being part of this runner blogging community has really enhanced the joy I find in running. Thanks for following along with all my adventures and for sharing yours with me!