A Running Decade

Yes I'm writing a New Year's post on the last day of January. 2019 is in the past, it had some ups, and some downs (literally, falling), and while it wasn't the best year, it certainly wasn't the worst. I'm just glad it's in the books and over now. And with this being the end of a decade, and since I've been blogging and running and triathloning the entire decade, I thought it would be a good time to recap the whole decade.

2010
This was a pre-ironman year where the main focus was to cover each distance to prepare for an actual ironman year. I finished another full marathon, my first century ride, and a handful of other triathlons & shorter stuff. 10 races all together.
Swim: 72,676 yards
Bike: 1779.4 miles
Run: 524.65 miles

This was also the year that I finished my 2nd half iron, we moved to Raleigh and bought the house that we still live in, and Ella started kindergarten. Quite a fun and pivotal year.

2011
This was the year I turned iron. Because I was in Ironman training for the first time, I took an "anything goes" approach to racing while still following a strict training plan for Ironman Florida.
Swim: 143,585 yards
Bike: 3135.9 miles
Run: 1100.01 miles

The training plan produced a massive amount of miles. I ran a half marathon every month and got faster most of the time including a 1:37 PR in December. I finished 17 races total from a 23:43 5k to the 13:06:24 ironman finish. This was a pivotal year!

2012
Post-Ironman, this year was anything goes. I ran my first ultramarathon, a 40 miler in Georgia.
Swim: 138,450 yards
Bike: 1591.5 miles
Run: 765.3 miles

I finished 27 races this year. After making it through Ironman I figured I could do anything, so I did. Kelley and I both qualified for the Marathon Maniacs doing 3 fulls in 65 days, we also both did a Grand Prix series with a bunch of 5k's, some tri's, it was a great year.

2013
After the ultra, I was ready to get back to Ironman. This year I was really focused on getting faster on the bike. Spoiler alert: it didn't work, I still sucked at biking. But I put in almost 4000 miles trying to get there, and totally ruined my desire to ride.
Swim: 210,220 yards
Bike: 3869 miles
Run: 847.8 miles

This year I did the Cast Iron club, where training & racing miles totaled more than 30 ironman triathlon distances on the year. B2B was the ironman of choice, also did the first Ironman Raleigh on a really hot day. This was a pivotal year with lots of ups and downs, I really thought I could get faster on the bike. I still finished 12 races.

2014
We also started a milestone Dave Ramsey year from March 2013 to March 2014, paying off $140k in debts over that time. We're still debt free, but I was ready to travel again. So this years Ironman was Rev3 Cedar Point in Ohio, we went to a Cleveland Indians game the day after the race, it was an amazing trip.
Swim: 231,500 yards
Bike: 2170 miles
Run: 1227 miles

Done with Ironmans

It was amazing to get back over 1000 miles running on the year, and I used that fitness to carry me through ironman. I knew that was going to be my last one, people who really love Ironman tend to stop after 3 for some reason but I knew I would. I was totally burned out on the bike after 2013. I still got in 3 marathons and 2 ultras, plus a few shorter races only 11 in total.

2015
This was the beginning of the end, really. I turned 40 and my body started falling apart. Hey, that's what is supposed to happen right? Running Ironmans really made me want to grow a beard and run more trail ultras. So I did.
Swim: 376,810 yards
Bike: 292 miles
Run: 1057.8 miles

Yeah only 292 miles on the bike? After almost 4000 miles a couple of years earlier? That sounds right. 13 races, one sprint triathlon, I decided to go for the "marathon in all 50 states" goal and knocked out marathons in Minnesota and Maryland, ran a beer mile, you name it. And I turned 40.

2016
Generally, this was one of the worst years ever. Athletically, it had ups and downs. I finished my first 50 miler in San Diego and had a wonderful time in California. I competed in the Umstead 100 after volunteering and pacing there for several years and bailed after 75 miles.
Swim: 199,150 yards
Bike: 82 miles
Run: 1179 miles

10 races including the Umstead, I turned 41, finished the year with a 50k and 2 marathons in october and destroyed my foot in the process. Some people are still upset that I didn't go back and swim the last 850 yards to hit an even 200k. I did one sprint tri, and took the job that I still have at LexisNexis.

2017
This was a tough year, coming off of the injury. I planned on doing 12 marathons in 12 months starting with the last 3 races last year so I was pretty bummed about missing my spring marathons. I actually had no marathons this year, first time since I started running that I didn't marathon at all.
Swim: 276,505 yards
Bike: 240 miles
Run: 237.4 miles

I did 7 races total, a half marathon, a 10k, and 5 open water swim races. Going from 1147 miles of running to 237 miles this year was really tough. there were lots of giant beers, and I also gained a lot of weight. None of that helped. But I did really love all of that time in the water.

2018
Really, I was back into woodworking and not doing much this year. I started building boats in 2017, and finished 2018 by starting an MBA program. So...
Swim: 65,926 yards
Bike: 57.5 miles
Run: 471 miles

I only did 3 races. Arthritis forced me to drop my beloved masters swim team. I was able to run some, I took 4th place overall in a 5k and did full marathons in Delaware and Colorado. the beard got more gray, and I got my last tattoo (probably). Starting grad school and a heavy work load both took a toll mentally.

2019
This really was a decent year. All I was really committed to was to be a good student, and I finished 5 classes in grad school.
Swim: 4000 yards
Bike: 33.5 miles
Run: 425 miles

I finished 2 races and DNS'd 4 more. Grew my hair out pretty long and then cut it off again. My goals for the year:
Grad School - pass my classes. Success! I had 4 A's and a B
Oregon - fail. Had a wonderful trip, did not marathon
Tennessee - fail. Didn't even make the trip
Run 800 miles - fail. 425 and I'm pretty happy about that.
Finish the porch - Success! I did finish building my front porch and it turned out fantastic.

Also, I established a running streak of 2 miles a day for 75 days in a row. pretty happy about that. This was also the only year that I didn't shave the beard over the summer.

2020
Goals for 2020? I'm having a tough time coming up with anything real.
500 miles running?
Marathon in 2 more states?
Finish grad school. Classes wrap up Oct 4

So far the only race I'm registered for is a 24 hour ultra at the end of october, it felt like a good way to celebrate finishing grad school. No trips planned yet, but I think Idaho and Kentucky should be the next states I shoot for.

Cheers to a great decade!