I started off the year with my Nike Plus recording all my running activities. When I realized that the Plus was a little shall we say, miscalculated, I decided it was time to up my game and purchase the big boy, the Garmin forerunner 305, thus Claude entered my life:

Yup, that’s the picture I took after the Long Beach Marathon. :) I really think that with Claude in my life, my running has improved simply by the fact that he is very accurate and also mostly very reliable. I can see my splits and distance easily and it’s very consistent. So, keeping track of my running before Claude with the Nike Plus said that I ran 198.26 miles for the months of January through March. Then I got Claude and he stated that I ran 596.46 miles for the remainder of the year. Now, I know I’ve ran some without Claude so I’m giving myself 50 free miles where I didn’t keep track of everything. That puts me roughly at 844.72, so I’m rounding up and saying I ran 850 miles this year. It’s relatively not that many, but I’m happy with the number.

I am not that anal about keeping track of mileage and that is perhaps one of my goals for the year of 2010. We’ll see, that post is up tomorrow, since it’s the first day of 2010, I will start it off right with some goals!

I think overall, this year I pretty much knocked it out of the park. I wasn’t even planning to run a marathon at the beginning of the year. I wanted to wait until 2010. Then I ran not one, not two, not three, but four, the last three being in the last three months of the year. So what made me go crazy?

I can’t answer that. I guess I just got the itch. Deep down, I knew I could do it, it was the matter of just getting it done. I always say that everyone can run, and it’s true. Running is completely a mental sport. Believe me, when I was at mile 19 and throwing up during CIM, I didn’t want to keep running. I didn’t want to keep going, but it was mind over matter. I HAD to do it. You too can do it, anyone can. It was one of those things where I just kind of went, “Okay, get it done.” It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t always fun, nor warm, but I did it. I still can’t believe I did that. Why did I want to do it? Maybe that will come to me someday, as for now, I thought it would be fun, and who knew if I would ever run three marathons that closely together again in my life.

It was a great year of injury-free running and I got my sub-four in the Long Beach marathon. That made me incredibly happy. Funny thing was though, it was never my 2009 goal, but now that I have it, it’s all I’ve ever wanted. That day continues to remind me that running is magical. Setting out to accomplish a goal is something that many chose not to do, and though it wasn’t my initial goal, somehow along the way, I knew I could do it, and accomplishing it meant everything to me.

People always are talking about Boston. When are you going to qualify. You are so fast. You can do it no problem. Well, here is my answer concerning Boston. I ran hard for four years of my life in high school. I was constantly training, constantly pushing myself and bettering myself as a runner. I was always at that threshold where it’s “go all out until you puke” running. I worked out year round, playing soccer, running cross country and track and during the summer training for cross-country. Right now, I honestly have no desire to train for Boston and attempt to qualify. Right now, for me, running is about enjoying every step I’m allowed to take, and pushing myself forward. Maybe next year I’ll get that drive and intense desire to try to qualify, but for me, right now, I love running for no particular reason besides just being able to do it. I have my sub-four, and until I have the dream for Boston, I’m so incredibly happy with that sub-four.

Entering 2010, it will be my 10th year running. That’s a long time. I have spent a huge part of my life running, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Running gives my mind peace, gives my body something to do and allows me to feel and explore my emotions when I’m completely by myself. It has brought me the ability to experience so many different types of emotions. From complete happiness and joy, to defeat and failure, but in the end, I always come back to it. It’s always there for me when I need to just lace up my shoes and head out and that is what I love about running. Not every run will be great, and not every run will be horrible, but it’s the ones that teach you something about yourself, that you couldn’t have learned any other way, those are the memorable ones.

Here’s to the good, the best, the fast, the soggy, the fun, the craptastic and the horrible runs that I have to look forward too in 2010. Cheers!

xoxo

Man, this is a lot of reflecting! So I went through my iPhoto and tried to pick out some of the best photos that reminded me of big events that happened throughout 2009. Some are running related and some aren’t. Enjoy! Also, you can click on the pictures and they will pop up. Hooray!

Snowboarding recap will be up on Monday and yes, I have videos of me eating crap. It was a BLAST and I loved it. I can’t wait to go again. I ran a 6 miler this morning without my garmin, it was nice to just run based on feel, it was even drizzling out. I iced my knee after and it’s feeling sub-par, but life goes on. I have no big new years plans, perhaps I will just enjoy a nice evening with my new teapot and my grad school applications. :) I am just not really feeling it this year, plus I know 2010 is just going to be so great so I don’t want to outshine it on the first day!

And I have pink eye. FAIL!

xoxo

So as I said yesterday in the video post, I am really going to have reflective posts every day this week about what I think this year has meant to me running wise and how ‘far’ I’ve come. This post I’ve taken pictures of all the medals I’ve got this year. Some were earned by placing in a race, but most were just from running the given race.

I started off the year running in the Kaiser Half Marathon in Irvine, CA and finished in 1:48:43, which was about a nine minute PR from my first half marathon ever in October. I really enjoyed that race and had a lot of fun that day. Then I ran in the Surf City half marathon. I really hated this race, and that’s why this year I hopefully can have revenge come February.

Surf City Half Marathon

1:46:00

Then I ran the Race on the Base 10k, which was a fun smaller race. I actually placed 3rd in my Age Group but didn’t have the best race. That was the race where I really realized I didn’t like 10ks.

Race On The Base 10k

49:54

Somehow I got sucked into running a trail run. I liked to think of this trail run as the march of death. It was a 25k (15 miles) and I was DEAD after that for a good week. The hills of Malibu killed me. But, I did complete the Malibu Creek 25k in 3:38:51. Then we had the glorious San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon aka the worst race ever. Ah, what memories. Oddly enough this is also hands down the ugliest medal I have too. Really? A wind-surfer? Yuck. I hate you San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon.

San Diego Marathon ( My first Marathon )

4:28:38

I was going to run a half marathon in March, but had a crazy cough so I opted out and ran the 5k instead in the Wine Country 5k in Paso Robles. I was an idiot and lost the key to the car and had to loop back around mid-race to find it. I also wasn’t wearing my garmin, so I am pretty sure I finished around 27:05. It’s a funny story though.

In April I ran the Seal Beach 10k. I also took this race to a weird new level by running 2 miles to the start, running the race and then running the 2 miles back home. I finished with a time of 50:34 for that race.

Then I went up to San Francisco to complete the CA Dreamin’ series, which was the reason I ran my first half marathon back in October of 2008, in Long Beach. I ran Surf City in February, and then completed the series with the San Francisco half in July. It was a blast and really got me back into thinking about running another marathon.

San Francisco Half Marathon

2:02:45

Since I completed the CA Dreamin’ Series I got one of my favorite medals, this BEAST!

Then I ran a 5k at Angel Stadium for fun with a friend. It was really a fun course and I placed first in my age group!

Guy Poncy Memorial 5k

23:39

Then, as you all know, I ran the Long Beach Marathon looking for redemption and had the best day of my life. It was everything I’ve ever wanted and I love the medal from that race. It was the star of my small Christmas tree this year.

Long Beach Marathon

3:55:37

Then I ran the Nike Human Race 10k, which was fun and not very competitive, and I really enjoyed the race.

USC Human Race 10k

48:59

Then we had the Heroes for Hope 10k, where I also placed first in my age group. I really pushed myself that race and it paid off. I got a new PR!

Heroes for Hope 10k

47:45

Shortly after that I ran the Malibu Marathon, in a tutu. It was a fun but tiring race and that is where I started to deteriorate health wise. Too many races! ha ha.

Malibu Marathon

4:14:01

I finished off the year with the California International Marathon in Sacramento which was the demise of me. Seriously. So cold. That is the only way I can describe that race. But I finished, and became a Marathon Maniac!

California International Marathon

4:22:32

Compared to 2008, where I ran ONE half marathon, and ONE 5k, I guess you can say that I went a little race crazy!

I raced two 5ks (3.1 miles), four 10ks (6.2 miles), 3 half marathons (13.1 miles), one 25k (15 miles) and four full marathons (26.2 miles).

So overall, this year has been a great year full of many medals from many different events. I can’t wait to reveal what races I want to run next year!

xoxo

My Christmas was grand and I was completely spoiled. I got the Uggs I wanted, some wonderful Forever 21 giftcards, this super sweet teapot which I’m going to make cool tea in and I might say that one of my favorite gifts was a little SWEET dirt devil vacum! I am so excited about it. I can’t wait to use it later today while cleaning my house. I haven’t worked out much because of my knee but I’m going to give it two more days of rest and hope that it heals. The only problem that I’m worried about is the swelling. Tomorrow I am going snowboarding. I am a little worried, but oh well. It will be fun, I’m sure.

So anyways, this last week of 2009 is going to be a full week of  posts that are all reflective. I have a post with all the medals I got in 2009, a picture post (which has way to many pictures on it), a reflective racing post, this video post and the last one will be about what I hope to accomplish in 2010! So 2009 I got a little crazy and thought, hey people might want to see videos of me doing stupid things.

Like, take ice baths:

Run up hills in San Francisco and make fun of the person who got me to start making videos in the first place, LA Runner:

Run half marathons in San Francisco and across the golden gate bridge:

Go through water stops during the San Francisco Marathon to try to show you that they were crazy. This water stop was by far the tamest water stop I’ve EVER been through:

And run marathons in the wind in Malibu in a tutu with Tara:

Walk up hills in Malibu in a tutu during a marathon and be humbled yet again by the distance :

And just for your viewing pleasure, have a cat eat treats off my nose for no apparent reason. And yes, that is the same cat that I found on the side of the road over a year ago! He’s doing well and now weighs in at almost 15 pounds! My cousins, as you can tell, spoil him rotten:

Here’s to more videos of more stupid things in 2010! :)

xoxo

I am so blessed to have everything I do. I truly am. This includes all the encouragement I receive on a daily basis from everyone who reads this blog. I really read and enjoy each and everyone’s comments, and I am so grateful for the ability to run and be able to share stories about my life on here! I hope you celebrate Christ’s birth with loved ones today and have a wonderful Christmas.

xoxo