What a Year!

 


(photo: Las Vegas Sun)
There were more than 40,000 runners along the Las Vegas strip a few weeks ago.  But I was running alone, lost in thought.  I often find myself thinking about what I might write in this space while I'm out on a training run or a race. 

On that evening, I was thinking about what a great year of running I've enjoyed, with so many memorable races and experiences.  As it is with so many of you, running is such an integral part of my life that it's often difficult to appreciate great experiences as they happen.  That's one of the reasons I got in the habit a few years ago of writing this 'year-end' blog entry.  I like to remember some of my personal highlights for the year, and hear about some of yours as well.

Running in the evening on the Las Vegas strip, after a concert by Cheap Trick was definitely one of the most memorable experiences of the year.  But there have been so many, I hardly know where to start.

How about at the beginning? The 2011 running season actually began last year year on December 31st, when I got involved in a race of a different kind.  It was a race to sign up for the annual March Madness half marathon in Cary.  I lost.  Logging onto the website about an hour after registration opened at 6am, the race was already full by the time I tried to sign up.

Fortunately, a friend offered me his number, and race officials were helpful, so I was able to run it legally.  That turned out to be a good thing, because I enjoyed a really good run.  In fact, it was my fastest time in 4 or 5 years running the hilly course out in the sticks!

In 2010 I was concentrating on running 5k's under 20 minutes.  That was my benchmark, and I hit it several times.  This year, I found myself entered in a lot of half marathons, so my goal was to run them under 1:40. March Madness half was a great way to get started.  I ran about 1:39:40 there, then a few weeks later ran my best half of the year at the Great Western 1:38:20. 

Another of my goals this year was to try some different races.  Great Western is one that's been around a while, but I've never managed to get to.  They run on the trails in St. Charles, and keep it to about 1000 runners.  It was really enjoyable.

A few weeks later, I got to run another new race for me.  This was the 13.1 race on the city's southside.  They run it along the lakefront path.  Unfortunately, it was a very hot day, and they kept the paramedics busy before they cancelled the race right about the time I crossed the finish line. 

Amidst all the new races I tried this year, however, was one of my favorites.  I've run the Fleet Feet Sports Soldier Field Ten mile race every year since it's inception.  I always try to run well there, and this year was no exception.  I didn't manage a p.r., but at least I kept up with some of my faster friends for the first half of the race!

The spring seemed to be centered around running the south portion of the Lakefront path this year.  13.1, Soldier Field, and the Cinco de Miler all used the same portions of that path for their races.  And the five mile Cinco race ended up being my best race of the year.  This is a great concept for a race, and I look forward to seeing it grow next year.

After the spring season, things slowed down a little through the summer, though there were a few notable races that stick out in my mind.  The Rock-n-Roll folks added a 5k preview race leading up to their big half marathon in August.  My friend Greg and I ran together and won our age group, though with a pretty pedestrian time. 

I've run the Madison to Chicago 12 person relay a number of times with a variety of teams ranging from competitive to fun.  This June I ran it as part of a fairly serious group of masters runners who have a pretty good record of performances.  Many of ran the Hood to Coast relay last fall, and had such a good time, we decided to do it again.  This year, under the ownership of the Ragnar series it was better organized and even more fun than ever.  We didn't win, but we gave it a good run.  If you have never run one of these relays, I strongly suggest giving it a try.

I'm not much for running fast in the summer heat.  So, while I enjoyed races like the inaugural Disco Dash in Lincoln Park, I did not run very well.  The weather for this year's Rock-n-Roll half marathon was actually much cooler than normal, but I didn't take advantage.  Instead, I ran with friends and enjoyed the music along the way.

It was the same story for the inaugural Fort to Base run this year.  It was a really unique race, and a rare opportunity to run on the grounds at Great Lakes Air base.  I enjoyed running with a friend and got a good training effort in, rather than racing it. 

There seemed to be a race almost every weekend for much of the year.  It's just not a good idea to race each of them.  I tried to peak for some of the ones I had targetted.  As I looked ahead to the calendar, the race I wanted to run well in for the fall was Las Vegas.  But then I jumped in the Schaumburg Turkey Trot half marathon the week before, and managed to break 1:40 again. 

So by the time I got to Vegas the next week, I decided to take it easy and enjoy it. As it turns out, it was a nice way to celebrate (over 13.1 miles) what was truly another year of great running experiences. 

So let's put this one in the books and look forward to another great year in 2012!  Happy New Year. 

I'll see you on the roads........