2013 Ending Strong, Looking Ahead to 2014

It's the end of the year and always a good time to look back and plan ahead. 2013 was definitely interesting in that it brought with it my return to consistent running, and also a return to consistent injury and pain. I started off really conservatively, managed to finish a Half Marathon in Pittsburgh in early May, but contracted a tight calf at the same time which lead to an Achilles injury that forced me to take most of July off. August brought a return to running, but most of all it started off with a lot of walking. I'd then alternate a kilometre walking with a  kilometre running until September saw me staring straight at the prospect of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon the following month. That's when I started to cut back on the walking and upped the running.

In the end, I managed to finish the marathon on what can only be described as the bare minimum of mileage. Highest week leading up to the race was a paltry 65km and only one other time did I manage to hit 60km! It's amazing I finished relatively healthy at all...

Right after the marathon I joined a running group and started in on my "recovery". Within a few weeks I became committed to daily running, not because of the group, but rather because I reasoned that if I wanted to get better at running long distances (and hopefully BQ someday) I'd have to run longer distances in training. Duh!

So, the past two months have brought with them daily running, with just a couple of days off, and new mileage records as a result. Prior to this period the farthest I'd run in a month was 283.45km in August 2010 while training for my first marathon. In November I snuck past that total with a 293.76km effort.

Well, December has been a revelation. Not only did I hit 100km for a week three times, but the total for the month was (for me) a mind blowing 461.41km (286.7 miles)! Guess I'll need to buy running shoes more often if this keeps up...

Anyway, the goals as far as running goes for 2014 are simple:

1. Stay healthy!
2. Run the marathon distance twice (Spring and Fall make sense) and become competent at it (i.e. be truly prepared to finish without hitting the wall, pace being immaterial)

Of course, a BQ would be great as that is my ultimate goal, but given my history of injuries and the like I think it wise to just become proficient at running 42.2km prior to focusing on trying to run it fast.

May 2014 be great for you and yours!