My Year in Running

Wow. What a year. I feel like it was just January and I was crazily committing to run 2,015 miles in 2015 (side note: I completed it back in September! AH!). This has by FAR been one of the best years running wise I've ever had. I PR'd EVERY SINGLE distance, won several races, and well, duh... completed my first marathon!

So, to recap it all and not drive you guys crazy, I'm linking up with Eat, Pray, Run DC to talk about my year in running. 

Best Race Experience:  Definitely the Richmond Marathon. I had an absolute blast, everything was well organized, it was a FUN race, weather was great... it was just an overall enjoyable experience. Maybe it's partly because it was my first 26.2 but I'll always look back on this race with a smile on my face. I worked my BUTT OFF for it and I'm so glad I got to mark it off of my bucket list. 

Best Run: The Kentucky Derby Half Marathon, hands down. I went into the race not expecting much but ended up with a HUGE PR (1:36:58!!!). It was the run of my LIFE. It was the first half marathon I did where I felt great the entire race and never got that "I'm going to die" feeling. ha. I plan on doing the race again this year because I enjoyed it so much.

Best new piece of gear: Probably my Fitbit Surge. I love that it not only tracks my steps but also has a built in GPS so that I can track my runs as well. I wear it every. single. day.

Best piece of running advice you’ve received: I'd have to say "run the mile you're in". As I've gotten more into distance running, sometimes I have a tendency to psych myself out over the miles I have left to run instead of focusing on the one I'm in. I did a much better job at this in Richmond than I thought I would and it really helped. 

Most Inspirational Runner:  Hmm... good question. I'd have to say all of the runners on my Instagram feed. On the days I'm really dreading a run, I look to them for the motivation to get up and get going. 

Favorite picture from a run or race this year: This one by far. Okay boys, I'll take it from here... ;)

Race experience you would repeat in a heartbeat: I'm totally counting Spartan races for this one. I had a blast at Wintergreen and would totally wake up at 3:30am, volunteer until 1pm, race until 7pm, and not get home until 11pm all over again. It was that awesome. This was the first Spartan race I ever did by myself and it was so much fun. I met a lot of really great people, the race was KILLER, and anytime you can spend a day running up and down a bunch of mountains is a good one.

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be? I only need one word--INSANE. This year, I ran more races, ran more miles, and ran more PR's than I ever have in my life. This was definitely the year of the run. I have no idea what 2016 will have in store but I couldn't be prouder of the hard work I put in during 2015. And man... was it EVER fun.

PS--Just in case you're interested, with 21 days left until 2016, I've officially ran 2,348.4 MILES! 

Needless to say, I think I'll be running a few less in 2016. ;)

Here's to more runs, more PR's, and more medals!

Sarah