2018 in Running Review

I’m sitting in a hotel room on New Year’s Eve getting ready to go to bed early.  Tomorrow I’ll start 2019 off the same way I started the last two years, at the Texas Marathon.  This will be my second year in a row running the full marathon.  

The starter piece to my personal body armor set!

Before I start with the running year in review, I do want to write briefly about the people that came into my life in 2018.  I met many new people this year and strengthened my relationships with so many amazing friends.  It’s hard to quantify what an impact they had on my life.  Every single achievement I had this year, they were there to encourage, support, and help me.  Every time I failed, they were there to help me learn and grow.  Every step I detail below, and so many more, they were there to share the journey with me and I love them all for it.

2018 was a great year for me.  I called it the year of the ultra because I planned to run my first ultramarathon and to step up the distances over the year to get to a 100 mile race by December.  After running the Texas Marathon on January 1^st, I followed that up with the Austin Marathon in February.  I ran my second fastest marathon at Austin (up until that point) and was really happy with my performance on the hilly course.

Just one week later, I ran my first ultra at the Cowtown Marathon.  That weekend, I ran both the 10k and the 50k to do the Cowtown Challenge.  The Cowtown Ultra was an amazing race.  The entire city of Fort Worth seems to show up for the race and the course is lined with people cheering the runners on.  My marathon split was faster than my Austin time and only a few minutes slower than my personal best.  I had a lot of fun at the race and later in the year, I applied and was accepted as an ambassador for the 2019 Cowtown Marathon.

First Ultra!

I continued training hard through the Spring and tackled my first 50 mile race at Brazos Bend State Park.  This was another amazing experience and I was able to share it with three friends that came out to crew and pace me.  I finished the race hugging the Trail Racing Over Texas race director and then my pacer and it was certainly one of the high points of my year.

50 Miles Later!

Also, during the Spring, I started working with a personal trainer and coach.  I had come to her asking if she’d recommend a coach to me, secretly hoping she’d take me on.  I was surprised and happy when she agreed to work with the runner that didn’t want to do non-running things and I worked hard to improve my overall athleticism.  I knew to become a better runner, I had to become a better athlete and she listened to my goals and developed training that would help me attain them.

At the end of the Spring TROT race schedule, I took on the Possum’s Revenge 56k and I thought I broke my nose.  I fell about 15 miles into the race and bashed my face into a tree root.  I was scared I wouldn’t be able to finish the race but after checking in at the halfway point, I was cleared to keep going and I finished the race and earned the “best fall” award.  This was also the last time I tripped an fell during a race for the rest of the year – not counting a fall in November that was a result of looking for the photographer while running uphill.  I was already seeing results from my time in the gym.

Does this dirt make my nose look broken?

In June, I did a vacation race and ran the 50k at Bryce Canyon.  I wanted to get a race with elevation in to prepare for the Franklin Mountain Trail Run later in the year.  I decided to do this race as a dedication run and asked people to give me stories and dedications to run each mile for.  I walked at the start of each mile and recorded a video to share the stories.  This was such an amazing opportunity and really kept me going throughout the entire race.

At the end of June, I had to deal with an injury.  My foot started to hurt leading into a nighttime ultra and I had to stop halfway through.  I ended up taking the end of June through most of August off from running.  Fortunately, my new focus at the gym was able to help me continue training around my injury.  I began rowing and immediately loved it.  It’s a great whole body workout and let me stay off my foot while continuing to train my endurance.  

I had to skip a number of races throughout the Summer, including two ultras.  In August, I went to the Habanero Hundred to crew for a number of friends that I talked into running there.  I had to cancel my race there but it was very rewarding to see my friends succeed at their races.

Day 1 of the Grabbagreen Running Team!

Also, in August, I began training a group of runners in conjunction with our local Grabbagreen Food and Juice.  I wrote a training plan at four ability levels and named them after vegetable ingredients used by Grabbagreen.  We had over 100 people participate in the program and more than 30 earned a t-shirt for making it to at least one practice every week during the 10 weeks leading up to a local 5k.  Most of the runners, some of whom completed their first ever 5k, that earned their shirts took part in the race and had a great time.

Race Day!

During this time, I also was able to talk to some folks in the running business and brought two running shoe demos to the Grabbagreen Running Team training events.  We had 361 Degrees and Altra visit us to talk shoes and how to choose them.  The runners were also able to try out demo shoes to see how they liked them.  It was a great experience for all the runners to see what resources were available and I was very grateful that the representatives of The Austin Trail Running Company and Altra made the trip to Killeen.

By early Fall, I started a strength training cycle at the gym.  I also got back into racing with a 10k in San Antonio.  I ran a few more races, some with friends, and prepared for my next step up in distance.  By October, I felt I was back to normal and ready to go.

Representing Cowtown

In October, I had another Did Not Finish at the Mission Tejas 50k.  I cramped up very badly about halfway through the race and couldn’t seem to recover.  I had plenty of time to rest and continue on but my friends and I had to be in Houston later that evening to pick up our packets for the Houston Half Marathon the following day.  I chose to stop the race and we drove to packet pick up.

I ran the Houston Half the next day with my friends.  I was a little tired and sore from the race the day before, so I was happy to run this one for fun with them.  My friend’s 9 year old daughter was in our group and early on in the race, my friend told her that if she set a personal best time, she’d give her $20.  At the 10 mile mark, her daughter decided to run a little faster and we left our group behind.

In November, we had another shoe demo, this time for my Sunday morning social running group.  The Austin Trail Running Company coordinated a visit from Hoka One One and we had an amazing group show up to try out the shoes and run the trails.  I had a photographer friend come out and get some great action shots of the runners.

In November, I also took a road trip to El Paso for the Franklin Mountain Trail Run series.  I ran a race on each of the three days, including the King of the Mountain, the 50k, and the Half Marathon.  It was great to get out there with so many of my running friends and run these mountain races.  I felt great coming out of that series and was ready to take on the Brazos Bend 100 mile.

At the top of the mountain

I took it fairly easy for the rest of November and pulled together some friends to come out to Brazos Bend to run with and support me.  Two friends were taking on their first 50 mile races and another was running his first full marathon.  I was excited to conquer this new distance and felt like I was ready the entire week leading up to the race.

Brazos Bend started out well enough.  I was in great spirits and ready to take on the cold, wet, and muddy trails but dehydration, cramping, and dumping syndrome all got to me 19 miles into the race and I called it off.

Looking California but feeling Minnesota

I finished 2018 off with a pair of trail runs with my friends.  On the 30^th, a very generous friend donated several items to our running group to give away and on the 31^st, another friend started a new tradition that will continue on in the years to come.

So much more happened during the year.  I completed the Texas Triple Half Marathon series and won it for the second year in a row.  I flew to Michigan and ran a Ragnar with new friends.  I was selected to be an ambassador for Trail Racing Over Texas in 2019.

I learned a lot about myself this year.  I dealt with injury and failures but I also succeeded at some things that I never would have thought possible.  

In 2018, I made some new friends.  I increased the size of my tribe.  I increased the scope of what it meant to me to be an athlete.

Most importantly, everything about 2018 led to me finding some amazing people that I now call family.

I’m excited to see what 2019 will bring me.

Run Hard.

Be Grateful.

Celebrate Love.