1153...

I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I ran some more. ~ Narrator

Thurs: 00:34, 3.51 miles, Neighborhood recovery run

For my last run of the year, I just spun around the neighborhood in windy, cold conditions. Not much to say about that aside from, "It was great to get off the couch." All in all, I am very pleased with how the last few months of the year have gone and that I was able to log 1153 miles for the year. Considering I was injured for most of the year, that is not too shabby. Here's how it stacked up:

• January - 0 miles: I was busy skiing, trying to recover from the wackiness that ended up plaguing me all year and well... just not running, I guess.
• February - A few. Not many, however: I know I got out for one run on the Mesa trail and definitely hit the treadmill a couple of times but didn't write anything down so whatever I actually ran, did not make it into the final tally. Less than 20, for sure.
• March - 28 miles: Sporadic, at best. I injured my knee in late February and that pretty much put the kibosh on any real running for the month. Plus, my abs were still kicking me in the ass (don't ask).
• April - 102 miles: Actually started ramping it up a bit and started visiting Janet Runyan for coaching. Two good things that go great together.
• May - 156 miles: Actually did a race in May too. Go figure.
• June - 79 miles: Abdominals came back with a vengeance and I throttled back the miles, got an MRI, and got on the schedule for a procedure to help with the problems.
• July - 51 miles: Going the wrong direction mileage-wise but the right direction health-wise. Sometimes one takes what one can get.
• August - 105 miles: Ramping it back up and another race under my belt. The Wild West Relay was mellow and fun.
• September - 137 miles: Able to keep things moving in the right direction. Relentless forward progress.
• October - 139 miles: Got in some good runs in October and paced Chase Squires to a 3rd place finish in the 24-hours of Boulder race. (Mostly, he did it on his own.)
• November - 172 miles: Really finishing up the year strongly with solid runs throughout the month despite crazy weather.
• December - 182 miles: The trend continued in December with solid running over the course of the week and fairly consistent weekly mileage. Logged several 20+ days and ended up with a solid month of training despite some crazy-cold weather.

All in all, this wasn't quite what I had hoped to achieve this year but sometimes you have to just roll with it. My goals for 2010 include: Staying healthy and injury-free (gotta get cracking on that one), doubling my mileage for the year (see #1), getting in some fun racing throughout (one race already teed up for February), doing several adventure runs (Kokopelli Trail and R2R2R are both on the list), training monthly at higher altitudes ("Define 'higher'," you say?), spending a lot of time on the LT100 course in July (running each section, doing back-to-backs and putting in "real-time" training on course), and finishing in the top 50 at the LT100 in August (this actually may change in the scary direction if things go well throughout the year).

Thanks to Patagonia and nuun for providing great clothing and awesome hydration. I highly encourage all of you to look first at these guys when gearing up and seeking solutions for your outdoor activities.

And I definitely couldn't do any of this without the support and encouragement I receive at home. Rach not only keeps me moving in the right direction but provides me with unbelievably yummy sustenance to enable me to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Yea Rach!!!

Here's to a new year and new adventures.

~stubert.