Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Burn, burn, yes ya gonna burn

I'll blame neither the weather, the holidays nor the writer's strike for my recent blogging hiatus - heck, I'm not going to blame anyone or anything except myself and my own laziness - but now is no time for brooding over excuses, it's time for me to write and you to read, so let's get to it.

Today marks the start of a new year, new beginnings, new this, new that, yada yada bullshit. I'll save you from the boredom of resolutions I've made to myself, goals I hope to achieve, races I want to win, states I'd like to visit, drugs I'll try to quit, weight I'd like to lose, countries I plan to conquer, cures I hope to discover and languages I'll attempt to make myself fluent in.

Sorry, I'll be sharing none of that here. I will, however, dive headfirst - or perhaps more appropriately, backflip - into the running year that was for me, one number at a time.

C'mon now, this is a running blog, what the hell did you expect? If you want access to all the juicy shit that goes on away from the roads, track and trails I'll have to start charging a subscription fee. Sorry folks.

So let's see. Miles. For the year I logged 3,364 of them, or an average of 64.89 per week for 52 weeks. If you discount the 2-mile week and the two full weeks I didn't run a step due to the tarsal tunnel trouble I experienced after Vermont City, that average jumps to 68.65 for 49 weeks of healthy running. Given that I logged a paltry 2,681 miles for an injury-riddled 2006, those numbers don't look so bad.

Races. There were 13, not counting a handful of Monday night runs from the An Cu Liath. I completed my first marathon at Vermont City in May, finishing 6th overall in 2:28:25. I ran two half marathons, PRing by almost a minute at New Bedford in March with a satisfying 1:09:53 on a windy day. Unofficially, I PR'd for the 10 miles in the same race, splitting 52:55 before hitting a wall of wind head-on the last 5K and finishing 8th. At Bay State in October I shaved 5 seconds off my time from New Bedford with a 1:09:48 5th-place finish, which was a pleasant surprise given the rocky road I was traveling in the months proceeding Vermont City. As for wins, I managed two of them in 2007, both of them in Central Massachusetts, which was good for my hometown pride if nothing else. I also returned to cross country for the first time in a couple years this past fall, competing in three races, the best of the lot being a 31:55 13th-place finish at New England's. Average-at-best cross country results aside, it was exciting to lace the spikes up again and be a contributing part of a kickass team. I really missed that.

On the whole, 2007 was successful and satisfying, mainly because I made it through relatively unscathed, which was my main goal at the outset of the year. The small flame which was merely flickering last January is now shining bright. The base has been firmly set, the logs have been carefully arranged and this fire isn't going to be put out anytime soon.

So here's to 2008. Let it burn.

Quote of the Day

"Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another."
- John Dewey

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