Sunday 27 December 2015

The obligatory 2015 roundup post

Thames Valley, Sulphur 50K, MS Bike, Avon Trail
R2H 1K, Agnes & I, Virginia & I, 100K bike ride
#waterfallbeer, 16 mile creek, Mississauga Marathon, Spartan Sprint
BT southern cairn, I <3 deadlifting, Chase the Coyote, CtC with Greg





2015 is the year where 2 very significant things happened:

1. I became pretty much a full time trail runner.
2. I ran my first ultra.

January

Frosty Trail Run - 1 hour of 2K loops at Camp Heidelburg.  I do not like this format of racing.  I like to feel like I'm going somewhere when I run.

February

Gave MAF a good try.  These days, I'm leaning closer to the 80/20 approach, which still emphasizes the importance of slow running.

March

First adventure with Rhonda at DVCA, very decent sub 2:50 at ATB with zero speedwork.

April

Avon Trail Thru Run (2nd adventure with Rhonda).  Signed up for my first ultra, Sulphur Springs 50K.

May

Ran Mississauga Marathon for the 4th time, first time as a pacer, which was also my 10th road marathon.  Sulphur Springs 50K, my first ultra and where I met Agnes.

June

Ran NFWHM for the 4th time, 3rd as pacer.

July

My first and LAST Spartan Sprint.  

August/early September

75K Niagara MS Bike Tour, 100K bike ride on Labour Day weekend.

September

Ran with Virginia Gingras for 3 days as she set a new Bruce Trail female FKT.  I returned to Chase the Coyote for the new 21-ish km distance and did not DNF.   

October

Super fun Vulture Bait 25K in London, preceded by a 10K "warmup" in preparation for...

November

...a third adventure with Rhonda, the Thames Valley Thru Run, new time/distance PB run. (8+ hours/54K)

December

Paced Tannenbaum 10K for the 2nd year in a row, took part in RunTOBeer.  Completed Toronto BT Club end to end run, awaiting badge.

~~~~~~~~~

Stats:

Run: 2579.8K (I will definitely get to 2600K by year end!)
Lifetime total: 17122.1K
Bike: 1829.2K
Sprained right ankle: around 5-10 times.

~~~~~~~~~

Final thoughts:

The theme for this year was FUN.  I explored many new places, saw many beautiful things with like-minded friends.  I just shared a quote on FB the other day, "When I used to run, it was about making my body go as fast as I could go.  Now it's more about getting out there and being free." That sense of adventure will carry me into 2016 as I train for my first 50 miler at Sulphur Springs.  I am not completely filling up my race schedule as I have plans and ideas for my own trail adventures!