2009 Review!

Another year flew by!! I have to say, this was a very good year for me. Looking back at my running and races, I couldn't be happier. I started the year with having run only one marathon in 2008 and finished 2009 an Ultra marathoner who qualified for Boston!! When I met with Coach Jack several weeks ago to talk about goals for 2010 he said, "you had some people's running career in one year." Looking back, I really did accomplish so much. I ran a 50 mile Ultra marathon, 1 marathon, 3 half marathons, a 5k, 5 miler, 10 miler and ended the year with 1813.75 miles. Oh, I PR'd at each distance, too!

When I started 2009, I thought I was just going to run and maybe PR at a few races. I wasn't expecting the year I had at all. I didn't think qualifying for Boston was even within my reach and I never thought I'd run 50 miles and have fun doing it! I proved a lot to myself over the past year and showed that dedication and hard work does pay off. While the Ultra was a huge challenge and accomplishment, I have to say, NOTHING will ever beat the feeling of crossing the finish line at Philly marathon knowing I qualified for Boston. I'm tearing up just thinking about that day. I worked so hard for it and wanted it so badly. It wasn't easy, which makes it that much more special to me. I earned my way into the Boston marathon...by far my greatest running memory of 2009.

There are some other notable things that happened along the way to getting to Boston, though...

New Orleans Mardi Gras Half Marathon. I was hoping to PR at this race but the champagne the night before probably wasn't the best way to carb load. Still finished with a 1:47:23 and most importantly, had a great time in NO!

Frostbite 5 miler. PR'd by just over 2 minutes and won 3rd in my age group with a 38:33. I love this local race and will be doing it again this year. Although this year I'm hoping to win my age group!

Broad Street 10 miler. PR'd by exactly one minute with a 1:18:11. This race fell around the time Ultra training was starting and I didn't do much speed work to prepare. I was happy with the time but left the race knowing I didn't leave it all out there on the course. Something I knew I needed to work on in preparing for Philly marathon.

Ultra Marathon. Covered 51.2 miles in 10 hours and 4 minutes. I had so much fun doing it that I'm going back for seconds. I'll be running this again in July and am contemplating going further. We'll shall see...

Horsham 5k. Set another PR with a finish of 21:50, winning 3rd in my age group and finishing 7th female overall. I really want to get my 5k time below 21 minutes and hope to do that this year.

Lehigh Valley half. Ran this for run and to see what my marathon pace for Philly would feel like. I finished in 1:48:30 with no effort. This was a huge confidence booster and I think it played a huge part in my training mentally.

PDR half. PR'd by over 4 minutes, 1:42:37, and shocked the hell out of myself. I knew this race would make or break me when it came to being ready for the marathon. Turns out I was right on track and had it in me.

Philly Marathon. Two words: Boston, Baby!!

2009 was a great year and I'm sad to see it go. But I know 2010 will be just as good, if not better and I can't wait to see what it has in store for me.

And finally, thanks to all of YOU who have supported me over the year. Your comments mean so much to me and I'm always shocked when I pick up more followers. It's so flattering and I really do appreciate you taking the time to read my nonsense. Happy New Year!!