Thursday, December 30, 2010

The Year of Awesome

I've had an exceptionally great few years since I got divorced. I wasn't sure I'd be able to top 2009, but let's do a quick run down of what happened in...

2010 - THE YEAR OF AWESOME

RUNNING

I ran a ridiculous amount in 2010. I technically won't post my running stats for another few days, but I beat my goal of running 1000 miles. This was a little intimidating considering I'd never run more than 643 miles in a year! Also a little scary since I spent the first 6 weeks of the year nursing an injury to my left quad (so there is no confusion that was NOT an awesome part of 2010 :D )

I had never run more than about 7.5 miles at one time when 2010 started. I had never raced longer than a 10K. I had never run for longer than 70 minutes.

After entering a few 5Ks at the end of 2009, my older sister convinced me and L to sign up for the Canyonlands half marathon lottery. The lottery results were posted in December, and shortly before I injured my quad, I found out I would be running my VERY FIRST HALF MARATHON. And I was terrified. I had no training plan. I had a good base but I needed something more...

Here are some of my favorite running moments of 2010:

A stretching with me before the Sweetheart Classic

Bright colored outfits, running skirts, knee hi socks!

A's first run with me

A sprinting!!


Not only did I run a lot, I raced a lot... here we go!!

  • I ran a total of 29 races in 2010. I set PRs in all distances EXCEPT the 10K... I've got a score to settle with THAT (Compare that with 6 races in 2009 and only 3 in 2008)
    • 5Ks - I ran four with a PR of 26:58
    • 3.3 Mile Race - Warrior Dash - Dirtiest but most fun in 39:22
    • 4 Mile - Ran in 40:56 (First race after recovering from my injury)
    • 5 Mile (Mountain/Trail race) - Ran in 54:07
    • 9.9K - Ran in 1:03:19 (suffering a hangover)
    • 10K - Ran in 1:05:06
    • 10 Mile - Ran in 1:49:55
    • Half Marathons - I ran 18... yes... 18... with a current PR of 1:58:54!!
    • Marathon - Just one (and it was AWESOME) in 4:42:14
Here are some of my favorite race (or race related) pictures:

Me and A before the Sweetheart Classic 2/13/10

L and Me - Snowman Stampede 2/27/10... First double digit run ever!

Team Bee Rad right before starting my FIRST half marathon - Canyonlands in Moab, UT 3/20/10

L and Me before Deadwood Mickelson Trail half marathon - 6/6/10

J, Me and L before Warrior Dash - 8/21/10

Jumping over the fire - Warrior Dash - 8/21/10

Kauai Half Marathon - 9/5/10

L and Me - You Go Girl! half marathon - 9/25/10

Maine Half Marathon - 10/3/10

L and Me in NKOTB shirts for Boston Half Marathon - 10/10/10

L and Me before the Zombie half marathon in Anchorage - 10/23/10

Athens Classic Marathon - Greece - 10/31/10

Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll half marathon - 12/5/10

Thunder Road half marathon 12/11/10
Whew... I could go on and on and on about racing and running, but you all hear that on a regular basis.

A

I have a pretty awesome kiddo. We had a great year! She is now in her last year of preschool and is PSYCHED about starting kindergarten. Here are some of my favorite A pics:

J and A - getting ready for first time skiing

Day on the slopes

Easter



First time bowling


Road trip to South Dakota




Fishing

At the water park

First baseball game

First day of school

First Day of School


At the Circus


3D movie on her 5th birthday

Build-a-Bear


TRAVEL

A lot of my travels were because of racing, but some wasn't... I got to go LOTS of places in 2010. Here are some of my favorite pics:

Road trip with my awesome sisters to Moab, Utah for our first half marathon:

Prom? Yes, please


L and I went on a NKOTB celebrity cruise for my 31st birthday... I am a dork, I know it, but it was SO much fun:




Trip to California to visit my awesome friend at 365 awesome days:

Universal Studios

Disneyland!

Beach
Stopped at Mt. Rushmore on the way back from the Deadwood Mickelson Trail half marathon in South Dakota:


Spent an afternoon in Red Wing, Minnesota:


My second trip to Kaua'i:

Best running path EVER

On the Chocolate Farm

Hiking in New Mexico:


Visiting the Lobster Shack in Portland, Maine (yep, as seen on Man V. Food):


An awesome family trip (with kids and grandparents) for a week in ALASKA!!






A week in Greece!





Visiting the Hall of Flame fire museum near Phoenix, Arizona:


Running in Atlanta, Georgia:


Crazy happenings on the strip in Las Vegas:


All in all, I think I visited about half the states in 2010. Huh. It all seems like a blur.

LIFE IN GENERAL

L and I still did our "concert series" - seeing NKOTB, BSB, Green Day, Third Eye Blind, Daughtry... probably more that I can't remember. We got season passes to Elitch's (used to be Six Flags) and we took the kids there once a week. They LOVED it. I learned how to snowboard... and if you can imagine, my snowboarding outfit/board is as obnoxious as my running gear:



We had a super fun weekend in the mountains for my older sister's birthday. We went skiing/boarding, tubing... SO FUN!! There were gymnastics classes and swimming lessons, birthday parties and trips to the park. Always something going on!

I finally got a new job... sort of by choice, but not really. I had my old job for about 6.5 years when my hours were cut from full time to part time (due to the economy). Not being able to afford to work part time, I gave my notice of about 6 weeks. I was unemployed for about the same amount of time (also not so awesome), but I landed at a job that keeps me super busy, and of course is full time. So that rocks.

J and I have been together about 1.5 years now. He has been super awesome fantastic with helping me out with A when I am out of town for races.

Mother's Day
Camping
At the Broncos game
So... if you have made it to the end of this blog post (I know, I know, I went a bit overboard with pictures) then to sum up 2010... AWESOME.

Life is not a spectator sport. Get off your butt and get moving.

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT'S IN STORE FOR 2011. 
STAY TUNED.

15 comments:

  1. 'Life is not a spectator sport. Get off your butt and get moving. ' Love it! :)

    You had a pretty awesome year. :) I'm sure that 2011 will be even more awesome! Plus, I think you have a great kid! So adorable! :)

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  2. You have had an awesome year! Loved your recap and your photos. very inspirational. Cheers to 2011!

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  3. Sounds like a great year for you and your family! You are very inspiring to me and my new goals for 2011 are to finish all 5 Half Marathons I signed up for (ispired by reading your blog) and paid already for. Can we say commited??? AND to be better at blogging as well. I started my blog back in September when I got tired of my Facebook page and thought I would be better at blogging but I seem to be better at reading my favorite 3!
    Happy New Year to you!!! BTW I am a knee sock fan too. Can't run with out them. =)

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  4. 365 days of awesomeness! yay!
    cannot wait to see what u have up ur sleeve for 2011!
    happy New Year!

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  5. What a great recap of the year. I love the pictures of everybody. I was worried when you lost your job, but it really turned out to be a minor bump in the road for you. Can't wait to see how many state you knock off in Twenty11!

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  6. You have had an incredible year! I bet 2011 brings even more joy and happiness (and success!) to you. :)

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  7. You ran a huge number of races, you;re very accomplished! The pictures are adorable. I loved seeing more of your family (although the usual running skirts outfits are cute too, lol!).

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  8. It WAS an awesome year!! I'm so proud of all of it :D.

    Cali misses you, and we can't wait til you guys make it back!!

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  9. WOW. This makes me want to get divorced, too!!!! lol

    Seriously, awesome post. Loved the pictures!

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  10. Yay for a great year! Loved all the pics! :)

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  11. That was the raddest report EVER!

    1 - I totally forgot about your NKOTB shirts at that 1/2 marathon. That is still too cool - but maybe not as cool as actually cruising with NKOTB! LUCKY!!

    2 - I see you learned to snowboard! I learned to ski in the 2nd grade. I REALLY want to ski this winter but I'm too scared I will hurt myself and mess up my 1/2 marathon. Which leads me to ....

    3 - You are so inspiring! I am glad you shared your race PRs and all of that. So I guess right now I'm sort of where you were a year ago? I've got races under my belt, but am just getting ready to possibly begin a half marathon addiction. I hope I love it as much as you do! I mean that Hawaii run? Dude, I totally want to do that!!

    4 - It is obviously common knowledge, but A is A-freaking-dorable!

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  12. Your daughter is so cute! I hope 2011 will be an even better year for you.

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  13. I still can't believe our year. So awesome. We didn't think it would top 2009 and it did. For what we have on 2011's schedule... its going to be amazing. So glad we get to share all of this together!!!

    "Determination and hope are key factors for a brighter future." Dalai Lama

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I adore comments and I read every single one. Thanks for reading :)

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