2013 - Year in Review - Running and More!

I had dubbed 2013 my "Year of Rugged". Bandera, a strong 50 mile PR improvement, Bighorn, North Face Bear Mountain, Bighorn, Tahoe Rim Trail, and Volcanic all worked to make the year live up to its name.

  

Some statistics for my 2013 running:

• 167 runs
• 13 runs of 20 miles or more (combo of races and training runs)
• 6 races of marathon distance or longer - 2 Marathons, 3 50K, 1 50 Miler.
• Crewed or paced 3 100 milers.
• Ran races in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New York, Missouri, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington
• 1,263 miles.
• Directed 4 races for the local DFW running community that included 4500 participants across the events (okay, this isn't MY running, but it's running-related and a big piece of my life!).

2013 Month by Month

And how my 2013 calendar year broke down in experiences (some running, some race directing, some just life); regardless of whether they were high or low points, they are still memorable:

• January - Bandera 50K completed along with a road trip with good friend Jeremy.
• February - Rocky Raccoon 50 Mile completed with a new 50 mile PR.
• March - DNF at Prairie Spirit 50M where I found out what having one of those days where you just quit mentally felt like.
• April - directed the inaugural Fairview Half Marathon and 5K, reaching the cap of 1,000 participants I had set. My daughter Sophie was diagnosed with celiac disease after months of sickness. 
• May - smashed my knee and leg up at the North Face Endurance Challenge 50K and still have the scars from it.
• June - ran the Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon (new state! South Dakota) and then did the difficult Bighorn 50K race 2 weeks later in a trip with good friends Jeremy and Lesley. I also served as crew chief at Western States 100 for my friend Tim, who finished his first 100 miler!
• July - DNF at Tahoe Rim Trail 50M when they had record high temps and I succumbed to heat exhaustion!
• August - family vacation to Colorado where I ran a crazy hard 5K straight up a ski mountain in Vail at 10,000 ft altitude! Then, mid-month I did the ET Full Moon 51K race (new state! Nevada).
• September - DNF at Volcanic 50 when I couldn't make time cutoffs on that gnarly course at Mt St Helens. Such an awesome experience anyway.
• October - crewed the Javelina Jundred for Lesley, and paced 16 miles with her. Great trip with good friend Elaine as we both crewed.
• November - crewed the Ozarka Trail 100 for Jeremy and paced 22 miles. Dare To Ascend Trail Marathon in cold wet muddy rocky conditions with Lesley.
• December - my back to back race weekend of Dallas Marathon and Isle Du Bois 55K was cancelled due to serious ice here in Dallas. I ran 3 days of treadmill miles - 20, 15, 10 - in its place. Blergh.

Friends

Goodness there were a lot of great moments with even greater friends. This is not all encompassing, but a sample of just a few...

Rocky Raccoon 50 Mile - Me and Lesley

Bighorn - Lesley, Jeremy, and myelf

Western States 100 - Team Tim (Ace, Me, Meredith, Tim, Nancy)

Tahoe Rim Trail 100M/50M - New friends and old (Jennifer, Reece)

Javelina Jundred - great friend Elaine

New Years Double - Me, Josh, Lesley

What does 2014 hold? 

More to come on that at another time. I have a few races I'm already registered for on my calendar, I have 2 or 3 potential 100 miler crewing/pacing opportunities that may happen, a lot more running with friends in my future, and attempts to challenge myself too!