2013 has been a bit frustrating. I entered the year on the top of my game. In December 2012 I ran the Santa to the Sea Half Marathon in 1:31:39 missing my PR by 12 seconds. On January one I almost won a 10K in the bay area! I was confident that I would have a good shot at that PR in January at Bakersfield. I was sick going into Bakersfield and run a respectable, but not PR threatening 1:33:59.  A few days later I had a severe pain in my calf. While working on recovery from that I developed a pain in my knee. With the Los Angeles Marathon coming up, I tried to maintain the fitness I had while not stressing the knee any farther. I ended up running LA on an achy knee and then I shut it down for 2 weeks and then resumed just a few miles at a time. In 8 weeks I ran 135 miles. I backed out of the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon and ran their 5k instead.

I kept around 20 miles a week through June. I had fun running the Bunker Hill 8k in Boston, though I was not particularly fast. I ran most of the summer series races, the YMCA summer sizzler and Santa Clarita’s 10k AND 5k just for the points. Going into the fall I continued doing 5ks. I discovered that even though I was not near PR form and even though nagging pains persisted, I could still run fast enough to place and sometimes win my division. It was fun collecting awards and Grand Prix points!

On November 11 I ran an 11K and came in 3rd place. If I had not told the Rubles about the race i would have won! Not that I was all that fast, there just was not any quicker competition there that day. By the end of the race, however, my knee was aching again. So I cut back again for a couple of weeks, but still have the Turkey Trot a go. Clay talked me into a Holly Jolly Half Marathon. I was ill prepared and it was surprisingly hot and windy. I did not even break 1:40, but it was an ideal points race as I came in 7th place, 4th guy and 2nd in age group. I finished the year with a Jingle Bell Jog that was getting close to being in my normal ballpark.

So, I did lots of races and scored lots of points taking 4th in the High Desert Runners Grand Prix Points Contest. I did get 1 PR, but that a “first ever” 11K race on Veteran’s Day.

I ran a total of 1242.5 miles in 2013. This is by far my lowest total since 2008.

What are my goals for 2014? I want to see what it would be like to run thinner. I have struggled a bit to maintain my weight this year, and I blame the lack of mileage. Well, that and the fact that when I am resting due to an injury I tend to take comfort in extra food….

I want to build better overall fitness and strength. Clay is working with me on that. I want to set a PR again…. I think I will begin the year focusing my training on the shorter races while maintaining enough endurance to throw in a half marathon any time I feel like it. Speaking of half marathons I plan on doing Bakersfield in a few weeks.  Click on the 2014 tab above to see what other races I have tentatively in mind…..