2010 Running Recap: Part One

Well, 2010 has been a year of monumental shifts in my life. I've had changes in many, many areas of my life, but I'll focus on my health and physical shifts, and maybe I'll find the time to write about other areas of my life.

When things come to a close it's always great to reflect on what happened, today I'll be focusing on the positives of 2010 for me as a healthy human being. The next post, though tedious, will be just as beneficial as it will cover the negatives of the year. Yuck, I hate revisiting my moments of suckitude.  But we'll put that off for now...

Weight Loss

So, let's see:

Date	Weight	% Gain/Loss
Jan 1st, 2010	184lbs	0%
Jun 1st, 2010	172lbs	-6.52%
Sep 1st, 2010	167lbs	-9.34%
Nov 1st, 2010	163lbs	-11.41%
Dec 1st, 2010	167lbs	-9.34%
Dec 21st, 2010	166lbs	-9.80%

So, I managed to lose as much as 21lbs in 11 months this year, and currently sit at 18lbs lost since January 2010. I was never fat by any stretch, I had actually spent most of the end of last year weightlifting and was definitely at my biggest yet, so the weight I've lost since then is both fatty and muscle mass. I'm very satisfied with my weight and imagine I'll come out of the winter and spring months tilting the scale at 162lbs.

Mileage

So I started way back in May/June with less than 50km per month run.  As August approached I started to build up to 20-30km per week and was feeling good doing it.  I then struggled with some knee pain in August after joining the London Runner Distance Club, did some physio and sorted it out...a bit. Then came the miles and miles and miles of training with the team. I loved every step of it. The pain. The reward. The overwhelming tiredness of it all. (I remember being in bed nearly as soon as I got back from our Wednesday night practices.)

So for the year I've clocked a total of 1110km. Yup, I hit over 1000km for the year! YIPPEE! Here's a pretty graph demonstrating my progression, subsequent break and my current rebuild as I lay down a solid base for the spring of 2011.

I'm very pleased with my mileage, I don't think I could have done much more this fall and I'm anxious to get the numbers stacking up in 2011.

Injuries

Well, I started off my re-birth into competitive running with knee problems. Hurray!  I've always had a tight IT band on my left leg, and I've been nursing it with plenty of stretching and rolling since my return, but I was starting to experience pain in my left knee as the miles started to exceed 30km per week.  I spent some time getting diagnosed (as you can read all about here, here and here), found the issue (a very weak ass) and I've been doing much better ever since.

I logged tons of miles on grass, dirt paths and otherwise unsightly terrain with only a few minor ankle rolls that caused me to miss a day or two throughout the season.  I'm proud of this as I've been doing ankle stabilization exercises.

Other than my knees and IT Band, nothing more to report. My approach to my running this past season meant I could simply take some time off if I felt my body needed it. I had no real race commitments and I think this approach is one I'd like to continue using. Sounds like it will be tough to balance!

Races & Achievements

Well, I had set two concrete goals for myself this fall: To crack 20:00 for a 5km road race and 41:00 for a 10km road race.  Needless to say, I smashed both of those goals to pieces!  If you'd like to read my 5km race or my 10km race report, feel free to do so!