2011 By the Miles

Each year I like to look at how my running journey went, how many riles I ran and what else I accomplished during the year. This is my 2011 by the miles annual recap.

2011 by the Miles

January: 3 miles
The year started out slow. I found myself battling a hip misalignment issue in January which left me irritable and whiny. I only managed to run 3 miles that month. I spent a lot of time on the elliptical and in spin class.

February: 13.5 miles
In February I worked on getting better after seeing a sports medicine doctor and learning physical therapy exercises that would help strengthen my glutes, hips and calves. I also vowed to shape up my eating and tried calorie counting around this time to lose some holiday weight.

March: 29.20 miles
In March I received a pair of Vibram FiveFingers, to try out for the blog and thus began my interest in barefoot running — something I started reading up on around the time of my injury. I started walking in the shoes and soon found myself running a few miles at a time. Around this time I also rediscovered my passion for yoga while at an all-day free yoga event in Fort Wayne.

April: 47.30 miles
In April I was still just getting back on my feet, literally. I went through the anguish of having to drop out of the Glass City Half-Marathon, and instead ran the 5K race.

May: 43.93 miles
By the end of May I was back running 3 to 5 miles like no problem and ran a 5K and came within about 15 seconds of the PR I set in 2010.

June: 63.45 miles
I continued to chase that 5K PR in June, coming close again. June and July entered a racing blitz for me, running smaller races nearly every weekend, although the ones in July were so hot a PR was laughable. Over the summer I also continued my involvement with the Three Rivers Running Company run group, attending group runs usually once a week.

July: 49.70 miles
Over the July 4th holiday weekend I got tech savvy with this blog and made the big switch to WordPress self-hosting — and still haven’t looked back. I highly recommend it! Since then I’ve been able to more freely tweak the design of my blog and even respond to comments. Running-wise, the summer was HOT. Despite the heat I still managed to shave about three minutes off my 10K PR. I also ended my calorie counting around this time.

August: 60.45 miles
The heat continued in August. I also ran my first “barefoot” 5K that month. By late August there were rumblings around our household about moving. In early September I announced the husband and I were moving to Cleveland!

2011 by the Miles

September: 54 miles
At one fell swoop — we were back in our home state of Ohio. As we settled into our new city, I continued to build on my mileage, up to 7 and 8-milers, with the hopes of tackling a fall half. I signed up for the Cleveland Fall Classic Half-Marathon and my training plan went viral. (Just kidding, I did announce it though).

October: 74.70 miles <— HOLLA!
Things got pretty hardcore in October, and I managed to run nearly 75 miles in one month. That’s a lot considering I am a lower mileage runner, usually only hitting the pavement three times a week. I also PRed at the 5K twice in October. The cooler temperatures worked in my favor and I was able to PR the last time by about 36 seconds from my 2010 time.

2011 by the Miles

November: 50.85 miles
November was the culmination of my 2011 racing calendar. I ran my second half-marathon and PRed by about three minutes. I endured a lot of discomfort during this race, which included uneven pavement on much of the course, but my recovery time was much quicker and easier.

December: 22.50 miles
Late November and December included a bit of R&R, shorter runs for “fun” and a lot more yoga — including trying hot yoga for the first times.

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2011 Total Mileage: 512.58