December Running Stats: Much Better!

I ended the year on a high note! Good total mileage and several long runs in December. Plus nice elevation gain for central Illinois. I'm happy with the way this year ended and I'm excited to enter 2022 with positive momentum. I ran more non-Lake of the Woods trails too: Allerton Schroth, Kickapoo Rail Trail, and Clinton Lake. Good for endurance and strength, not so much for average pace. Here are my December vs November running statistics:

	Nov 2021	Dec 2021
Activities	22	24
Total Distance	100.54 mi	151.46 mi
Average Distance	4.57 mi	6.31 mi
Max Distance	9.89 mi	19.26 mi
Total Activity Time	17:31 h:m	28:19 h:m
Avg Time	47:47 m:s	1:10:50 h:m:s
Total Elev Gain	5,085 ft	9,872 ft
Average Pace	10:27 min/mi	11:13 /mi
Average Heart Rate	139 bpm	132 bpm
Average Run Cadence	158 spm	159 spm

Every single statistic is better compared to November, except average pace. Well, if I'm running longer on trails, it's going to be slower! I'll take that swap. Speed can come later. For now, I need to continue long endurance building. The "19.26 mile" run that was my longest happened during the winter solstice at Clinton Lake north fork trail. Think it was closer to 20 miles...at least it felt like it! I'm finishing the year injury-free and fairly healthy. Seem to have caught a cold these last 3 days. Hopefully just a cold and not COVID. I've been vaccinated and boosted, so maybe a mild COVID case? Whatever. Should be fine in less than a week. Colder weather is coming (we were lucky for most of December). Maybe I'll take a couple of extra rest days.

Soon I'll post my year-end summary, look back at 2021 running goals completed (or not), and plan for 2022 races. I think 2022 may be my "return to ultras" year!