Sunday, January 5, 2025

Did I Achieve My 2024 Running Goals?

Time to look back on 2024 and see how my running went. Already did the basic statistics and compared those to 2023. It wasn't pretty. I expect my goals were not achieved either. Let's take a look at them:

1. Finish top 10 in the Mahomet 5K road race. Fail. I did run the race and finished in 12th place overall (1st in age group). Not bad! But not top 10. Am I disappointed? Not really. This is a solid performance for a 58 year old! 

2. Run a 6:21 mile. Success! Didn't try many times, but I did run a 6:15 mile on the roads. Should have tried hard on the track to beat that time. Still, a good effort. Happy.

3. Run 1:42:10 in the half-marathon on the KRT. Fail. Never really tried to run fast on the KRT or anywhere else. My best half-marathon effort was 1:50. I am sad that I did not run faster than 1:50, but 1:42 is pretty fast. Think I would have been happy with 1:45. 

4. Run 22:04 in a 5K or 45:50 in 10K. Fail. My fastest 5k was 22:16. Pretty close!  And I'm happy with that finish time. Never ran a 10k race or time trial. Need to try more 5k and 10k time trials at the KRT (flat packed dirt). 

5. Run 40:00 on the 5-mile Lake of the Woods trail course. Fail. Never tried to run the full 5-mile loop fast. Maybe I was afraid of how slow it would be, but it just didn't happen. 40 minutes is pretty darn fast on that trail. Especially for an old ultrarunner! 

I was successful in 1/5 goals. Not very good. Oh well. I was pretty close to achieving two of those goals (#1 and #4) so I almost made 3/5 goals. That would have been a good year. Maybe 2025 will be better. I'll set those goals soon. 

Friday, January 3, 2025

2023 vs 2024 Running Statistics

I usually love looking over my running stats from the previous year. It's a great opportunity to relive achievements and show improvement from year to year. Brings a sense of accountability to my running. Did I set any PRs? How far was my longest run? Average run distance? Did I have a good run streak? What about elevation gain? This year, I'm not looking forward to seeing how 2024 went--or how it compared to last year. My summary statement: "I'm not happy with how 2024 went for my running." I started the year sick and finished the year with plantar fasciitis. No super long runs, no ultras, no PRs. I'll review whether I met any of my 2024 running goals in my next post. I'm not optimistic. Here are my main statistics comparing 2023 with 2024:

20232024Improve?
Activities260232x
Total Distance1,253 mi930 mix
Average Distance4.8 mi4.0 mix
Max Distance28.8 mi20.6 mix
Total Activity Time212:12 h:m155:16 h:mx
Avg Time48:58 m:s40:09 m:sx
Total Elev Gain37,967 ft24,701 ftx
Average Pace10:08 /mi10:01 /mi
Average Heart Rate127 bpm129 bpm?
Longest Run Break7 days7 days--
Longest Run Streak17 days30 days

As the table shows, 2024 was not very good. Only did better on two stats: average pace was faster and I had a longer run streak. My runs were shorter and included no ultras so the faster pace makes sense. Run streak was 30 days--not great, but not bad for me. I'm not a streak runner! Average HR was slightly higher--not sure if that is good or bad. Probably ran faster, so makes sense to be higher HR. But if I was in really good aerobic shape, that HR would be lower. Call it even. 

Since this was a rather poor running year, I doubt I met my running goals. We'll see soon. Post coming! 

Saturday, November 30, 2024

3 October Races = Plantar Fasciitis

My heel was kind of hurting as I entered October. Not sure when it started, but something was wrong. Nothing hurt too bad, so why let a little heel pain stop my October race plans? First up was the October 5 Allerton Trail Ultra. I knew I couldn't do the full 5 loops (~29 miles), but I figured 2 or 3 loops would be OK. I finished with 3 loops, 17+ miles. It was a DNF, but still a good trail run. My heel survived. 

Second race was the Dam Site Half-Marathon on October 20. It was rolling roads around a lake. If I could do 17 trail miles, I should be able to finish 13 miles on the roads without much harm. I ran a steady medium pace and finished in 1:50 (8:17 pace). During the race my heel was OK, afterward it hurt more than usual. Time to ice, stretch, roll the foot and massage the calf. Another race was one week away!

My third race was the Allerton Trail 5.7 mile run on October 27. A few hills and lots of roots. But less than 6 miles. No problem! The weather was perfect and the trail was in good condition. I ran hard, but disciplined. Felt good, but the heel started to hurt within 2 miles. It continued to bother me, but I kept going...until I passed the 4 mile mark and water station which has a sharp turn. I hit a root, twisted my foot and ankle and my heel erupted. Felt like a torch on my foot. I slowed down to ease the stress on my foot, but the pain persisted. Wanted to walk the last 1.5 miles to the finish. My ego kept me going and I "ran" the best I could and finished in 48:42, good enough for 4th in age group and 33rd overall. I was happy since this was the last race in the local "Triple Crown" (Allerton HM, Kirby Derby 5K, Allerton Trail). I had my fleece jacket and was heading home. With plantar fasciitis

When I got home, that's when the pain really settled into my heel. I was hobbling around for days. Tried icing, ibuprofen, foam rolling, stretching, massage. It helped. A little. The pain was 8/10. Time for many days off from running. November has been a slow month. Many days off, with just a few 1-2 mile runs to check on progress. Slowly got better and I can now run 2-3 miles with pain at 2/10 level. I hope December continues the positive trend. Maybe by the new year I'll be healed? 

Any lesson learned? I'm too old to race too often. And if something is hurting, even a little, I need to take time off from running. Need to be smart. Or is it wise?