My Year of Running 2013

What a year 2013 has been! It’s had its ups and downs, but overall it was a great year – I can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store.

I’ll be the first to admit - I don’t actually “do” New Years Resolutions. (GASP!) On the flipside, I DO plan ahead for my races each year (so I guess you could call that a “goal”) and I’m the kind of person who sticks with my goals. If I say I’m going to do something, you can rest assured I’ll do everything in my power to complete that task or goal.



SO, instead of sharing my “New Years Resolutions” with you today, I decided instead to recap on 2013 and My Year of Running, thanks to Miss Zippy!

• Best race experience? 
  This one’s tough as I had several GREAT races this year. I really enjoyed running Goofy’s Challenge and Dumbo Double Dare – runDisney races are always top of my list.
  
  I’m going to cheat and list two:
  -My best Full Marathon experience was Rock n Roll NOLA as I finally broke 5 hours (4 hours, 44 minutes to be exact)
  -My best Half Marathon experience was the Disneyland Half Marathon – it was a first for me and a truly memorable race experience!
• Best run? 
  The Running Trails through Disney’s EPCOT Resorts – I ran through this area back in October during a quick weekend trip to WDW and had so much fun running the New Balance trails with a friend! I especially enjoyed these trails as they brought back memories of past WDW Full Marathon races.
• Best new piece of gear? 
  I know it’s cliché to list these again, but I received several new favorites for Christmas this year (Raw Threads and Mizuno). Another favorite discovery of mine this year was Balega socks. I love all of these things!
• Best piece of running advice you received? 
  Don’t take yourself too seriously! If you overthink things, you’ll only stress yourself out. Running is supposed to be fun, relax and enjoy the ride!
• Most inspirational runner?
  There are so many, way too many to name! I do have to say, I was really inspired by the St. Jude runners who fundraised, trained, and were unable to run this year’s race due to cancellation – not a negative word was said by any of the ones I interact with on a regular basis. They remained upbeat, positive, and were happy for the opportunity to help the unfortunate children of St. Jude’s. I can’t say that I would have had the same attitude. I was definitely inspired to look at the “other” side of things, even if our plans don’t always work out the way we think they should. There’s always a reason behind every situation.  
• If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be? 
  2013 was a great year - despite loss (here and here), I learned to make the most of the time I have with family and friends. I also worked hard at slowing down, enjoying, and   cherishing every moment.

Race tally for the year:

• Three Challenges Complete: Goofy’s Challenge , Dumbo Double Dare, and Disney's Coast 2 Coast Challenge
• 2 Full Marathons
• 4 Half Marathons
• 2 10K’s
• A handful of 5K’s

I’d say I had a pretty great year! What about you? What are your favorite moments from 2013?