2011 Races (Year in Review)

2011 was my first full calendar year as a runner.

It was the year I ran my first half-marathon.

It was the year I ran my first marathon.

It was the year I ran 15 total road races (Holy cow!). Today I’m going to recap the highlight races!

Charleston Half Marathon – January 15: My first half marathon. I wasn’t planning on running my first half until May, but Coachy talked me into it. And my friend Don volunteered to be a wicked awesome paysah (that’s pacer for those of you that don’t speak New Englandese). I set a goal to finish under 2:15 – I finished in 2:12:42.

Guinness Celtic 5k – March 13: I ran this race with my friend Paul, who volunteered to pace me. It was a simple out and back course that was flat as a pancake. This is the race where I destroyed my 2010 5k PR by 2 whole minutes (exactly). I finished in 25:37

Charlottesville Half Marathon – April 9: Coachy ran this with me, and then went on to finish running the full marathon. I wasn’t going for a PR in this race because I knew it was going to be hilly – 797 feet of elevation gain to be exact! It was fun running the whole time with Coachy, and he pushed me along when I started to get whiny.  I finished in 2:18:42 – I have this thing with finishing my races with the exact same seconds as other races, this is 6 minutes slower than the Charleston Half Marathon.

RI State Police 5k Foot Pursuit – April 17: My friend Jen’s first race ever. We ran a 33:38 – not bad for her first race, but of course she had been running for a while and used to be a sprinter.

Cox Rhode Races Half Marathon – May 1:  My one year race-iversary. I love this race series and will continue to run it as long as I live close enough! I had a great time running this race, and it is when I ran my current half marathon PR: 2:10:13.

Mad Marathon – July 10: My first marathon! This was a hard race, but a total blast. Coachy and I ran together and he pushed my butt along when I needed a push. If you want to read all about it you can: Recap Part 1, Race Report in Pictures, Race Report: The Race. We finished in 5:28:58. I finished my first marathon – yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!

Providence Rock N Roll Half Marathon – August 7: I was intent on PR’ing my half marathon time for this race. Then it rained…and rained…and rained some more. Needless to say it was miserable. I still finished, but ugh, not a fun race.  Finish time: 2:14:45

Air Force Marathon – September 17: My second marathon. I had only planned on running this marathon in 2011. We all know how that went. I finished and PR’ed this race, but I wasn’t happy with it. My hip gave out about Mile 16 and wouldn’t cooperate at all for the rest of the race. 5:22:08

Amica Half Marathon – October 16: Another hip killer. Perhaps too close to Dayton? I was really thinking I was going to break 2-hours for this one. I was on track for the first 8 miles – then the hip again. Dammit. I took the rest of October off after that, to refresh my legs and my attitude. 2:10:24 – 11 seconds off of my PR ARGH!

Downtown Jingle Bell 5k – December 4: My 3rd 5k PR in 2011 – and my favorite because I broke 25 minutes! Woohoo! 24:25 – Now I have some serious 5k work in 2012 to break that time!

It was a great race year – with two firsts and plenty of PR’s. 2012 will be even better.

Cheers friends!