This year did not play out at all like I expected when I wrote this post last year around this time. I had some major setbacks last winter, which ultimately led to more success later in the year, I think. I had hopes of running my highest mileage ever and racing all year long; if you have followed my blog throughout this year you will know that did not happen! I learned a lot this year, which will hopefully help me with my running moving forward. I am still not where I want to be with many aspects of my training, but we are all a work in progress, right?
Let’s take a look back at the year:
At the beginning of January I was just running for fun, and trying to maintain a solid base before beginning training for a spring half. I also got the opportunity to try out ClassPass and took some different types of studio classes. This was also around the time that I started doing a Whole30.
In mid-January I was having some hip tightness that wouldn’t got away despite cutting back on mileage and seeing a chiropractor. I decided it was a good time to take care of it without being in the middle of any real training.
I went back to my PT to have another gait analysis done, only to be told that I was presenting with the same hip instability issues that I had thought I had addressed 3 years earlier. I started going to PT and my issues got worse. I’m not sure if it was because we were looking at the problem incorrectly or what, but my SI joint started to get all out of whack.
After a few weeks of very little progress I was discharged from PT (it was kind of a mutual agreement that they couldn’t help me anymore). I decided to go back to seeing a chiropractor because I always had more success with that than PT for some reason. My last chiropractor had left his practice so I found someone new who was closer to where I had just moved and started going there in April.
We did a Functional Movement Assessment which I think gave me more useful information than the gait analysis alone. I worked on functional core and upper body strength which should ultimately lead to better stability while running. Along with this I was getting ART and adjustments. I slowly got back into running and was feeling good by late April/early May.
I ran my first race of the year Memorial Day Weekend- the Stoneleigh Stampede 5k. I was happy enough with my time after having not raced in quite a while, and even got an age group award.
I continued to build my mileage over the summer and ran a few other races. By mid-summer I got the itch to start training for a marathon. After lots of contemplation I decided to hire a coach to help me with my training.
My training plan began the first week in August, and within a week I got really sick with some upper respiratory thing that took a month to go away. I ran 2 races coming off of that cold- the Dreaded Druid Hills and the Charles St 12.
After that, marathon training really started to pick up. However, in October I ran a half-marathon PR at the Baltimore Running Festival. This was exciting as I was in the middle of high mileage and had not tapered!
All of a sudden it was November and time for my marathon! I finished off my 2015 racing season with a 5 minute PR at the Route 66 Marathon.
Since the race I have been taking some time to back off of running and instead focus on core/strength work and mobility/flexibility. I have been running 2-3 days a week in December and estimated a total monthly mileage of about 50-60 mileage, but that will depend on what I do over the last 10 days of the month. I am trying to use this time to think about my next running goals, because as of right now I have no idea what I want to work towards. And that might mean just running for fun for a while longer until I figure that out.
It’s been quite a journey this year, and I really appreciate having you all along for the ride! And if you are a first time reader, than thanks for reading about my year. I am excited to see what next year brings, although there is a good chance it will once again not be as expected! A year is a long time and I have found it is usually impossible to predict all of the things that can happen.
You may also like:
{Mostly Running} Highlights of 2013
Just Keep Running
Mid-June Workouts
Did 2015 go as expected for you?
What were some of your running highlights from this year?
Did you already decide on your goals for 2016?
You had such a successful year in my opinion given what you overcame in the beginning! I think not having any running goals is fine – we need a break from goals the way we do everything else sometimes 🙂
You had quite the year! I don’t know what’s in store for me in 201running wise other than the January half. I don’t want to run the LI half again (I ran it 3 years in a row) so I will have to pick a different spring half or race to do something new!
My year did and didn’t pan out like I thought it would either! We’ve both had some tribulations and triumphs, but you have ended the year strong and ready for the new one, which is what is most important.
Lisa, I admire your tenacity and the work you’ve done to become stronger, overall, not just as a runner; that is something that I definitely want to focus on in the coming year. Having just hit a huge marathon goal, I’m not sure what I want to do next, either; I’ve told my coach that I want to become a stronger, healthier runner and, other than that, I have no immediate expectations! It’s been a pleasure to follow along with you this year; can’t wait to see what 2016 brings for you and Happy Holidays!!
You had a great year! And look at you talking about working out the last 10 days of the month :-p I have no idea what I’ll do while I’m in Colorado. I’m not a snow person so no skiing or snowboarding. I think I’ll enjoy some extra days off, but I will do some yoga to stay loose.
You’ve have a great year! Even with the hip issues in the beginning you really had a strong year of running! I appreciate your dedication to strength training consistently and its been a good reminder for me to be consistent! I set out to run a sub 2-hour half in 2015 which I did! I also wanted to get more experience racing so I did some 5ks, 10ks, and a 5 miler. Overall, it was a great year and I am happy to have been consistent with it all year since this was only the second year I was running.
In some ways 2015 went as planned, like a new PR in the marathon & half, and then in other ways it wasn’t. My PR for the marathon was still no where near my goal & I didn’t plan to spend the 2 months after not running at all due to a calf injury…but all that means is I adjust for 2016. I still want to train & race a 5K. Something that I’ve never done.
I’ve gone back and forth about whether or not to get a running coach–I have a half marathon in March and another in May, and I want a sub 2:00 so bad. I’m thinking if I don’t meet my goal in March I may get a coach for May. Congrats on a great year!
This year definitely didn’t go as expected for me, but in a good way. I’m glad you ended things on a high note after struggling to get healthy in the early months. I’ve been there more times than I can count so it’s nice to achieve some PRs after working so hard to get back to where you were! Hopefully 2016 is a good year of racing for you 🙂
Sounds like a great year despite a few hiccups, to me! My year didn’t go as planned either, and running has had to take a back seat to family for me! I’ll chase my PR’s in a couple years! <3
2015 didn’t go exactly as I planned – I never planned to have the stomach issues that caused me to struggle at my October half, and to prevent me signing up for one this month. BUT – I did do something totally unexpected in a good way by running the 9 races to qualify for NYC Marathon in 2016. Which is my major goal now – to finish my first marathon (hopefully in under 5 hours!)
I remember all that physio hip sh!t stuff you had to deal with in the beginning of the year. I felt bad for you, and it scared me a bit because I’ve always had issues with my SI joint too. It was really cool to see you come back like you did though. You really worked hard and made huge progress. I think you’re right in that sometimes it takes a little sidelining for us to really get that extra motivation to kick ass once we get better. I can’t wait to get my back better and get back out there, but I’m definitely doing core work from now on. I guess I waited too damn long, and now look what happened! I SUCK.
Loads of great comments all getting back to the same thing: it is not whether or not you’ve had setbacks that defines success, but how you deal with them. SO I also think you’ve had a great year.
I did wonder at the time about the wisdom/necessity of the ‘Whole 30’ thing (honestly felt a bit ‘bandwagon’-ish to me as I mentioned in January), and not sure how the extreme restriction impacted what happened right after, if at all. I always worry when I see people doing restrictive diets in reaction to over-doing a bit at holidays …
But I am so glad that everything worked out physically and that you’ve ended up with an amazing year! You guys are in a new house, so many cute pics of you two (and others) you’ve shared, and I am really happy for you and hope that 2016 is even better!
You’ve had such a strong year of so many running accomplishments! Even though you had the hip issues, the work with the chiro and all the strength training only made you a stronger runner – look at those PRs! Enjoy running for fun without goals – after a year of so many running goals, you definitely deserve some time to just relax, enjoy running, and soak in all of your accomplishments. I’m so excited to follow you in 2016 and see what the year brings for you!
Ultimately it sounds like a good year, and sometimes you need that bad stuff to have the great stuff happen (much as it sucks at the time).
If I ran that many miles, though, I’d probably be crawling!
I’m just beginning to mull over what my goals should be for next year. Not quite sure.
You’ve had a fantastic year of running, despite your hip injury. I had functional testing at PT in the past and I thought it really highlighted my instability issues. I still need to work on that and hopefully have another fun year of running in 2016! Congrats on all your accomplishments!
What a year! Here’s to a fantastic 2016 🙂
Great year considering how it started for you. Congrats.
Running strong and staying injury free is always a yearly goal.
This was a very interesting summary to read since I’m a new-ish reader. It always stinks to have to deal with an injury, but you finished the year really strong! Congrats, and here’s to a great 2016!
Look at those end of the year miles! Glad to see how your year turned out. I can’t wait to see what 2016 brings.
This year definitely did not go the way I was expecting it too – but every setback was a chance to learn something new…. new stretches, new preventative measures, new motivation. That’s how I’m trying to frame it in my mind because otherwise I would just be sad that I haven’t set a new PR since January! Oy!
I love how strong you finished the year out. Your marathon PR was a great capstone to the year for you!
You really bounced back the second half of the yr and worked your mileage up. Great job! Congrats on your 5 min PR marathon time. Here’s to a healthy New Year and an injury free year.
2015 was a good year for me, injury free, its of running & races, but definitely l listening to my body. I am looking forward to 2016 with my first marathon April 3rd. Hope you have a great 2016 !
It really is impossible to foresee what can happen at the start of a year. I really like the go-with-the-flow approach that I took this past year, but I think I’m finally ready to go big on my BQ goal this next year. That doesn’t mean that it WILL happen for sure (I’ve learned a lot about patience recently), but I’m going to put a little more effort into it this year than I have in the past and change things up a bit – should make for a fun 2016 journey 🙂
Despite the challenges you faced at the beginning of the year, you ended it with a bang in my opinon! You handled your nagging injuries so well and became so much stronger because of it! Can’t wait to see what’s in store in 2016!
Wow you definitely ended the year on a high note! It’s been so fun following you im excited to read this post next year!
I also think I need to see a chiropractor about my gait problems. I keep getting issues with my right knee. It’s to the point that I haven’t run in weeks, just hoping that going easy on it would let it heal, but the pain is still there. You ran so much this year!! I hope 2016 looks like that for me.
I hope you can figure out whats going on and get back to running!