Looking back on 2008

by - Tuesday, December 23, 2008

I was reading through some of my posts from the beginning of the year and couldn't find one where I specifically stated any goals, but I had a few in my head. I knew I wanted to run another big race of at least half-marathon distance and I wanted to focus on increasing my speed in 2008.

I'm happy to say I accomplished both.

I ran the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon in April and shaved about 11 minutes from my previous best half marathon time, which qualifies in both categories.

I also ran a 5K PR at the Komen Race for the Cure and a five miler PR at the Celtic Solstice Five Miler.

Those are definitely some of the highlights from this year. I'm really happy with the progress I've made. I am consistently running faster and stronger than I was in past years.

Before, I'd often punk out in the winter and fade away from running a little bit because of the weather. This is the first year I've run fairly consistently from the end of November through December, and it's something I plan to continue in 2009.

The only real negative from this year was my knee injury that happened back in May. It was nothing I could have prevented, just a strange problem where my knee doesn't track straight up and down in the socket but instead pulls to the left. Unfortunately though, I missed the entire summer of running. I did almost two months of physical therapy before I was back on my feet.

I had to DNS the Baltimore 10 Miler in June and I couldn't register for the Virginia Beach Half Marathon over Labor Day weekend for the same reason. My knee also forced me to miss the Philadelphia Distance Run, another race I had had my eye on.

I think I recovered stronger though. I still tape my knee in longer distances as a precaution, but other than that I haven't had problems. Since the injury I have posted some of my fastest race times since I started running regularly and racing two and a half years ago.

I'm still working on my goals and planning my race calendar for 2009, which I will update with later.

This will most likely be my last post before the holidays so I hope you all have a great holiday season!

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9 comments

  1. Goals are so important. They help me stay focused. I've already identified the events in which I will participate in '09. I'm looking more toward triathlons.

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  2. Merry Christmas Jess! You had a good year, and you overcame some serious challenges!! Cheers!!

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  3. way to go Jess! Good goals, and it's great to meet those goals. i'm working on some 2009 goals now.

    Merry christmas!

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  4. awesome job on reaching your goals! cant wait to see what the 2009 calendar will look like :)

    have a great holiday!!!

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  5. Nice year! And good luck with the knee!

    Merry Christmas!

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  6. Anonymous3:49 PM

    A good running year for you! Nice!
    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, too! :)

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  7. Sounds like it was a great year!!

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  8. A good run year and a happy new year.
    Rinus.
    http://rinusrunning.punt.nl/?home=1

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  9. wow I had almost the same running season, with the same knee injury!! And I'm finally enjoying winter running too..small world indeed, let's hope 2009 is injury free for us both

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