Personally, I can't really believe I've stuck with something for 2 years but I have now been a "runner" for 2 years and counting! It's to the point now where if I don't get out for a run at least once every couple of days I feel totally out of balance. It has become a wonderful way for me to get away and unwind in the evenings after a busy day with the kids!
I am so glad that I made the decision to try running. I'm not natural at it, I'm not fast but it has become an enjoyable hobby for me! When I started running about 2 months after having Sabrina, I couldn't even make it around the track once. It was ROUGH! I remember feeling like I would never be able to even run a 5K. I say this to motivate anyone who thinks they can't do it. Because believe me, if I can do it, truly anyone can!
The GOOD from this year: I have made some steady progress to improve and run farther. We even took off 2 months in December and January but I was able to pick it back up pretty quick! I try to average abotu 4 days of running per week. I've ran 3 races this year, including my first 10K (Peter ran his first half-marathon at a great pace!). I can somewhat easily run 6 miles now. I've also cut off about another minute per mile in the last year (averaging right around 10 minute miles right now).
The BAD from this year: I have still been plagued with injuries. My first year running I dealt with a lot of pain and very slow progress due to my patella slipping during runs. I had to wear knee straps and increase distance very slowly but was finally able to ween myself off the straps last fall! After working through the knee problems I became plagued with shin splints and have had to sometimes take off entire weeks of running to rest the shins. I finally resolved that with Thoro Socks! Just when I was finally able to increase my distance at a decent pace, I have started having a different type of knee pain that the best self diagnosis I can come up with is runner's knee. I've had to slow down on increasing my mileage and take more rest days and that is getting frustrating. But slowly and steadily I know I can improve even with injury setbacks.
The GOALS for this next year: I hope to pick up 7 and 8 mile runs here within the next month (all dependent on those knees). I don't know where I want my mileage to stop but if I can comfortably run that many miles I might contemplate a half marathon a year or two down the road. I would love to give a 10K another shot along with a few more 5K's. I would love to pick up a 5th day of running per week, but with a new baby joining the family, I don't know how likely that is to happen. Along with increasing my distance, I would love to bring my average pace down another minute or so. So averaging somewhere in the 9:00 miles for 5K's and 10:00 to 10:30 for 10K's. But mainly I just want to continue to make slow and steady progress and enjoy my time out running as I go along!
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