2014: A Look Back

2014 was my first full calendar year pounding the pavement.  At the beginning of the year, I never would have thought I'd complete as many half marathons as I did, let alone finish the Chicago Marathon, my first full, in less than five hours!  In all, I finished over 300 miles of races, with even more in training miles: One 1-mile race, eleven 5K races, one 5K mud run, one 4-mile race, two 5-mile races, four 10K races, one Ragnar Relay, fourteen half marathons, and one full marathon!  It's been a whirlwhind of a year.

With all of my medals earned in 2014!
(Photo by Lynn Robertson)

1. 1/11/2014 Joe Kleinerman 10k
2. 2/2/2014 NYRR Gridiron 4M
3. 3/2/2014 Washington Heights Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K
4. 3/16/2014 NYC Half Marathon (first Half Marathon!)
5. 4/5/2014 Scotland Run (10K)
6. 5/4/2014 Prairie Fire Half Marathon
7. 5/17/2014 Brooklyn Half Marathon
8. 6/4/2014 PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series #1 (5K)
9. 6/18/2014 PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series #2 (5K)
10. 6/21/2014 Out-Fit Challenge (5K Mud Run)
11. 6/22/2014 Queens 10K
12. 6/28/2014 Pride Run 5M
13. 7/2/2014 PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series #3 (5K)
14. 7/16/2014 PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series #4 (5K)
15. 7/19/2014 Rock 'n' Roll Chicago 5K
16. 7/20/2014 Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon
17. 7/30/2014 PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series #5 (5K - PR)
18. 8/2/2014 NYRR Team Championships 5M
19. 8/30/2014 Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon
20. 9/12/14-9/13/14 Ragnar Relay Washington DC
21. 9/28/2014 Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Half Marathon
22. 10/4/2014 Bay Head Shark Run 5K (Age Group Award - 3rd place, M 30-34)
23. 10/12/2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon (first Marathon!)
24. 10/19/2014 Rock 'n' Roll St. Louis Half Marathon
25. 11/1/2014 Dash to the Finish 5K
26. 11/8/2014 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Half Marathon
27. 11/9/2014 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah 5K
28. 11/9/2014 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah 1M
29. 11/15/2014 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas 5K
30. 11/16/2014 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon
31. 11/22/2014 Annapolis Running Classic (Half Marathon)
32. 11/23/2014 GORE-TEX Philadelphia Half Marathon
33. 12/6/2014 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio 10K
34. 12/7/2014 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Half Marathon
35. 12/14/2014 Best Damn Race Cape Coral (Half Marathon - PR)
36. 12/27/2014 Operation Jack KC Run in the Snow (Half Marathon)

So where am I off to for 2015?  The calendar is already beginning to fill up.  Already, I'm signed up for 18 (!!!) half marathons... and that's just for the first HALF of 2015!  Here's a sampling of where I'll be the next couple of months:

• I'll be starting off the year with a double, heading down to Jackson, Mississippi to run the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon on January 10, and then driving with a bunch of people to Mobile, Alabama to run the Servis1st Bank First Light Half Marathon on January 11!  This Back-2-Back weekend is also the reunion for the Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics clubs.  I'll be leaving with three medals, including the highly coveted "blues guitar" medal from the Mississippi race!
• The following weekend, I'll be spending the weekend doing the first Rock 'n' Roll of the year, the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Half Marathon, which runs through Tempe, Scottsdale, and Phoenix, on January 18.  I'll also be doing the Remix Challenge, running a 5K the day before!  I'll be leaving with four medals - the half, the 5k, the remix challenge, and the Desert Double Down (for also having completed Las Vegas in November 2014!)
• As if January had enough races, I'll be heading out to New Orleans the weekend after, and doing yet another Rock 'n' Roll race, the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon on January 25!  I am planning on doing a WHOLE lot of Rock 'n' Rolls this year - just you wait and see :)
• Thankfully I'll have a three week break, but I'm back out pounding the pavement in Myrtle Beach for the Dasani Myrtle Beach Half Marathon on February 14, which is also my 31st Birthday!  I'll be doing a 5K the night before too for extra bling :)  This state will effectively mark off every state in the Deep South for me!
• The week after, on February 22, I'm trekking up to Hampton, NH, and crossing that state off my list at the Half at the Hamptons!  It'll probably be super cold, with wind coming off of the ocean - but good thing is it's flat, and I'll have another state off my list!
• And another week after that... I'm heading down to Little Rock, Arkansas, to do the Little Rock Half Marathon on March 1!  I'll obviously be very envious of the marathoners' humongous bling, but I'll be happy to have a sizeable one of my own for the half marathon!
• I'll have another two week break after that, but I'll pound out the pavement again at yet another double... the Rock 'n' Roll DC Half Marathon on March 14 in Washington, DC, and then the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon on March 15 right here in New York City!  This will also mark my one year anniversary of running the half marathon distance - and I'll be finishing halfs number 22 and 23!

And I'm super pumped to also announce that I will be running for Nuun Hydration, as a member of their competitive athletic team, Team Nuun, in 2015!  I'll be promoting and supporting Nuun hydration products, electrolyte enhanced drink tablets designed to keep active people optimally hydrated, either in lifestyle or athletic endeavors, and in daily life!

In addition, I am still an active member of Front Runners New York , and continue to be hard at work as the assistant director for the 34th Annual FRNY Pride Run, which will be held on June 27, 2015!