2011: a year in review.

well, i did it folks... i ran 1,000 miles in 2011.

as i was running this past week and i heard my watch buzz for my 5th mile, i smiled. 1000 miles. just to remind you, this is what 1,000 miles looks like:

i did the math (typical) and i ran for roughly one full week in 2011.  51 weeks of being a normal (ehh, normalish) human being and 1 week of being a person who runs.  geezus.

it's been a long and crazy year.  it's been a year full of love, heartache, new friends, old friends, PRs, a new apartment, new fun colored sneakers, travel, and most importantly- lessons in love, life, and friendship.

i'm ready for 2012 but it's hard to deny that 2011 was a pretty big year for me. so here it is- my 2011 year in review: the good, the bad, and the stuff i didn't say the first time around.

january

• Ran a half-marathon in 14 degree weather.
• Looking back, this was the definition of badass.  i'm really proud of myself, lisa, and meghan for knocking this one out last january.  
• My body was legit frozen when i got home.  my skin was raw, it was scary.  
• Met my blogging crush
• I have an obsession with people who run and blog.  seriously.  it's only gotten worse as the year has gone on.  do you run and blog? do you wanna be my friend? i promise i'm not creepy. 

february

• Ran on superbowl sunday
• This race was so much fun and i already signed up for this years race as well.  Perhaps i should practice throwing a football so that i can win the football throwing contest before the race.  really, i can do it.  i know bj raji so i'm practically a professional football player myself.
• February was my lowest mileage month (a whopping 33 miles).  february 2011 was awful.  

march

• Convinced Seth to run the NYC Half-Marathon and he kicked major butt
• I love getting other people into running.  now all that needs to happen is he needs to live in the same city as me so that we can run together and then be bums together on the couch and watch awesomely bad tv and movies.  

april

• i PRed in a 15k (first PR of 2011)
• Seth finally recaps his half-marathon experience
• pretty sure he thanked me in the car after the race.  and by "in the car" i mean "in the trunk because our families decided we didn't need real seats."  
• Ran a race with a significant other
• We fought the night before this race.  i spent the entire night before worried he wouldn't show up and i'd look like an idiot.  i don't even remember what we fought and (obviously) he showed up.  good boy.

may

• Diagnose myself with "mysterious side boob cramp" syndrome.
• i work at a medical school so i'm practically a doctor.  
• Started training for my 3rd NYC Marathon with the brooklyn half-marathon
• i convinced someone to run this half-marathon in 2012 this past week.  great success.

june

• apparently, nothing of importance happened in june.  i did, however, post this embarrassingly accurate video of a guys thoughts while running a marathon.
• is it bad that i cannot remember anything of significance that happened in june?  was my brothers graduation party in june? because that was fun.  lisa, meg, seth and i all ran in the morning along the hudson river and then we rewarded ourselves with lots of backyard fun over on long island.  

july

• Same-sex marriage is legalized in ny and i run to celebrate
• one of the best weekends to be a new yorker.  so proud of my city.
• My heart rate gives me away as a *gasp* runner
• my mom and friends got such a kick out of this.  grr.

august

• Seth comes back to nyc and i get surprised at the queens half marathon
• this was one of the best days i can remember from the summer.  yes, the run was hot.  no, i did not PR.  but there was so much good that happened this day that i want to just freeze it.
• i verbalize exactly what i need to do for optimum marathon performance
• i failed majorly on one of these.  i'm looking at you, stretching and foam-rolling.
• i turn 25.
• it was a pretty good birthday.  i don't know what i expected but i do remember that my expectation wasn't met.  guess it all stems from my aggravation with where i actually am in life in comparison to where i wanted to be in life at 25.  
• new york city gets a hurricane that does nothing but ruin my weekend running plan
• 3 miles is the same as 13, right?

september

• run my best long run to date and cook in my crockpot for the first time
  
• who negative splits on a 16 miler? THIS GIRL DOES! also, i need more crockpot recipes.  i mean, i have an entire book of them, but what's the fun in that? do you have a crockpot recipe that has minimal ingredients? send it my way please. 
• i revise my marathon goal to "win marathon"
• funny story about this- about a week before the marathon, my grandmother asks if "when you win this marathon, will you stop?" i reply, "grandma, i'm not gonna win the marathon" and she says "oh don't say that, believe in yourself, yes you can."  grandma thinks i can win the nyc marathon.  maybe next year, grams.
• watch the michigan/ND game with meghan at one of my favorite bars in nyc
• one of the best college football games this entire season. also, i need to go to this bar more often. fun fun fun.
• nyrr gives me anxiety
• luckily, a blogger crush helped ease my anxiety by replying to my anxious post
• i learn that i'd rather bleed than buy new things
• i promise i'm only cheap when it comes to me...
• i run 3 times around central park... willingly.
• i'm going to look back at this post next year when i'm thinking of signing up for this race.  don't do it, ang.  run 18 miles elsewhere please.  

october

• my first half-marathon PR of the year!
• just throwing it out there that i called a PR in this race as i was making my training schedule back in may/june.
• i run 21 miles in staten island
• another day i wish i could freeze.
• i ache and miss my run a week before the marathon
• this photo got me up off my miserable butt and onto the streets the very next day

november

• my favorite week of the entire year
• the week before the marathon is one of the most amazing weeks to be "someone who runs" in new york city. i get excited just thinking about the feeling i get roughly every 20 seconds during the week before the marathon.  i expect to get nothing accomplished at work and i understand that no one wants to be around me because all i talk about is the marathon.  it's okay, i get it.
• i PR in the NEW YORK CITY MARATHON!
• i could cry just thinking about how i felt when i crossed the finish line this year.  this years marathon meant more to me than it ever has before.  my training went great and i wanted a PR so badly.  i needed that PR more than i let on. 
• another PR! 5 miles at a 9:06 pace!
• overheard at mile 4.5- "i don't know that i want to marry you anymore, you told me this was a trot, this is a turkey sprint from hell."

december

• i meet my hero, get cranky, and PR (again!) in las vegas

• i learn that i can speak another language
• i finish the year off with (another) 15k PR!
• it took writing this "year in review" for me to realize that my first PR of 2011 was also a 15k.  yet another reason this distance is AWESOME. 

so there ya have it folks, 2011 in a nutshell.  my goal for 2011 was 1,000 miles... what should i aim for in 2012?  any new years resolution ideas for me?