I am not that impressed that vacation is over, but Lucy is probably a bit relieved.

Time always seems to go by so fast while on vacation, but that really shouldn’t be a surprise as time generally seems to move pretty quickly. Days become weeks become months become another year.

Looking back on the year I’d say I did pretty well on the goals I set.

1. Run a sub 3:30 marathon. I accomplished this unexpectedly in San Francisco in a training run turned race.

2. Run a sub 1:40 half marathon. Done at the NYC Half in March and followed it up with a marathon PR (at the time) the following weekend.

3. Run a 5k or longer race at sub 7 minute pace. FAIL. I ran Coogan’s 5k at 7:05 pace. On an easier course and without a 20+ miler right before I guess that should have resulted in a faster time. However, honestly I kind of forgot about this goal because it wasn’t that important to me. I will always be a longer distance runner. Excuses…

4. Share my passion of running with others. I returned as a mentor for Team for Kids for both the NYC Half and NYC Marathon. I also got my RRCA coaching certification (which I have admittedly done little with). I will still call this goal a success though.

5. Have fun and stay injury free. I was very happy not to have to deal with any injuries and had a lot of fun with running in the first part of the year. I think I got a bit burned out in the second half of the year, but overall it was good.

Now for some analysis that I am only interested in…
Hopefully I am not committing the sin of grade inflation, although I did also learn a lot about running beyond what the numbers show.

I am ready for next year to be even better.

I have found that visual inspiration is the most useful for me.

Therefore this year’s goals will only come in a more visual form. Some are obvious, some are more sneaky, but they are all there. Here is the masterpiece in what is now a three year tradition.

I know all my apple products are enjoying their new backgrounds.