Reaching my end of the year goal!

Well, 2012 has been a pretty good year for running. I ran some of my fastest times, collected a few trophies, completed two marathons (Nashville and Atlanta), and completed my goal of running 1200 miles in 2011!

Here are a few highlights:

1. Two half marathons in January: Red Nose and Warner Robins.
2. Set a PR of 2:30 on the New Thanksgiving Atlanta Half Marathon Course. It is, however, short of my 2:20 PR set in 2009 on the old course.
3. Completed two marathons: Nashville (5:46) and Atlanta (6:00).
4. Set a 10k PR in Madison with a time of 1:00:19! Hopefully I'll break an hour in 2012! Set a course PR for the Macon Labor Day Road Race (1:01:52)
5. Broke the 29 minute barrier in two 5k races!! The Steeple Chase 28:28 (Covington, GA) and the Race Against Violence 28:03 (Conyers, GA)
6. Set a course PR in the Covington Fuzz Run 29:19!
7: Set course PRs in the Covington YMCA's Cheerios Challenge 5k 31:22 and 10k 1:02:56. I also received a winged foot trophy for my 10k run!! (I've wanted one of those for years!)
8. No trophy in the Elks Aidmore run this year, but I set a course PR, running this 5k trail run 4 minutes faster than my previous best! I believe the time was 31:20 or something like that! Anyhow, I felt great about the result!

It was a very good year, overall. I look forward to another great year of running in 2012. Perhaps this will be the year I break an hour in the 10k and 28 minutes in the 5k. Who knows, I might even break 2:20 in the Half Marathon. At any rate, I plan to work on staying fit and having fun!

I'll be running the Red Nose Half Marathon in good old Columbus Georgia next Saturday, January 7. Hoping to break 2:30 for a course PR. We shall see!

Atlanta Marathon: Head for the hills!!

Well, It was a beautiful day for the Atlanta Marathon. It began on a cold note, however, with temperatures in the mid 30's. I decided to stick with my long sleeved tech shirt, and used some socks for gloves. I ran in shorts, knowing that once we got going, I would feel about right. My hunches were correct, and I discarded the sock gloves somewhere in the first mile. It was a good run, but the hills got to me! I'll write a more complete report tomorrow evening. For now, here is a copy of my splits:

MILE         TIME      CHANGE      AVG. PACE  

MI  1            11:46        --                     11'46"/mi

MI 2             24:15       + 0:43 (6%)      12'29"/mi

MI 3            36:53        + 0:09 (1%)      12'38"/mi

MI 4            49:53        + 0:22 (2%)       13'00"/mi

MI 5         1:02:45        - 0:08 (1%)       12'52"/mi

MI 6         1:14:46       - 0:51 (6%)        12'01"/mi

MI 7         1:26:30       - 0:17 (2%)         11'44"/mi

MI 8         1:39:12      + 0:58 (8%)         12'42"/mi

MI 9        1:52:15      + 0:21 (2%)          13'03"/mi

MI 10      2:05:18       --                         13'03"/mi

MI 11      2:18:28      + 0:07 (0%)           13'10"/mi

MI 12     2:31:26      - 0:12 (1%)            12'58"/mi

MI 13     2:44:06       - 0:18 (2%)            12'40"/mi

MI  14   2:57:18       + 0:32 (4%)            13'12"/mi

MI 15   3:10:24        - 0:06 (0%)            13'06"/mi

MI 16   3:24:24        + 0:54 (6%)            14'00"/mi

MI 17   3:37:18         - 1:06 (7%)             12'54"/mi

MI 18   3:51:17         + 1:05 (8%)             13'59"/mi

MI 19    4:04:13          - 1:03 (7%)             12'56"/mi

MI 20    4:18:23        + 1:14 (9%)             14'10"/mi

MI 21    4:33:35        + 1:02 (7%)              15'12"/mi

MI 22    4:48:15        - 0:32 (3%)              14'40"/mi

MI 23    5:02:42         - 0:13 (1%)              14'27"/mi

MI 24    5:17:04         - 0:05 (0%)               14'22"/mi

MI 25    5:33:24      + 1:58 (13%)             16'20"/mi

MI 26   5:49:54       + 0:10 (1%)               16'30"/mi