Training
2017 was a record setting year, though just barely, with 1284.1 miles (up a whopping 2.9 from the year before). I went running 189 times (6 times fewer than last year) but on average went nearly a quarter mile further. [In my defense, the year was two days shorter. How so? you ask. Well, 2016 was a leap year, so that's one day, but also with the quirks of the calendar, 2017 had 1 more Sunday than 2016, and I never run on Sunday, so effectively I had one fewer day where I could run.] I also averaged a pace that was 1 second per mile slower.
My first reaction to all those numbers is that they are a little bit sad, considering I was unemployed for half the year and should have had a lot of free time to go running. From this we can glean a few things. First, free time is apparently not a huge limiter on my running. Second, being unemployed is depressing and demotivating at times which does not encourage running. Third, there is a limit to how much I want to run at all. But a very real factor lurking in the back ground is that I had a pretty slow start to the year. I think it's time for a chart, don't you? Here is where I was at mileage wise at the end of each month of the year:
In each of the first 8 months of 2017 (blue line) I was behind 2016 (red line) (except for a virtual tie in February). That gap (yellow line) grew to over 230 miles by August when I finally manged to catch up.
There is always lots of interest about my shoes, so yes, I'm still wearing the shoes with fingers. I mostly retired my pair of KSO EVOs after 640 miles, and then put over 800 miles on a not-new-anymore pair of V-Runs which will need to be replaced soon. (Currently at 897 miles!)
Races
2017 was supposed to be the year that I would focus on the 10k distance, because marathons are stupid. I successfully avoided any marathons, but only managed to run a single race, the Sly Fox 10k. I was slightly sick for the race, but still set a "PR" at 42:58 (6:56/mile). The PR is in quotes there, because I ran a half marathon the year before at a 41:52 10k pace, but don't have an official time for that. The plan to run more races got interrupted by not having any income, so my official PR remains soft. Oh well.
Trail Running
Moving to Utah put us much closer to my brother in-law who has dragged me out trail running, or as I call it, "complaining in the mountains". Its a nice system we have, where he picks where we go, and that gives me the freedom to complain about it as much as I want. Mostly, I wish the mountains just weren't so steep. He has ideas about doing ridiculous trail runs in the future, but I'd just be happy to have less than 300 feet of climbing per mile. Our longest venture was a 22.3 mile jaunt with 6000 feet of climbing, or something like that. By baby toe on each foot is still black from that little adventure. I put in 96 miles on trail runs for the year, but it felt like double that at least. I have a pair of old road running shoes that I've been using, since my "normal" running shoes are definitely not up to the task, but they aren't quite ideal for the mountains for a variety of reasons. Maybe when I'm rich I'll get a bunch of new shoes.
Nerd Analysis
I did a lot less nerd analysis of my running this year, as evidenced by only having two posts from 2017 under the running tag. The only interesting investigation I did is to whether wearing running tights makes me slower. By comparing over one hundred 4 to 7 mile runs when temperatures were in the 30s and 40s (the low 40s is roughly where I switch from shorts to tights) there isn't much evidence to support my initial suspicion. The data shows that I run 3 seconds per mile faster in shorts than in tights in comparable temperatures, which is pretty insignificant.
Minimalism
I remain committed to running minimalism – not so much in what I put on my feet, but as a general concept. I spent money on one race last year. I think I bought one pair of running shorts for the year, which were on sale at Old Navy for 8 bucks. I won a $10 gift card to a running store in the 10k this year, so I spent an extra 7 bucks or whatever it was to get a new headlamp (currently misplaced) that I have used all of once. So that comes out to $60 that I spent running. There's no way I'll match that number this year, because I am very due for shoes, which are sadly expensive. I did, however, get a low end GPS watch for Christmas, which I've really been enjoying. I no longer have to map every run by hand on the computer when I get home and have a little more freedom to take as many turns as I want when running without worrying about needing to reconstruct the whole route from my head afterwards. (Living here long enough to not get lost in my own neighborhood helps with this, too.)
Looking Ahead
The only immediate plan for this year is to keep running, hope for a warm winter (seems likely) and a windless winter (not so likely in South Jordan), and not get injured. Now that we're back in Utah, we'll be able to run the Rex Lee Run again, and I can start adding to my t-shirt collection.
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