Top 10 Runs of 2012

One of many fun times in 2012

2012 was yet another great year of running of which I am very thankful for. I had very few injuries and managed to train for and finish all the races I had planned on. (With the exception of the Jogger Egg Nogger 15K a few weeks ago). We all shared our stories as we looped around the lake and up and over the hills in our neighborhoods. We had some highs and lows in our lives, per usual, but in summary, it was a great year overall.

Here are my top 10 runs, in calendar order.

1. Jan 8th: The First Light marathon in Mobile, Alabama. Although I had wanted to run this marathon for a long time, I was pleasantly surprised by the charm of Mobile, and the beauty of the course. Jamie and I ran, while Toby followed us along the course, providing us with mango Gatorade from time to time! (Yes, even in January it was a little warm). The residents of L'Arche Mobile (L'Arche is an international federation of communities in which people with an intellectual disability and those who help them can live, work, and share their lives together) hand-made our medals and handed them to us at the finish line! Even though our visit to Mobile was brief, it was a great one.

Jamie and I placed in our age groups!

2. Jan 28th: The Texas Half marathon. I'm always happy to survive a marathon and resume running and make a local race, such as this half marathon at White Rock Lake. Although the race itself wasn't all that spectacular, Laura Patterson and I had a good time running it. Afterwards we realized they had ran out of medals with finishers still on the course. We went to the finish line and gave our medals to two finishers who came in last.  It was a good day to be a runner!

3. March 3: Trinity River Levee Run. The race started and finished across the city's new Margaret Hunt Hill bridge. Seeing this bridge's construction from afar, I thought it was ugly, sticking up into the sky like a plastic straw, but up close I realized this bridge is spectacular! This was the first time in a long time that I'd ran a 10K, which used to be my favorite distance back in the day. I forgot how much I loved running 10K's. Even if these days the best I could do is get in under 50 minutes, it still felt "fast" and exciting! I vowed to do more 10K's during the year, but that never happened!

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge race day morning

4. April 20th: The La Jolla Half Marathon in San Diego. Jamie trained on hills for this race, as I told her how hard it was 12 years ago when I had run it, but I had no idea that I would be going to run the race myself at the last minute. A month prior to the race they removed a cancerous mole from my foot, and since it was melanoma they cut a hole big enough to hold two quarters. (No, I didn't confirm this). With bandages still on my foot and no hill training to speak of I was in no shape for this race, but what the hell, it's San Diego, and I didn't want Jamie to go all by herself to San Diego! This course is stunning. It's a kick in the pants, but well worth it. I will not wait 12 years before I run this race again!

5. June 16th: Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. Wow, what an incredible trip this was. Jamie, Laura, and I loved everything about this marathon. In fact, this marathon is now one of my all-time favorites. I still well up with tears when I think about running that stretch through downtown Duluth with all the locals cheering their hearts out for us.

Marathon finish line marker

6. July 15th: Trail running out at Oak Cliff Nature Preserve: This ended up being my only trail run of the year, as there is just too little time to do it all! Cindy and Michael took Jamie and I out there for a loop around the preserve, and it was really fun! We planned to go out there again, but that didn't happen! Next year, we must get back out there!

Trail running is dirty!

7. Sept 2nd: My 17 mile solo "journey", of which I blogged about. I ventured out from my front door to get a long run in and it seemed like an eternity of running. Not that it was fun, so much as it was memorable. I certainly prefer to do my long runs with others, but every once in a while a long solo run is just good for my soul.

8. Oct 20th: "Susan's 20". Susan mapped out a 20 mile route that would give us a much needed break from White Rock lake. Heading out into the darkness, several of us, down the Katy trail to the American Airlines Center, with the Dallas skylight above us, that was cool, and having Kelly with us for her first 20 mile run: "When do we get to eat", and "I'm feeling not so good right now. I feel weird", and later, "I think I'm going to make it"...I really loved the diversion, and this stands out as one of my more favorite training runs of the summer. (And yes, it was still summer in October!)

9. Nov 19th: Tulsa's Route 66 marathon: Although this was not one of my favorite marathons, I had to list it, because even ugly marathons are a blessing and I am always grateful that I have the ability to run them. I know I won't be able to run marathons forever, so I consider every one a gift. I didn't have a disastrous marathon either, and some of it was enjoyable, but mostly it was work. Marathons can be like that! It was great to be on the course with lots of friends, especially Laura Hebert, who ran her first marathon!

Priceless moment of 2012

10: Dec 25th, Christmas Day.Toby and I watched radar all morning until we thought we saw a window of opportunity to get a loop around the lake in. Well my friends, that was a really small window. Rain, small hail, strong bitterly cold north winds, and just after we finished-snow! Still, it was a top 10 run of the year, as this was my first loop since the Tulsa marathon because I had been injured with a strained tendon on my foot. So, no matter the weather, I was right where I wanted to be!

Here's to 2013 and many more great runs for all of us! Below are a few more priceless 2012 moments caught on film:

At the start of First Light, but we are always like this!

Ouch!

Beautiful bridge!

Pre-race dinner in Duluth

Pit-stop on yet another hot training run!

Getting it done!

Oak Cliff Nature Preserve on a beautiful morning

Finally, a marathon together, well at the start anyway...

Crazy 2012 Weather

2012 has been yet another interesting year in the world of running. As the fall marathons started hitting the calendar the weather became the headliner. From stories of people who ran the Marine Corps marathon only to be stranded at airports, to the NYC marathon cancellation debacle, we witnessed something unprecedented, but becoming increasingly more common. The week after we ran the Grandmas marathon in June, Duluth had torrential downpours and the worst flooding they had seen in years. Look at the weather here in Dallas the past two years at the White Rock marathon: A horribly cold and rainy day last year, followed by higher than normal temperatures and extreme humidity this year. Marathon directors are starting to look at moving their races to less volatile dates, but it seems to me that no matter the date, the weather is a hit or miss. This is a sign of our times. Fretting over the weather has always been an issue when running marathons, but we never had to worry over extreme and potentially dangerous weather conditions. We never had to worry about marathons being cancelled. That was simply unheard of. This is no longer true today, and with good reason. The NYC marathon did indeed need to be cancelled, as would have Grandma's, had it been held one week later.

So what to do when planning to run marathons? Obviously, planning has gotten a bit more complicated. First of all, don't book anything that's non-refundable, or at least partially refundable. Secondly, have a back-up marathon a week or two later if possible. Third, and most important, pay close attention to the forecast and pull the trigger when it's becoming obvious that the weather is going to be potentially dangerous. (In the case of the NYC marathon it was after-the-fact, and the weather was actually picture perfect on race day, so I am not talking abut NYC here). Pulling the trigger on NYC would have been a really hard call!

Odds are that in 2013, no matter what, we will be running races in less than ideal conditions. We will be dealing with more unpredictability than before. On any given day we can get extreme heat, flooding, snow, storms, and possibly frogs, who knows? Be prepared for anything to happen!