I’m taking a page out of Jeano’s book today to share my 2015 in pictures. The idea is to select one picture from each month to share your favorites from the year. It’s hard to choose just one photo for each month, so some months have an honorable mention.

This past year is a year I’m happy to put behind me. There was good and bad, as with most years, but I feel like this year the bad hugely outweighed the good. 2015 was a year full of running, camping, a few health scares, and an unimaginable loss. Here are my favorite photos from the year…

January

The new year started out with a lot of epic long trail runs. This photo of the frozen Cascade Falls was from one of those trail runs that Barry and I went on together. The snow and ice on the ground made for a tough run, but the woods are so gorgeous covered in snow and I loved being out there. We need to go back and do that one again.

February

We had more snow throughout the month of February, including one huge storm that left me stranded on the interstate for 8 hours. Annabelle was just a few months old throughout winter, and it was entertaining watching her play in the snow. She wasn’t always a big fan, but sometimes she had fun!

March

In March most of the snow melted, and the temperatures warmed up enough for us to have rain instead. Barry and I ran a very, very muddy trail race at the Montvale 5 and 10 Miler.

April

April took me to Virginia Beach for a week for work. This is always an exhausting week for me, but I usually try to get out for a few short morning runs to keep my sanity. The concrete boardwalk sometimes wreaks havoc on my temperamental shins, but I love watching the sun rise over the ocean.

May

This is a post-race photo after Conquer the Cove 25K trail race. If I had one of Barry and me together, I would have used that, but I don’t. Standing (or swimming, in some folks case) in that lake after the race feels amazing. Barry joined me for several RNUTS races last year. I think he had a good time, and I had a blast sharing those races with him. Mountain Junkies know how to throw a good party. I also got to meet JoAnne in person at this race, too, which was great!

*honorable mention for May

We also went on a very fun camping trip, for my college buddy’s wedding, in May at Fort Monroe. I found the campground because we needed somewhere to stay. I had no idea how much history was there, or that our weekend would turn into a mini vacation. We plan to go back someday to explore more!

June

Kim and I came across this turtle laying eggs near the creek while out on a long run. It was such a neat thing to see. This picture, for me, also represents all the little things I get to see that I otherwise might have missed if it weren’t for running.

*honorable mention for June

I couldn’t let June pass by without mentioning Ragnar Trail Appalachians with Debbie. It was an epic weekend, despite the rain, storms, and extreme mud. It would have been a lot more fun without the awful trail conditions, and I wish the weather hadn’t affected my experience so much. But, I am excited to give it another go in Richmond in April!

July

This one breaks my heart a little bit. It’s Hank (on the blue sleeping bag) recovering from emergency surgery for bloat. He spent nearly a week on that sleeping bag after coming home from the animal hospital, and it took him months to fully recover. It was traumatic for all of us, including Scout (laying on the floor) who was so upset that Hank was gone. Once he came home she would not let him out of her sight. Best buds.

August

Our annual camping trip at the beach. Ten days of bliss. Need I say more?

September

Barry and I try and get up for a camping trip to attend the rodeo, which goes on from May through September, each year. This past year we were able to sneak it in on their last one for the season. Bonus to this trip: it’s where my best friend lives (the rodeo is held at the farm where she rides) so I get to hang out with her, too!

*honorable mention for September

September was also when I ran the Hokie Half Marathon with my little (but taller) sister. It was her first half marathon and I had a blast getting to be alongside her every step of the way. I was so proud of her when she crossed that finish line!

October

In October Barry and I ran the New River Trail 25K. The race itself was fun, but the highlight for me was finishing and finding Hank and Scout at the finish line. Our campground was walking distance from the start/finish of the race, and Barry went over and got them after finishing his race. It was such a neat surprise!

November

We didn’t go to too many football games this year (maybe just two or three), but Barry and I had the honor of being in Lane Stadium as our Hokies took on UNC for Coach Beamer’s final home game after 29 seasons. Yea, he’s been the coach at Virginia Tech longer than I’ve been alive. I purchased Debbie’s tickets from her, before Beamer’s official retirement announcement had been made. I hope we did their seats proud!

*honorable mention for November (I’m cheating, I have two)

Another shot of Lane from Deb’s seats, because it’s home.

My dad and little sister came down to our house for Thanksgiving, as has been our tradition for several years. For the second year in a row, we walked the Drumstick Dash 5K together on Thanksgiving morning. It’s a great way to start the day.

December (kudos to you if you made it this far)I love my dogs and already post too many pictures of them, so what’s one more? We try and take them to see Santa every year. The event benefits our local humane society, and we always make an additional donation on top of the photo fee.

*honorable mention for December (ha – you just thought it was over)

The lights on the chicken coop, because they make me laugh. We have stopped turning on the rest of our Christmas decorations, but I have neglected to turn off the timer in the coop. I still like seeing them come on each night!

What would your 2015 in pictures look like?

It’s time for another Wednesday Word link up, hosted by DebRuns. Each week Debbie provides us with a word prompt to write about. Be sure to click on the image below to see who else is linking up and to join in, too!

Today’s word is renewal, which definitely fits in with the beginning of a new year. The start of a new year can definitely feel like a fresh start. It makes me feel like I can put the previous year behind me, and begin again with a clean slate. However, I do not think that flipping the calendar suddenly makes me a new person. Just because it’s January 1 doesn’t mean everything in your past that made you you suddenly goes away.

 

But if you embrace that fact, that’s when you truly can become successful with your resolutions. Instead of simply making a resolution and willing it to happen, you have to make goals and have a plan for how change will happen. There’s no magic in flipping the calendar, but it can certainly give you the feeling of a fresh start, a renewed chance to accomplish big things. Why not use that to fuel the fire for your goals and ambitions?

How do you feel about the beginning of a new year?

Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I have renamed this weekly workout recap “TNF ECS 50K Training.” That sounds like some kind of code, but it stands for The North Face Endurance Challenge Series 50K, which I plan to run on April 9 as my first ultra!

My first week of training was not great. It started out alright, but then it went all to crap over the weekend. But I decided to think about it like this: training is kind of like a Jenga tower. So far I have a good base, from six weeks of base training, for my tower. If I missed my first long run the first week of training it’s really like just having one piece missing from that tower. In my experience missing that first piece isn’t going to bring the whole tower down. That being said, the long run is kind of important for a long distance race…. so hopefully I run most, if not all, of them from here on out. 🙂

Monday – Rest day.

Tuesday – Strength training: 10 minutes of abs and 2 x lunge, squat, push up circuit.

Wednesday – 5 mile hill run, with 7 x hill repeats in the pouring rain. I was worried I was under dressed (in shorts and a light jacket), as I headed over to the trail and it began to pour outside and I watched the temperature dip below 50. Luckily, I wasn’t completely freezing during this run.

I gotta tell ya my picture taking skills were really on par during this run, too. First, I attempted a selfie with my new buff that Barry got me for Christmas and I got this…

An attempt later on in the run yielded more favorable results.

Then there were these gems…

Thursday – Strength training: 10 minutes of abs and 2 x lunge, squat, push up circuit.

Friday – 6 mile run with Kim. This run was the highlight of my workout week. It had been awhile since Kim and I ran together (Okay… only a little over two weeks. But it felt like a long time!). It was fun to catch up and I felt great the whole run.

Then as the day went on, I felt more and more tired and by the time I went to bed I had a bad headache.

Saturday – I had a 13 mile trail run scheduled for today, but I work up feeling awful. I’m not sure if I had allergies or a head cold going on (possibly from that cold, wet run on Wednesday). But I was exhausted all day and couldn’t get more than a foot from a tissue box. So I took a rest day in the hopes of being able to do my long run Sunday. I skipped dinner, went to bed at 7 PM, and slept over 12 hours.

Sunday – I woke up feeling a bit better, but still not back to normal. I still had unrealistic hopes of doing my long run, and Barry and I headed out mid-afternoon to the state park to give it a go. This run was pretty much doomed from the start, though. I had a pounding headache, still felt exhausted, and hadn’t really eaten much since lunch Saturday.

So I ended up doing just 4 miles and deciding I’d had enough. That’s the way it goes sometimes and in the long run (ha) it’s more important to listen to my body at this point. At least it was a pretty day out there.

Here’s to a successful long run this weekend!

Total Miles: 15 miles

This weekly training recap is part of the Weekly Wrap linkup, hosted by HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin’.

Be sure to check out their blogs and see who else is linking up! The link up has grown so much and there are so many awesome blogs to check out.

Are you good at taking pictures while running/working out?
Who else is embarking on a training plan for a spring race?

It’s all fun and games….

…until someone decides to run an ultra!!

Happy New Years! Today, I’m excited to share one of my big goals for 2016 – to run my first ultra. After much debate and some input from a friend (thanks, Logan!), I have decided on the Washington D.C. North Face Endurance Challenge 50K – which is actually in Virginia.

I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to run an ultra. I think it became less of a pipe dream and more of a reality after I started running trails more, and after I completed my second marathon.

I had a bit of a debate on whether to go for a 50K or a 50 miler as my first ultra. One of the factors that helped me decide on the 50K was Magdalena Boulet’s response to a question on her advice to an aspiring ultrarunner, during an interview after her Western States 100 miler win (which was also her 100 miler debut):

“Really respect the distance and progress slowly. There’s so many fun and amazing ultra races out there and they go anywhere from 50K to 100K to 100 miles and beyond. Make sure that you’re progressing at a rate that your body is happy with. The goal is to do this for a very long time and not to say that you just did it once. Running can have such an amazing part in your life and there are so many choices. What a great way to see the world. We’re so lucky that we can participate in this sport and get to see trails that most people don’t get to see” -Magdalena Boulet, Running Stupid interview, July 10, 2015

I think I was leaning towards the 50K and this kind of sealed the deal. Plus, I had previously committed to Ragnar trail and it is just three weeks after the North Face Endurance Challenge. With all of that considered, I think the 50K was the best choice for me.

I will be following a 15 week training plan to prepare for this race. This week is actually week 1 of training, following six weeks of base training. My main focus, of course, is mileage. Specifically the long run. After reading a lot of helpful information, both online and in book format, I have devised a plan that involves a 3 week cycle for long runs. The first week is a long run Saturday followed by a rest day Sunday. The second week is a long run Saturday followed by a hike on Sunday. And the third week is back to back long runs on Saturday and Sunday. Most, if not all, of these runs will take place on trails.

Some people swear by doing back to back long runs every weekend to prepare for an ultra. But I know myself, and I know that I will just burn out, get injured, or both. I think this three week cycle will be a great fit for me, and will get me to the start line healthy and ready to tackle my first ultra.

So on April 9 I will toe the start line to see if I have what it takes to earn the honor of calling myself an ultrarunner!

What exciting goals do you have for 2016?
How did you celebrate New Year’s Eve?

It’s the last Wednesday of 2015! But like most Wednesdays for much of this year, I’m linking up with Debbie for her Wednesday Word link up. This week’s word is resolution, which is perfect since it’s New Year’s Eve tomorrow. You would think she planned it that way or something 😉

I decided to go for the obvious on this one and talk about New Year’s resolutions. Making resolutions for the new year is something I always do, but something I usually don’t discuss on the blog. My resolutions usually aren’t big things, but rather smaller things I want to work on throughout the year. Something like improving a skill or changing a bad habit.

At the beginning of 2015 I made several resolutions. First of all, I resolved to start flossing every single day. I have often made this resolution in the past, but never stick to it. This time, after the whole tooth debacle, I had no trouble sticking to it. I now floss every day, and seldom miss a day!

In 2015 I also had goals to run more trails, get better at cooking, save more money, and get more sleep/create a standard sleep schedule. I was able to meet the first three.

I definitely did run more trails, by participating in the Roanoke Non-Ultra Trail Series from January through May. I ran trail races ranging from 5K to 25K, in all types of weather conditions. Then to cap it all off, I got to participate in the Ragnar Trail Relay in West Virginia in June.

I also feel like I improved on my cooking this past year. I can follow a recipe just fine, but this year my goal was to be able to look at what I’ve got available in the kitchen and come up with a meal. I did so many times, and hope to continue to work on this in 2016.

Finally, Barry and I both started extra retirement and investment accounts this year. We are already good savers, but we were bad about just letting money sit in a savings account without doing anything with it. We worked with a financial company to make more out of our savings, and I’m happy with how things are going. As for creating a standard sleep schedule – yea, it still hasn’t happened. Maybe in 2016.

That brings me to my New Year’s resolutions for 2016. I usually keep my resolutions to myself, but I will share a bit today. In 2016 I resolve to:

• Cut back on treats/sweets
• Establish a standard sleeping schedule, where I go to sleep and get up around the same time each night/day
• Stop hitting the snooze button (if I succeed in my standard sleep schedule, then this becomes a moot point)
• Improve my mental game: I need to stop doubting myself, especially when chasing big goals
• Go to the movies more (I love going to the movies, but hardly ever go)

I’ve got a lot of other exciting goals for 2016 that will all benefit from the above resolutions. I’ve got plans to climb new mountains, both figuratively and literally, and I can’t wait to get started!

I hope y’all have a fun, and safe, New Year’s.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? If so, what do you resolve for 2016?
How do you celebrate New Year’s? I attempt to stay up until midnight, watch the New York stuff on TV, and eat black eyed peas for good luck!