2018 : The Year of the PR

Y'all. I put in some WORK this year.

I have run nearly 800 miles since December 2017...and November has just started. I had four months where I put in 100 miles or more of work (thanks marathon training!).

For the first time in my running life, I took speedwork seriously. I had to adjust my training paces over and over again as I continued to grow stronger and faster. I was chasing a 3:45 marathon time. In a few words, I was killin' it.

2018 was the year of the PR.

5K	24:20:00	7:50 min/mi	Stars and Stripes 5k	07/04/2018
10K	50:49:00	8:11 min/mi	Oak Barrel Half Marathon	04/07/2018
Half Marathon	1:47:20	8:11 min/mi	San Francisco Giants Race Half Marathon	09/09/2018
Marathon	3:53:50	8:55 min/mi	Marine Corps Marathon*	10/28/2018

*my official time was 3:58:20, but that was with my Garmin tracking 26.7 miles. I hit this time at the 26.2 mark...I'm parading the official time, but this is still fun to look at.

If you knew me at this time last year, I would have SCOFFED at running sub-8:00 minute miles for a 5k, nevertheless 9:00 minute miles for a marathon, finally securing that sub-4:00 finish. 

But here I am, stronger and faster than I have ever been. I am ready to take on new challenges in 2019...I'm ready to find another marathon where I can maybe not get injured and take on 3:45. I'm ready to stop telling myself that I can't.

I'm ready to toe the start line every time, with my mantra in my head: 

"You put in the work. You belong here."