Reflection on 2012

Although Mike's Marathon Blog is long retired, I have been making one blog post at the end of the year to summarize my accomplishments of the year and set some goals for the upcoming year.  Here were my goals for 2012, along with how I fared:

• Get back down to my ideal weight - This is one goal that I did not even come close.  I ended 2011 about 10 pounds away from my ideal weight of 160 lbs, and I'm about 5 pounds heavier than that now.  So now, I'm 15 pounds away from my ideal weight.  UGH!  Since I was able to achieve most of my other goals for 2012, this is one goal that I will need to really work on in 2013.
• Stay Healthy - Luckily 2012 was an excellent year for this goal!  I started allergy shots in January 2012, and along with this I also started a regimen of medication (antihistamines, nasal steroid, steroid inhaler, neti-pot, etc.).  As a result, I had no sinus/respiratory infections during 2012.  I'm not sure whether this was due to the allergy shots or medications, but the bottom line is that I did not need to use any antibiotics like in 2010 or prednisone like in 2011 and I did not have any "downtime" due to being sick!
• Run More - I had set a goal of 750 miles for 2012.  This was after 573 miles in 2010 and 552 in 2011.  For 2012, I ended up logging 730 miles - a little short of my goal, but significantly more than the past two years.
• Run A Half Marathon - I did not meet this goal this year.  I trained for two races - a 5K during Memorial Day Weekend and Ragnar DC in late September.  The Ragnar relay was similar in mileage to a Half Marathon (I ran 14.5 miles over that weekend) but it was not all at once.
• Run With Others More Often - This was one I did accomplish somewhat.  Most of my weekly runs were done solo - I did a few weekly runs with neighbors when I was in town, but mostly (especially when I was on the road for business travel) I ran solo.  However, I ran two races with others - the Save The Trail 5K during Memorial Day Weekend with two of the teens from the Yesodot Israeli Dance Troupe that I co-direct, and then the Ragnar DC Relay with a great group of 11 other runners!
• Take More Time Off From Work - I accomplished this goal as well.  The Fox Family took a three-week trip to Israel this Summer!  I also took a week off from work for us to go on a Disney Cruise with my parents and my sister and her family.  It was great to have a good amount of family time during 2012 - especially since I was on the road almost every other week.

One big accomplishment that was not part of my 2012 Goals was - A NEW 5K PR!!!  At the Save The Trail 5K on May 26, 2012, I ran a 23:39 5K (7:37/mile pace).  It was great to PR at age 40.  It was annoying that there were still 7 other 40 year olds in the race that were faster than me.  Will I ever age-group place???

What's in store for 2013?  I definitely need to get back to my ideal weight.  This will be my #1 Goal for 2013.  I want to continue to stay healthy but reduce the medications that I'm taking.  I already discussed this with my allergist and have phased out one antihistamine and the nasal steroid.  If I can get to only one daily medication along with the allergy shots (or no daily meds?) that would be ideal.  As for running, I would like to stay on track with 750 miles or more this year.  I don't have any race goals right now - again it would be nice to train and run a Half Marathon, however, since I don't know what I'll be doing this year for work I don't want to commit to a goal.  I know my goals for 2013 are not lofty - it's pretty much par for the course of 2012 with a little tweaking - but things are going very well for me now, so why change things?

Happy New Year!!!