2012 running year in review - the written/numbers addition

I never imagined I was going to have a year running as I did in 2012. Not only were many PRs beat obliterated, I was able to stay injury free and be able to run MANY great races and have many adventures along the way.

Prior to 2012, my fastest marathon time came at the Layton marathon when I ran a 4:02:24. My main goal of 2012 was to finally run a sub four hour marathon. During my whole year of training I was determined to test the very boundaries of my body while training, to hopefully accomplish this goal. I did many extreme workouts during the year including trail running to peaks, doing speed and tempo workouts in high 90 low 100 degree temps. Additionally, most long runs (16 miles or more) I was doing consisted of at least 1,000 feet of elevation gain and descent.

The hard work paid off on June 9, 2012, when at the Utah Valley Marathon I was able to run a sub four hour marathon, running the marathon in 3:57:47.

After finally completing my goal of running a sub four hour marathon, I decided to push the body even further, and take my body to even greater distances. During the month of August I ran a total of 240 miles, with each week consisting 50 plus miles per week. While increasing my mileage I continued to take my body to the extremes with my tempo runs, speed workouts and trail running.

Once again the hard work paid off, when on September 15, 2012, when at the Top of Utah marathon I was able to destroy my old PR of 3:57:47, by running the marathon in 3:41:18, beating my old best by roughly 16 minutes.

The marathon distance was not the only distance in which I demolished my old PRs. I entered into the Legacy Midnight Run. This is a half marathon, and it starts at 10:00 p.m. with a goal of completing the distance by the midnight hour. I would call this race the perfect race for me as I once again destroyed my old PR at the Layton half marathon by 16 minutes, running a 1:38:31.

I also had the opportunity to ran Ragnar again and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was runner nine, which I believe is one of the harder legs in all of Ragnar Wasatch Back. Your first leg is a 5k on a flat road. Your second leg is a 10 mile run, with the majority of it being on a trail, and is also the longest leg of all of the Wasatch Back Ragnar. Your last leg, is a 4.4 mile run, however, has an elevation climb of 1,543 feet. Though the legs were VERY tired and sore from completing a marathon seven days prior, and already pushing myself through my first two legs and having practically no sleep, I was able to run this whole puppy without walking. I suspect few do that in any given year and I was proud to have the strength and energy to do it.

So what did my year in running look like by numbers? It is interesting to see all of the numbers added up, take a look.

Some of the numbers that pop out the most to me are first my elevation gain. I ran 64,123 feet UP. That is equivalent to 12 miles in vert, or running Mt. Everest twice.

I also burned 108,594 calories, which is 31 pounds of pure fat, and I ran 163 hours, which is just shy of seven days.

So enough of the racing stuff, I also had many great experiences off the road as well. I finally ventured off the paved roads this year and explored a few trails near my residence. Of those, the most frequented stops were the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and Lewis Peak. I ran many miles on these two paths and am excited to expand my trail running horizons more in 2013.

The highlight of my trail running adventures was my best friend Steve and I yearly "Epic run." This year we were able to run roughly 13 miles in the AMAZING Uinta mountains in eastern Utah. The run was absolutely amazing. Epic run 2013? It is planned and will be revealed shortly. 

So what does 2013 have in store? Good question, let's just hope for good health again this year so I can at least have a chance of continuing the trend of getting new PRs again this year.