January 3, 2017

2016: A Year in Running & Beyond

Welcome to my 2016 year in review blog post. I know it's a bit cliche, but this is a really fun way for me to reflect on the year. I always forget all of the amazing adventures I went on, the races I ran, and fun I had this year.  It's nice to scroll through the photos on my computer and really spend time thinking about the past year before jumping into the next. I'm sharing a couple fun things that happened each month in 2016 running, fitness, and beyond!


2016: A Year in Running & Beyond

January
Snowzilla hit Baltimore in January bringing the best snow on record for the city. It was crazy.  I also started coaching at Charm City Run which was definitely challenging with lots of snow and ice on the ground!

baltimore-snowzilla-2016-blizzard

I also spent plenty of cold mornings running and working out with November Project Baltimore, which celebrated it's second birthday. 

november-project-baltimore-2birthday

February
Besides a lovely Valentine's Day dinner in with my boyfriend and some more running, I ran the Nuun Year Dash with a group of fellow Team Nuun runners and some cool people from Harlem Run. It was great to spread the Nuun love and run the FitFam virtual race in person! 


fitfam-underarmour-nuun-year-dash

March
March is always when lots of spring races start popping off despite the weather still being a crapshoot. I visited Asheville for the first time and ran the Asheville Half Marathon at the Biltmore Estate-a BEAUTIFUL race! 

biltmore-asheville-half-marathon-2016

Baltimore also held it's first Light City which was a lights festival with light art installations, performances, and events. 

light-city-baltimore1


April
In April I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in DC which I hadn't run in a couple of years. I was lucky enough to be a social media ambassador for the race. The race day was cold and had big wind restrictions, but ended up being great.  The highlights for me were meeting/fangirling Joan Benoit Samuelson who was the first-ever women's Olympic marathon gold medalist and accomplished long distance runner. I also met Meb Keflezighi, famous American long distance runner and winner of the 2014 Boston Marathon among other races. I was so run-nerdy and excited to meet both!

cherry-blossom-10-miler-joan-benoit-samuelson


cherry-blossom-10-miler-meb-keflezighi

April was also the month where I raced every weekend I think. I ran my first ever RunDisney race (which I still need to recap, yikes!) at the inaugural Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon in Walt Disney World. 

rundisney-star-wars-half-marathon-2016

I also ran a surprise half marathon PR of 1:38:21 at the Philadelphia Love Run Half Marathon

philly-love-run-half-marathon-rocky-statue-2016

You can  run this great race on 3/26/2017 and save $5 with my code LAURENLOVE :) 


May
May I finished another semester of grad school and celebrated a birthday which included lots of running and eating! 

iron-rooster-baltimore

June
In June I ran the ZOOMA Annapolis half marathon and had a pretty great race running with Cori


Another race plug-you can save 10% off any ZOOMA registration with my code LAUREN2017. 

I also started training for my 4th marathon (and 3rd Chicago Marathon in a row!) in June. That meant lots of post-long run treats and many very sweaty summer runs.  


July
In July I went to Boston to volunteer with LiveUp Programs, a community that plans weekend adventures in different cities across the country for adults with down syndrome. It was an amazing volunteer experience that I recommend everyone checks out! I also got to hang with Sarah and make a couple November Project Boston workouts while I was up there. 

live-up-boston-2016-fenway

JULY ALSO MEANT NOVEMBER PROJECT SUMMIT. A.k.a the best weekend of the whole year. I had an amazing time running one of the hardest races I ever ran-a trail marathon relay literally up and down a ski mountain in Ontario. It was also full of the most fun, funny, and loving people and a ridiculous NP Olympics/party. November Project is a free fitness movement-learn what all the hype is about. 

north-face-endurance-challenge-ontario-2016

August
I won a surprise entry to the Seawheeze Half Marathon put on by Lululemon in Vancouver, BC. I decided to turn it into a big solo trip out west and spent a few days in Seattle first. 

november-project-seattle-traverbal

Being in Vancouver was amazing. Seawheeze was maybe the most beautiful race I've ever run. I had an awesome time exploring Vancouver, hanging out with November Project members from all over,  making friends, hiking, and eat good food. Two thumbs way up. 


seawheeze-half-marathon-2016

The rest of August involved training, running, enjoying summer, and relaxing while I had a few weeks off from grad school. 


September
In September I ran the Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon which I used as a pre-marathon tune-up and felt amazing. It was a great morning for a race despite humid conditions in which I surprisingly ran well in. 

philly-rock-n-roll-half-marathon-2016-finish

I also continued tapering for the Chicago Marathon after running the Dogfish Dash in Delaware. I  partnered with Lululemon Harbor East in Baltimore to review some of their running gear and had some running glamour shots taken. 


harbor-east-lululemon-baltimore-run

My boyfriend and I drove down to South Carolina for a wedding and spent a couple days in Charleston. 

charleston-pineapple-fountain-1


October
CHICAGO MARATHON 2016. The best I've ever felt during a marathon and where I surpassed my goal and ran a big PR and Boston qualifying time of 3:27:24, 7 minutes and change faster than my qualifying standard time. BOOM. This day was the best. It involved running a marathon, friends, pizza, and ice cream. 

chicago-marathon-2016

A week after Chicago I ran the Baltimore Running Festival 5K and last-minute subbed in on a marathon relay team. It was so much freaking fun cheering for friends and running in Baltimore's biggest running event. Plus the crab medals are pretty sweet. 

baltimore-running-festival-crab-medals-2016


November
::Whomp::Whomp:: Officially diagnosed with a stress fracture in my toe and not able to run or do much of anything, living that #bootlife. 

stress-fracture-boot-runner

Thanksgiving was spent with my family followed by the Gilmore Girls revival, which was a bit disappointing but fun to get hyped up for. 

gilmore-girls-shirt-revival

December
Officially 1.5 years done with graduate school. Finally got the boot off in December and am in physical therapy.  I also had the stressful experience of moving into a new apartment. 

corepower-yoga-baltimore-harbor-point

Also a new surprise is that I became a Yoga Sculpt instructor at CorePower Yoga in Baltimore-another big goal accomplished! I visited my sister in Disney World before having a relaxing Christmas holiday with my family. 

Cheers to you 2016, despite the lows there were lots of highs. 

Here's to 2017: New year. Same me. New goals. 

What was one great memory or race from 2016? 

11 comments:

  1. Wooooo so glad I got to spend at least half the year with you and we got to hang out in July! I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED FOR YOU about teaching sculpt. You're tempting me to make that leap too. I can't decide.

    Big news: I think I'm coming in March for a long weekend soooo let's run Shamrock 5k and eat lots of papermoon cake and make big plans for NP Summit round 5!

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  2. Love the recap. Sounds like a fun year - congrats on pushing yourself and getting to experience new adventures! I am going to check out CorePower Yoga when they open their Hampden location next month.

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  3. Loved your summary of the year! It looks like you had so much! I'm glad we got to meet last year and I didn't realize you're an ambassador for the Love Run, me too! I just had my first experience with CorePower Yoga but haven't tried the Yoga Sculpt...congrats on your new gig! Hope your toe is healing well!

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  4. Wow, what a year!! Congrats again on that amazing PR! And boo to the boot, lamesauce! Wishing you the best in 2017. xoxo

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  5. What an awesome year!!! Wishing you nothing but the best in this new year, happy 2017!

    Jen
    jpabstfitness.com

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  6. You had a really great year! Its too bad it ended with a stress fracture but everything else was awesome!

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  7. You are on fire!! Love following along on your races and know this year will be great too!!

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  8. You are seriously beast. And I miiiiight have gotten a certain package the other day that I can't wait to open!

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  9. Wow! You have had a great year(minus the boot). Congratulations on all your accomplishments. Here's to another fantastic year with many happy memories.

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  10. You had an amazing racing year congrats on the BQ, so sorry about the stress fracture. PS - I live in Charleston :)

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  11. It was so fun following your journey this year. Wishing you lots of joy for 2017!!

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