2014 year in review

Back in December of 2013, I had a really good idea, ok at least it seemed like a really good idea. Run all of the Minnesota outdoor marathons in 2014. So I proceeded to sign-up for 11 of 12 in order to save some dollars with the intent to sign up for the 12th before it's price increase but a few things happened along the way.

In late February I mis-stepped and my knee went from being sore to painful. Diagnosis was a torn medical meniscus. I got through the first marathon (Run for the Lakes) after a cortisone shot by using the Galloway run-walk approach of running a minute, walking a minute. I was shocked how well it worked and ran possibly my most consistent marathon. I had pain but the run-walk approach worked.

Marathon 2 (Lake Wobegon Trail), I dropped with significant knee pain after 18 miles and the thought that continuing might damage it permanently. You see, my wife had had meniscus surgery and after removing the tear, her Surgeon diagnosed her with Osteoarthritis and yes that did way on my decision as I had been told in the past that running in pain could accelerate it.

I scheduled surgery but attempted the 1/2 at Med City with the hope that it would work, it did not as I had pain early and intense pain later. Had knee surgery 4 days later, 2 days after surgery Minneapolis canceled their marathon for fear of thunderstorms. 3 weeks later I ran Grandmas. That might not have been by best decision but it worked out. I skipped Eugene Curnow as I knew my knee was not stable enough to handle trails. Then at the end of July I tore my plantar fascia (basically a plantar rupture), 6 weeks off which meant no St. Paul Urban and Moose Mountain,  After 6 weeks, I resumed running and with 1 week of training I ran Walker, two weeks later, I completed the Ultra Loony Challenge which means Twins Cities Marathon. Two weeks later I was able to complete Mankato. I should admit that that running the marathon distance after the plantar tear did not allow it to heal completely and when I attempted the 50k at Surf the Murph, I am pretty sure I tore it again,

Here are my final running stats for 2014:

Miles - 866 miles

High mileage month - October, 116 miles

Low mileage month - August, 24 miles 

Weekly Avg. - 16.65 miles
Longest run - 26.2 miles
Average run - 5.89 miles
Consecutive days - 11
Max days run in a week - 7
Average days run/week - 2.77
Total days run this year - 147
Days not run because of injury - 103
Weekday runs - 28.3% of available days
Weekend runs - 71.2% of available days

Events Participated in

Run for the Lakes - Sat 4/26th

Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon - Sat 5/10th - DNF at mile 18

Med-City Marathon - 5/25th - Completed 1/2 Marathon

Minneapolis Marathon - 6/1st - DNS - Knee Surgery & Race Cancelled
FANS 12 hr - Sat 6/7th - Volunteered

Grandmas Marathon - 6/21st - 14th Grandmas in 2014
Warrior 196 Memorial 5k - 9/13th

Walker/North Country Races - 9/20th

Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon - Ultra Loony Challenge 

Mankato Marathon - 10/19th - Completed

Surf the Murph 25k - Sat 10/26th - Did a single loop, need to regroup for next year, 

Gobble Gait 8k - Thur 11/26th

 All things considered I am happy with what I was able to work through in 2014 and I hope for better results in 2015. One thing I have changed is I have only signed up for 6 marathons early and then plan to add a few more after I complete the initial ones. I am looking forward to working my way to pain free running this year. So, I am running smarter, cross training and am going to avoid things that aggravate my past injuries like softball and for the short term (I hope) trail running.