2015 Year In Review!

As 2015 comes to a close, it’s time to take a look back and everything that was (or was not) accomplished this year. For this post, I’m linking up with Smitha and Dani for their #YearInReviewLinkUp!

So for 2015 I had 3 main goals. I’m happy to say that I completed 2 of these goals.


Run 15 Half Marathons in 2015
Status: COMPLETED!

All of my half marathons this year!

I completed this goal in early November, right before my injury pretty much forced me to take a break. Considering that I ran my first half marathon in 2014, I would say that this was a pretty lofty goal for 2015. There were times, especially in March when I had 3 half marathons, that I thought I was a complete nutcase for trying to achieve this goal. Of course I had doubts along the way, but I just wanted to thank my family and all of you for your support. It means the world to me!


Complete the NYRR 9+1 Program
Status: COMPLETED!


Now this was FUN! If you live in the New York area and you want to run the NYC Marathon, I highly recommend doing this! They have so many qualifying races to choose from! Basically you run 9 races and volunteer at one race.

All my NYRR races this year

Running the NYC Marathon is a dream race for me, but it’s a lottery. Not having much luck with lotteries in the past, I decided to do the NYRR 9+1 program so that I would have guaranteed entry into the 2016 NYC Marathon. NYRR also has another program called the Five-Borough Series. If you run 4 out of 6 races (NYC Half, Fred Lebow Half, Brooklyn Half, Bronx 10 Mile, Queens 10K or Staten Island Half) you get guaranteed entry into the NYC Half Marathon. Well these races also count for the 9+1 program so it was a no brainer! I am happy that I will be running the NYC Half Marathon in March 2016 and the NYC Marathon in November 2016, all through completing this program!


Run 1,007.5 Miles in 2015
Status: NOT COMPLETED


As I mentioned earlier, I pretty much took a month off from running after my last half marathon due to an IT band injury. As of November, I was on track to complete this goal but the injury threw a wrench in my plans. At first I was upset but then I thought about how silly it was to feel that way. So what if I didn’t hit a mileage goal, that’s okay. It’s more important to get healthy so that I can continue to run in 2016. As of now I’ve logged over 800 miles this year and I can’t be unhappy with that!



Besides these goals, there were some other cool things that happened this year…


Number of Races Completed (including Virtual) in 2015: 38


38 races?! In 2014 I ran 14 races so I more than doubled my races this year. Holy crap – No wonder I was totally drained by year-end! 

All my race bibs – I think I’m missing one…

• 15 – Half Marathons
• 9 – 5Ks
• 8 – 10Ks
• 2 – 4 Milers
• 2 – 5 Miler
• 1 – 7 Miler
• 1 – 10 Miler 

Through my running adventures this year I was able to complete races in a few new states – Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and a few new boroughs in New York – Brooklyn and the Boogie Down Bronx! II don’t think I will ever strive to do a half marathon in every state, but it is nice to take a “runcation” every now and then. 


Half Fanatics


I was also lucky enough to moon up on level, from Uranus to Saturn for Half Fanatics by running 4 half marathons in 37 days (Rock ‘n’ Roll DC, Michelob Ultra 13.1 Queens, Faxon Law Greater Danbury Half Marathon and the Greenwich Cup Half Marathon).

New PRs! 🙂


This year I had 5 new PRs. But let’s be honest, 4 of those came from distance I had never raced before (4 Mile, 5 Mile, 7 Mile and 10 Mile), so it was like an automatic PR 🙂 However I am happy with my 5K PR that I got in October (28:20). That was about a minute faster than my previous PR from 2014.

Black Girls Run! Stamford


This summer I became the run coordinator for Black Girls Run! in my city. We started off with a really strong group but it’s slowly dwindled down to about 5 of us as the weather has gotten colder. I’m happy to say that I have completed 2 5Ks with the group and most of them did their first 10K in November (I did the half marathon) in Trenton, NJ!

The ladies and I after our races for the Trenton 5K, 10K and Half Marathon

Runner’s World Summer RunStreak


I went streaking this summer for my very first runstreak. For 41 days I ran at least 1 mile everyday. It started off great, but by the end I was ready for it to be over. I don’t enjoy running every day and it’s not good for my body. I’m happy that I can say I completed a run streak but it’s definitely a one and done type of deal.

Instagram


Instagram is my jam! I love using this social media platform to share #allthethings. Earlier this year I hit 1,000 followers and most recently 1,500 followers. I’m happy to be growing my follower bas organically and also connecting with other runners and fitness enthusiasts. Earlier this week I did my #2015bestnine which basically displays the top 9 photos with the most likes from the year. It was great to see that they were all running related. In addition, WeRunSocial, PRO Compression and Mizuno were featured in the photos!

Ambassadorships


I feel blessed that I get the opportunity to be am ambassador for some pretty awesome companies. This year I was lucky enough to represent PRO Compression, Nuun and Honey Stinger – all three companies that I love.

I also continued to be am ambassador for SweatPink and Girls Gone Sporty. I was also selected to represent Move More Fitness, Fitfluential and FitFam this year.

Overall it was a very busy, but a fun year! I know that the good times will continue in 2016!