Coming up in 2015...

The year has mostly been planned, so it's time for post to outline my key events of the year. This year, I will be focusing on three main events: my very first 50 mile race, the ENDURrun, and a fall marathon.

Focus #1: My first 50 miler (May).
I've never run 50 miles in one day... but I will! My biggest run so far has been the Horror Trail Run 6 hour ultra, where I ran approximately 38 miles (61 km). I am excited to be jumping up to 50 miles and am happy to be putting in the work to get to the start line feeling fully prepared on race day.

The race itself is Rock the Ridge, which is set in the gorgeous Mohonk Preserve, a non-profit nature preserve in the majestic Shawangunk Mountains. The course is absolutely beautiful, which was one of the reasons I was drawn to this race. I'm looking forward to spending a bit of time here in early May.

If you would like to support my race and my efforts to help raise funds for the Mohonk Preserve, donations can be made here.


Focus #2: The ENDURrun (August).
For the 5th year in a row, I will be competing as an Ultimate contender in the ENDURrun. This year's registration is booming with 60 ultimate contenders already registered for an event that is more than six months away!

My past cumulative finish times for the seven stage event:
2011: 16:02:18
2012: 16:07:02
2013: 15:00:36
2014: 14:06:52

I hope to improve on my performance again this year and I will try my best to make that happen.

Focus #3: A fall marathon (October or November).
I have never run a fall marathon, so this year is the year to do so! I haven't fully decided on a particular race yet, so I don't have anything else to report here at this time. :) 


What's happened so far this year:
So far in 2015, I participated in the Frosty Trail 6 hour run, the winter equivalent of the above mentioned Horror Trail race. With the snowy conditions and my lack of high mileage training in November or December, I was using this race as a long training run to kick start my 50 mile training. I wanted to run at least 50km, but other than that, I had no real goals. I finished the 6 hours with a distance of 52.5 km, placing 2nd female and 4th overall. 

Thanks to Christopher Giesler for the photo. You can see more photos from this event on The Intrepid Method's running blog.

So there you  have it, the upcoming year in a poorly written nutshell of a blog post!

Happy New Year!

Since it's New Year's Day and I haven't posted anything at all since August, it's a good time to post a bit of a year in review of 2014.

After a successful 2013 (I started to be more consistent in training and achieved PRs in 5K, 8K, 10K, and half marathon) I had high hopes and bigger goals for 2014. Number one on my list at the start of the year was a big marathon PR, but I wanted to keep the training momentum going and most of all, I wanted to be consistent in my training, keep my mileage up, do more workouts, etc.

Quick highlights and running accomplishments from 2014:
- First full year of training with Health and Performance - I've absolutely loved being part of this team/club.
- PBs in every distance (or time) that I raced: 5K (twice), 8K (twice), 10K, 15K, 10 mile, half marathon, 25K, 30K, marathon, 50K, and 6 hour ultra.
- Some podium finishes and my very first win.

• 3rd female at the Frosty Trail 6 hour, the Great Canadian Trail Run 10K, the ENDURrun, Mudpuppy Trail 12K, and the Santa PurSuit 5K.
• 2nd female at the Creemore Vertical Challenge 25K just behind H+P teammate Jessica, and the following day I placed second at the Dirty Dash 8K.
• 1st female (and 3rd overall including the males) at the Horror Trail 6 hour ultra.

 All in all, I'd say it was a pretty great (and fun!) year. I will work just as hard (or harder) this year and will make 2015 just as great (or greater)!