1500 miles and counting!

At the beginning of the year, I set a 1500 miles goal for myself.  As of Thursday, I have passed this goal and officially run my highest yearly mileage ever.  And I still have two more weeks in the year to keep on running.  I've been using online programs to track my mileage since 2010, and I've only been over 1400 miles twice.  That makes three total years at 1400+ and it's probably not a coincidence that they are the same years in which I ran my 3 marathons! 

This week : 

M : Bristol group 3.7 / 8:13 / 210 ft

T : circuit training 35:00

Abingdon group 5.2 / 7:40 / 200 ft

W : run 10.2 / 7:35 / 535 ft

R : rest

F: run 5.7 / 7:29 / 446 ft

Sa : TRX 30:00

run 4.5 / 8:10 / 413 ft

jog 1.4 / 8:54 / 82 ft

Su : rest

total miles : 30.7

Sometimes it's fun to go on an exploration run without looking at a map ahead of time or bringing your phone along as backup.  Other times, you end up having to backtrack 2 miles because the road you chose to run on didn't have any options to turn and loop back around.  At least I stopped at a gas station to ask after 2 miles, instead of continuing on...I was told that I was on my way to Johnson City if I kept going, and offered a ride back to downtown.  I refused the ride of course.  Next time I might look at a map, and I will almost certainly bring my phone.  All's well that ended well, I just ran a few miles longer than planned and didn't make it back in time to join the group run.  (My original plan was to run 4-5 miles alone and 3-4 with the group). For future reference, I now know that when running in Bristol, Volunteer Parkway is more or less useless.  Nice wide shoulders though! 

In other news, my "best nine" of 2017 (most-liked) on Instagram all involve running, of course!  A good mix in these 9 photos.  My 3rd and most successful marathon, some hill workouts, some good long runs, a finish line dying-face photo from my favorite race, an after-photo from a long run that I almost couldn't finish and my flat-runner photo from the failed half marathon PR attempt.