2016 - A look back, 2017 - a look ahead

A year end report about 2016 and a look ahead into 2017.

First, let me type that I have been sober since my 59th birthday on September 16th, a span of 107 days. Why? I have faced the fact that I was a binge drinker. It's better off for me that I abstain from any form of alcohol. I would say I feel pretty good ... if I didn't still have this cold.

2016 was a good running year for me. I ran 206 times for 1516.37 miles, 7.36 miles per run. This was my highest miles for a year (148.5 miles above 2015 which was my previous high). I was over 100 miles per month all year (January - 120.89, February - 111.53, March - 127.47, April - 101.29 (kind of close), May - 124.34, June - 125.50, July - 128.09 (21 - most runs) , August - 136.31, September - 145.08, October - 146.66, November - 139.50 and December - 109.71). Oh, I put on my snowshoes 5 times for 11.1 miles and biked 8 times for 128 miles.

The bib wall

The 2016 4 Season Challenge medals and the other 2016 medals

I ran 37 races in 2016. This was 21 fewer races than last year. Why? Well ... I found that I didn't have the money to run so many races so I had to prioritize what races I could run. Yes, I did check the results of some of the races that I didn't run to see where I might have placed. I am a competitive person ... that's why there a clock at the finish line.

The highlights of the races that I can remember: running the Syracuse Half with a mini-blizzard after mile 4, completing the 2016 3+1 Four Season Challenge (Winter Warrior Half in January, Flower City Half in April, Shoreline Half in July and Rochester Marathon in September), completing the Dirt Cheap Stage Race and running the Mendon Ponds Trail Run 50K. I ran 8 out of the 12 Greater Rochester Track Club (GRTC) Rochester Runner of the Year (RROY) races. I placed first in my M 55-59 age group with 53 out of 60 points, results here and scoring rules here.

What's in store for 2017? Well ... more running and more races I am sure. I have signed up for 12 races already: the Freezeroo series (#2: 7.5 miles on 1/1, #3: 5 miles on 1/14. #4: 5 miles (new course) on 1/28, #5: 8 miles (new course) on 2/11, #6: 4.4 miles (new course) on 2/25, the Four Season Challenge (Winter Warrior Half on 1/7, Flower City Half on 4/30, Shoreline Half on 7/15 and Rochester Half on 9/17), Mind the Ducks (12 hours) on 5/13, Many on the Genny: 40 trail miles down in Letchworth State Park on 6/24.

I already have a conflict. I saw the Akron Hall of Fame Marathon pricing of $26.20 on 4/30. So I jumped on it thinking the Flower City Half would surely be on 4/23 ... NOT! So ... I guess I will try to defer the HOF until 2018?

My darling wife, Christine, asked to me to sign her up for Mind the Ducks ... so we'll both be competing. This time we'll be there until the finish!

I need to sign up for the usual ones I run: Spring Forward 15K on 3/18, the Dirt Cheap Trail Race series, the Medved 5K to Cure ALS on 6/18, a July 4th race somewhere, Summerfest 12K on 9/2, Dirt Cheap Stage Race on 11/10 to 11/12, Race with Grace 10K on 11/23. I also usually run most of the 2017 GRTC Rochester Runner of the Year races but they won't be announced until the 2016 GRTC Banquet on 1/28. Then there are others: Mess the Dress on 4/22, Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run in late June, the Boilermaker 15K in Utica NY on 7/9, Dam Good Trail Run on 8/13.