2012.

I am resurrecting the blog! Everyone get excited!

I made a bunch of running resolutions for 2012. Interestingly none of them specifically involved blogging, but it is something I am going to make more of an effort to do regularly. It will probably not be quite so running-centric, mostly because I am not currently training for anything specific. I'm just running to run, to be in shape, to push myself and see where I can go. I do want to start racing again, but for now I am content letting that be about smaller, cheaper, local races - 5Ks, 10Ks, relays, that sort of thing. Although I did today enter the lottery for the NYC Marathon.

To that end, I went for my first 2012 run today and also my first run since Thanksgiving. My dad gave me a Garmin for Christmas so I took it outside today for the first time and it's fairly awesome. I liked having a sense of exactly how fast I was running (though even today, in my first run in a month, it stressed me out when I started to slow down), but more than anything I loved having the freedom to just go wherever I wanted and knowing that I didn't have to try to remember street names or where I turned in order to map it out later to know how far I went. IT WAS KIND OF AMAZING. This also means that when I get lost on future runs I will never have to worry about knowing how many miles I did, so I can focus 100 percent of my mental energy on finding my way back home. So basically one run in, I am super in love with the Garmin. I know. Remember when I was all superior about my super low-tech running? Baha.

The only downer about the Garmin was that it took a while for it to locate satellites. By "a while" I mean "idk maybe a minute or two," because I am an impatient person and also because I spent that minute or two standing in front of my house just kind of staring aimlessly down the street waiting for the watch to be ready. That was awkward. Also, it is ginormous, but that didn't bother me as much as I was worried it would. Yay for high-tech running! (Although I did run in a cotton T-shirt so obviously I am still the same person.)

I will leave you with my (many) running goals for 2012!

1. Run my second marathon. There is a lot more to this goal (train the right way, have a really solid base before I start thinking about it, maybe try to break four hours) but for now, that's all it is. Just run a second marathon.

2. Run 1,000 miles. For some reference, last year I did 453 miles and took about six months off entirely (three for a tailbone injury, three for "marathon recovery" because in case you didn't know, marathon recovery takes three entire months).

3. PR across the board. 5K. 10K. Half-marathon. Marathon. Booyah. It sounds like a super-scary goal, but it's not, because I have only raced most of these distances a handful of times. I've done one 10K, two half-marathons and one marathon. I'm honestly not sure how many 5Ks I've done, and I am also not sure what my PR for the distance is. I have a vague memory of running a 22:10 once when I was in high school, so maybe I'll just try to match that time. My most recent 5K PR is, I think, around 25:09. I think training to PR in multiple distances will be a really good way to keep running interesting and motivating.

The end! It should be a good year. I hope it is a good year. I hope all of you have good years, too. 2012 > 2011, I think it just has to be a fact.