How a Runner brings in the New Year

Before the first week of January 2016 officially comes to an end, I'd like to share with you some thoughts about what I do every New Year's eve, or day.  Since it's Friday, we'll do this Friday 5 style!

1. After I started running, it took me a while before I realized I should start logging my miles. So after a year (or two) I  finally did!  I started off just jotting my runs down on a calendar. About a year later I received a Garmin Forerunner GPS watch but I still used the trusty calendar. A year later I moved to a running log from Runner's World, and then the year after that I started using a running journal.  Regardless of whether I used a calendar or a running journal, at the end of each year I enjoyed sitting down and adding up all the miles I've run. Now that I use a journal and log more details about each run, it's kind of like a walk (or run) down memory lane as I look back over my year of running. No pictures, just stats!

2. This year was no different, I sat down on New Year's Eve and calculated all those miles.  This year was a tough one since I was injured from January to June and didn't officially start training till August. I ended 2015 with only 362 miles. I just started really using the Garmin Connect this year and discovered a few rogue miles that didn't make it to my log book, but for now we will just stick with the 362.  I will say this, I trained smarter, not harder this year. I did a lot less runs than I did last year during training but even though I did fewer runs, they were still QUALITY runs! I hope it paid off. We will see this weekend!

3. So how did that compare to 2014 ? I hate to sound like a broken record but that year was also a really tough year for me during the winter/spring. That's when the whole knee/IT band issue started the first time around.  I ended up logging 450.72 miles. Again, I found a few extra miles once I delve into my records on Garmin connect.

4. Statistically speaking, I know my best year of running was probably 2013. These were my best times (PR-ing in 5K, 10K, and the half distances). I did A LOT of running in 2013 but unfortunately I did not have any official records of them. I was able to go back only as far as the end of June on my GPS and I found 316 miles. I know if I would have kept track all year I would have been over 500 for that year.

5. At this point I don't really have any goals for mileage for 2016. I know I'm going to take it easy after the marathon and if by some miracle I don't get injured, I'll start running consistently again in the spring!  After seeing my mileage throughout the years, I have a hard time believing that I'm going to be much of a help to my sister as we team up for Run The Year. I anticipate she will be doing the majority of the running!

What is your tradition for looking back over your miles? Do you do it?  Is there a way to have Garmin Connect calculate your miles at the end of the year? -M

We are linking up with the Friday 5.




17 comments:

  1. I started using excel to log my miles in 2013, so I have weekly, monthly, and yearly stats for the past 3 years. Its nice to be able to look back and compare!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm bad about logging miles. I did sign up to run 1000 miles in 2016, and there's an online log, so that will. Best of luck this weekend!!! I hope you both have a fabulous time!

    ReplyDelete
  3. After a few injuries myself this year, I also trained smarter and it paid off for me too. I feel stronger starting off this year hope you do too. Have fun this weekend

    ReplyDelete
  4. I use my planner that I keep for everything, but unless I remember to write down the miles I did, I don't really track them. I need to get back at that. I don't have a set number either, since I'm focused on quality runs as well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I;m trying to be better about logging my miles in Garmin Connect this year too. There is a way to have it give you your miles for the year, through the reports function.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love Daily Mile just for that reason - the year end report they send? Worth all the logging in

    ReplyDelete
  7. I use Garmin Connect and my RW Training Journal to log my miles - I just like seeing and being able to compare month-to-month, and year-to-year...but I'm not ever going to set any mileage records for the year, that's for sure. And that's perfectly fine with me - like you, I don't want to get another injury, so I'll take it easybreezy on the running.

    ReplyDelete
  8. If you sign into Garmin Connect online, you can see your mileage for the year. Go in to reports and then click total distance and you can see mileage for a number of different time frames.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I use the site called Daily Mile. It's fun to look back and see how I did over the year, but I've never really concerned myself with a certain mileage because if I want to keep running far, I can't do it as often as many others. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am with Jaime...I am so bad with logging my own miles! I think bc I keep track off all my clients' miles:) This is a goal of mine to keep a better log of my miles this year...will check out Garmin connect online!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I confess, while I track my runs in various forms I never calculate at the end of year or even set goals for mileage. I couldn't tell you how many miles I ran training or otherwise last year (or the years before that). I always feel like a bad runner whenever starts announcing their miles for the year! lol

    ReplyDelete
  12. I was really diligent about logging my miles this year. Garmin Connect did a great job tallying everything up for me. This year I didn't really set a mileage goal. I try to do 100 miles/month. But since I'm not running right now, that goal isn't off to a great start. I'm ok with that, tho!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am going to be doing that this year. My aim is 500km this year and I am really hoping that I can do it. My husband is aiming for 1000km.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm with you and enjoy keeping track of my runs! I also use a running journal! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have been logging my miles for the last 3 years in a paper journal. I'm totally old school!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am fastidious about logging my miles!!! It makes me feel really good to see the visible progress and watch the numbers add up. I started with the Runners World online log, and when they discontinued it I began using running-log.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Just wanted to say- happy new year! And it was so great to see you both this weekend. <3 Can't wait to read the race recaps!

    ReplyDelete

Fairytales and Fitness is a personal blog authored and edited by us, Meranda and Lacey. The thoughts expressed here represent only our own and are not meant to be taken as professional advice. Please note that our thoughts and opinions change from time to time. We consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind in an ever changing society. Any thoughts and opinions expressed within our out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those we may express today. Some links may contain affiliate links. Some links are just to pages we'd like to share.