A Year in Review: 2011

Oh what a year this has been. I wouldn't say it's been my best year and I am actually glad to be moving on to 2012.

2011 was relatively quiet. Hubby and I didn't take any big trips this year. There was only one wedding to attend. I pretty much spent my time working and running.

Running. I did a lot more of it this year than I did ever in previous years. Right after New Years, I committed myself to doing the Iron Girl Duathlon in Bloomington, MN at the end of September. This really meant a lot of training. When I committed, I couldn't even run a single mile without stopping to walk. Come September, I completed the race. I placed 798 out of about 1100 women. I finished better than I anticipated.

At the beginning of May, Hubby, my friend Christina, and I traveled to Chicago to run the American Brain Tumor Association Path to Progress 5k to benefit brain tumor research. Dang that day was colder and windier than expected but we made it through. 

At the end of May was my first committed organized race with the Challenge Charities 5k on Memorial Day. I finished in just under 40 minutes and was ecstatic to have run 7 minutes at the beginning without stopping to walk. Oh the little things in life that makes us happy!

The night before the race, I met up with a group of weight loss bloggers, most of whom reside in the Twin Cities area. It was amazing to be able to talk to people who have similar experiences with weight loss and know the struggles. I have also gained a great group of new friends. I'm really happy I stepped out on a limb and took a chance with them.

 A couple of weeks later, I ran in the Verona Hometown Days 5k by my self.   This was quite a change from the Memorial Day 5k where my family and the pack were there to cheer me on. Complete strangers were commenting on my PriorFatGirl T-Shirt. At most events where I've worn it, it has been popular among women. Even though I ran this race with no support team, I had my best time.

The summer was filled with more running and biking. I was pushing myself to run longer and bike faster. These things were often done alone. My hubby went with me a couple of times but I really enjoyed the time alone. Time to be in the quiet of nature and really concentrate on how I was feeling. I could push myself when I wanted.

On Labor Day, I ran the Safe Harbor 5k. I learned from this race that I really need to learn to warm up before race time officially starts. I was slower on this race than I was in June because of leg cramps. You live, you learn.

The end of September came the Iron Girl Duathlon.   I already told you how I did for that race. Thank you again goes to Anne from Twelve-in-Twelve for coming out to cheer me on!

I had my sister there to push me through that race. Even though she completed the Iron Man Wisconsin just two weeks earlier and her feet were killing her, she still did it with me. She stuck with me the whole time and kept me going when all I wanted to do was walk. It's great to have a sister as supportive. Oh, and my parent's too, and Pat and Christina.

Within a couple of days of my race, I blogged about starting to set weekly goals until the first of the year. I will write about those goals in a future post. I wanted to give them as much attention as they deserve.

Just last month, Hubby and I joined Gold's Gym as I continue to work out through the winter months. I wont be able to use last year's excuse of cold weather to stop me from getting my exercise. 

Thank you to every one for your support over the past year. 2012 holds more lofty goals. Another post about those will come in the next post. Happy New Year!!!!