Racing Season #2 Final Thoughts (part 2)

Overall, Season 2 went quite well despite starting with the disastrous group run in February.  In retrospect, even that ass kickin' was beneficial since it motivated me to get in shape and avoid further humiliation.  Here are the season highlights:

• It once again took me 3-4 months to work up to 20 miles/week with runs of over 30 minutes. I've now been running 15-20 miles/week since July.  I even ran a couple . . .50 minute runs.  I know, crazy.
• In the Crystal City Twilighter 5k I broke the 19 minute barrier for the first time Dusty Spikes era and shaved 4 minutes off my previous year's time.
• I wrote a blog post last year about how frustrated I was that I wasn't even in Hasher shape. I'm now proud to say that I've run 10 Hash runs since last February including one run with the Manila Hashers when I was in the Philippines in September.
• A couple years ago I expressed how envious I was that Marshall won socks in a road race. It took me far more attempts but 2 weeks ago I was finally able to claim age group honors  in the worst organized 5k in running history (Seriously, multiple articles have been written on how badly this race was organized).
• By far though, the highlight of the past year for me was the formation of the Dusty Spikes Running Club.  It was a sad day when Jesse had to put himself on injured reserve in late July but hopefully the club will reunite soon.

When the spikes are dusty, Winter is a very challenging season and it hasn't been good for me the past couple years.  I fully intend to keep running, but when running isn't priority #1 and you find yourself heavier, older, and injury prone, you never know what's going to happen in the off-season.  Luckily, I still haven't broken 18 in a 5k and I'm more determined than ever to not start from scratch in March.   I moved once again in May.  The Adidas spikes came with me. .  for the 10th time.

Dusty Spikes Forever!