2006 Year in Review

I posted the following on the Runningmania.com board this weekend. We were discussing how 2006 played out for us runningwise. I thought it was apropos so I'm posting it on my blog.

I'm a constant analyzer. So I've thought about this question since I ran my last race in November. But to make a very long story (relatively) short, 2006 was my best running year ever. I say that for three specific reasons.
1) Racing: Although I had a disappointing showing in Ottawa, I ended up PBing in the half marathon by three minutes in November. I dropped my 10K PB down by two minutes. I finished first in my age group in New Brunswick's running series. Overall my finest year ever racing.
2) Running for fun/fitness: I started running in January and ran almost the entire year. I'm not sure if I logged more distance than ever before, I didn't do the huge long runs like I would have done in the past for marathon training, but I was out consistently. I'm at my leanest physique in years (although it could be a bit more lean...). I also stayed relatively injury free.
3) Running with the community: Running has always been such a special refuge for me and I've always wanted to find a way to give back. In my own little way, I thought instructing two clinics at the Running Room would help in that goal. I tell every clinic the same thing on that very first night. I'm not the fastest runner, there are others who have logged more races or achieved some amazing feats but I love running, it's a part of my soul and my only hope is that I can pass a long some of that passion. Seeing some people continue from our little 10K clinic to run a full marathon in December for charity or just continue to run every Sunday with friends they've met at the clinic has been truly rewarding.

So for those three reasons, I rank 2006 as my best running year ever.