2019 Wrap Up and Beyond

I'm not going to mince words. 2019 was a lot. Like A LOT. And not just for running, but overall just... well, just a lot. But hey, let's focus on the running for now...
Holy Year of Achievements!! I pulled the following list of awesomeness off:

• A TON of new PRs
  
• New 5K PR - 24:15
• New 8K PR - 40:05
• New 10K PR - 50:37
• New 15K PR - 
• New Half PR - 1:56
• Ran 19 races (placed in 5 of them)
• Ran a Marathon (my first)
• Ran a Ragnar Relay (my first)
• Placed in a Charlotte Race (my first time, 2nd Division)
• Placed Overall in a Race (3rd Overall Female)
• Hit my Milage Goal (and then some)
• Ran 1000 Miles in the Year (1st goal)
• Ran 1200 Miles in the Year (stretch goal)
• Ran 1400 Miles in the Year (even further stretch goal)

• Finally did an unassisted Pull Up and Chin Up
• Became a BibRave Pro Team Captain

Rocking my new BibRave logo gear

And those stats do not even come close to covering how much fun I had this year. I joined a new run club, met so many amazing new runner friends, embraced trail running, ran on a different continent (!), hit just under 200 Burn Boot Camps and so so much more.

Wow! No wonder I'm tired! 

So what does 2020 hold for me? Well, I've got a few crazy ideas planned that I will cover in future posts, let's just say that I had toyed with the idea of having a nice calm year going forward, but then quickly that idea faded as I learned of some really cool races, challenges and just adventures in general. I'll just leave it at, my race calendar is already starting to fill out and I don't plan on slowing down just quite yet. 

In fact, my first race of the New Year is the first DAY of the New Year! I'll be running a very tough and very technical Trail 20K on New Years Day. I did the course preview on Saturday with a few friends and let's just say, please wish me luck. I am going to need it. But if I can stay out of my own head (which is proving to be a bit more of a challenge than I expected for this one) then it will all be worth it. The post-race meal is PHENOMENAL! It's a traditional Southern Lucky New Year's Meal of BBQ, black eyed peas, greens and cornbread. Plus Legal Remedy beer! 

In addition, for the beginning part of 2020, I am participating in the 465 Virtual Challenge, an awesome challenge to help you stay motivated for the New Year. 

Basically how it works is you commit to run, walk, swim, bike, skip, crawl, whatever... for 53 miles between Jan. 1 and Feb. 29. And since it is a virtual challenge, you have the convenience of completing it anytime, anywhere! Why 53? It represents the 53 miles that make up the I-465 loop that circles Indianapolis, IN. 

There are 2 options to register if you want to join me. Basic and Premium. The main difference between the 2 is that the Premium comes with a super soft finisher shirt and a medal. Here are the exact deets:


PREMIUM

• 465 Challenger Super Soft Finisher Shirt
• 465 Race Car Slider Finisher Medal*
• Super Cool Bumper Sticker
• Training Program
• Motivational Emails
• Virtual Bib
• Certificate of Completion

BASIC

• Super Cool Bumper Sticker
• Training Program
• Motivational Emails
• Virtual Bib
• Certificate of Completion

The best part is that you can also kind of do the challenge in your own way to make it even more motivating. Challenge yourself to finish the 53 miles a by a certain date. See how many loops you can do. Do all 53 miles just running, or just swimming maybe. It's really up to you! 

To join, register here: https://www.465challenge.com/ And to sweeten the deal, I've got a discount code for you! Get 10% off either registration with code: BIBRAVE You can register anytime between now and Feb. 29, but heads up, only the first 1000 Premium 

I hope you all have also had a wonderful 2019. Let me know some of your accomplishments in the comments below. Doesn't have to be running, anything you are proud of, just let me know! And thank you for following along on this journey with me. I just know that 2020 is going to kick some serious ass!