My 2012 Races In Photos

2012 was an amazing year for me running-wise.

It has been nothing but incredible. And while I will have a year-in-review post coming in the next few days, I wanted to relive with you my races this year in photos.

It was a low race count for me this year as I ran in only four races. However, two of those were marathons, so the excitement, milestones and sense of accomplishment were high for me.

So without a further ado, let's look back.

Going Back For More ...

Yesterday it began, but today was my first training run for the 2013 Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon.

Yup, I'm going back for more.

For those keeping track, this will be marathon No. 3 for me. And all three will be within just over one year. (My first was the 2012 Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon on April 1, and the 2013 edition is on April 7. So, three 26.2-mile jaunts within 371 days.) 

Believe it's safe to say I've gone from "never doing that" to a marathon addict rather easily.

7 Bridges Marathon Recap: It Just Wasn't My Day

Some of my swag from the 7 Bridges Marathon

It's amazing how you can pour hours upon hours into your training, run hundreds of miles to get yourself prepared for a race, but then to have things not coming together like you planned or hope on race day.

Such is the life of a runner.

Some days just aren't your day. And this was certainly the case for me as I ran the 7 Bridges Marathon in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Sunday (October 21).

There had certainly been some hiccups in my training - like injuring myself while trail running, but in the weeks leading up to the race, I had every reason to believe another sub-5 hour marathon and quite possibly a PR was in the cards for me.

Alas, it just was not my day.

Funny Thing Happened Along The Training Plan ...

My knee after my tumble.

Everything was going so well, so smoothly and the miles were piling up.I was closing in on a career-high monthly mileage total. Marathon training was going great. It was as if it was too good to be true.

Then reality hit, and it was too good to be true.

Actually, reality didn't hit. I hit ... the ground ... hard.

On August 25, I decided to take my marathon training to the trails. I was getting a little bored running on the roads, so I thought I'd mix things up on the trails. The plan was to get 20 miles in, but those plans got changed shortly have mile 3.

Things were going great. It was a comfortable morning, temps in the low 60s and the humidity was very tolerable for August. It was dark when I started at 5 a.m., so I was a headlamp. I wasn't going too fast because it was dark.