I'll be coming home next year

Ah yes, the last day of the year when bloggers/facebookers/tweeters/number FREAKS start talking stats.
Well, mine are low compared to years past. I knew they would be but I was surprised by how much.
This year, I ran 1057 miles. That's almost 500 miles less that last year.
I rode 1010 miles and swam 27 miles in my half baked return to triathlons.
There are several reasons for the lower milage. I stopped marathon training and longer running after Boston as I knew I wasn't doing any big fall racing. I was still struggling with the naggin PF. Loren and I had a lot of hiking planned.
So let's review some high lights shall we?
Shamrock Half 1:41:18 PR while the sub 1:40 still eludes me, I'm really close and think 2011 might be the year.
Boston Marathon 3:41:07 PR BQ My first real shot at sub 3:40 and a BQ. I'm aging up so as things now with the BAA, I need a 3:50. We'll see how that changes going forward, though I don't plan on running Boston again for a while after 2011.
On the high pointing front, it was a hugely successful year, one which I don't think we'll be able to out do. We hit 17 high points brining my total to 28 and Loren's to 31. Oh and Ms Bea now has 7. In this quest, we ascended 40,220' (this number includes La Plata, which is not a state high point but is the 5th highest peak in CO at 14,336' and is a tougher hike than it's neighbor Mt Elbert which is CO high point). We did 2 winter climbs Mt Marcy in NY and Mt Mansfield in VT. Winter hiking is an amazing thing. These were my first 2 serious winter climbs and I loved every minute of it, even that brief time when I was bonking on Marcy.
We've seen amazing, beautiful, odd, parts of the US that most people never see and/or never think about. Some serious true America. This country is beautiful and amazing. Nature is one of the few places I know of where I can go out and meet someone I know has values and ideas that could not be more opposite than mine and yet that does not matter because we have (literally) this enormous common ground. When your 20 miles out from anything, your life may also depend on a stranger on the trail with you, political difference mean little in such situations.

So what does 2011 look like? Well here are my goals:
sub 1:40 in the half. I don't know which half yet
sub 3:40 in Boston (this is all starting to sound a bit familiar)
Sub 13 hour Ironman. I haven't done an Ironman since 2004. I think I am a much better athlete now so this should be interesting.
Summit Mauna Kea the high point of HI. I'm turning 40 in a few weeks so this will be my birthday present. While I won't be there for my actual birthday, Loren and I are planning for late Jan.
Summit Mt Rainer the high point of WA. Still working on when this will be as the climbing season is short but this is very exciting.
See what other high points we throw in there.

I think that about wraps it up. Thanks for following along this year and I wish all of you a Happy New Year.

This is the end

End of 2009! As far as running goes, it's been a great year. I could have done with out the nagging foot problems of the last few months, but oh well
This year I ran 1531.3 miles. That's up from 1270 of last year. I didn't hit my semi-goal of 2000 since the last quarter of the year saw some seriously low milage. I had some other great milestones. I PRed in the 5k, 4m, 5m, 10k, 10m, 15k, half marathon, and full marathon.
And of course, the cherry on top, I FINALLY qualified for Boston.
Not only is this the end of the year, it's also the end of the decade (which honestly I didn't realize until like last week). This decade has been my 2nd life as an athlete. I got back into running in 1999. Since then, I've run 115 New York Road Runners races, ALL of them as a Front Runner. I've also done countless other road races and triathlons including 3 Ironmans and 8 marathons (4 NYC)
That is a lot!
I'll be starting of the next decade getting ready for Boston, the Shamrock half marathon which I'm running with some of my BQ Babes, and TImberman, a half ironman. Beyond that I'm not sure what 2010 will bring race-wise. I've had so many marathon cycles over the last 3 years I may sit the fall out. We'll see! I do plan on running more with Bea, and Loren, and riding and swimming more.
Here's to many fun and happy miles to all of you.
Happy New Year.