2011 Year in Review

So 2011 was a year in which I ran a bit more in mileage, but fewer races and more long distance events. Had a few times where I had to stop running for more than a few days at a time, but I jumped right back into it each time and kept it going. Didn't cross train much - mostly yoga again, but serious injuries stayed at bay. Did have a bad bout of Poison Oak after my May 50k that kept me from running for the longest amount of time since December 2007 - 10 days off - from anything.
Had two runs with my brother as he ran his 1st Marathon in 17+ years and his 1st ultra - both were nice in their own way.
I did run more on trails this year (the 1st half anyway). I also did alot of speedwork in prepping for Chicago. Ran half-marathons on consecutive weekends. Ran a 40miler and a 50k in the same month (doing the 50k second made it seem super-short!!)

Random stats/info:
-Total miles for year: 1507 (+14 miles than 2010)
-Fewest events (9, by design) since I had zero in 2008. 3-half-marathons, 2-full marathons, 3-50k's, and 1-40miler.
-My farthest run/race ever: 40 miles
-Successive PR's in my three 50k's (From 7:23 to 6:38 to 6:34 to 6:19)
-Only 196 days working out (Run, walk, yoga, etc)
-8 weeks of under 20 miles (low of Zero, see Poison Oak above)
-I did have my highest weekly mileage (Mon-Sun) ever in late April = 50.9 (included my 40mi run!)
-I averaged almost 35mi/wk for the 15 weeks leading up to the October Chicago Marathon (so included the whole summer)
-I thought last year's heat was bad - this year was Much worse. How about 78° at 5:30am??
-Ran on all but 4 weekends (1-injury-1st weekend of the year, 1-poison oak, 2-scheduled)
-Changed to Smart Wool socks (for trails) and size 12 shoes.

Races:
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8-Jan-11	Harbison 50k Trail Race	6:38:05
19-Feb-11	14th Myrtle Beach Marathon	4:14:14
1-May-11	2nd Enoree Passage 40 Mile	8:30:28
29-May-11	2nd Long Cane 50k	6:34:30
11-Sep-11	6th Parks Half Marathon	1:51:26
17-Sep-11	12th Asheville Half Marathon	1:48:56
9-Oct-11	34th Chicago Marathon	4:07:53
12-Nov-11	2nd Camp Croft Half Marathon	2:03:21
17-Dec-11	3rd Seashore Nature Trail 50k	6:19:16

2012 Goals:
See upcoming post!