Dec 31, 2014

The Thing to Do: A Year in Review: 2014

It's the end of December. It seems like the thing to do is a "year in review" post. This has actually been a big year for myself running and for my running related blog (that you just so happen to be reading). So, while it may be "the thing to do", I'm enjoying taking a look back at my running year. So, let's break it down like an enzyme.


Running

This was a big race year for me. I ran a total of 10 races year. That included a huge step for me: my first half marathon ever, in the form of the Walt Disney World Half Marathon (recap and review). Man, I love runDisney. Just sayin'. 

That was not all. I also topped it with a new PR by 17 and a half minutes at the inaugural Loudoun Half Marathon (recap and review). Another highlight was the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run, for it's awesome course (recap and review) and for proving to me that I am stronger than I think.

The running season ended strong for me. I signed up for the BRATS Holiday 5K Series, consisting of three 5K races that earn you a special medal at the end. This meant a run in November, a run in December, and lastly a run in January. The past two races, the Chris Yung Memorial Turkey Trot (recap and review) and the Santa's Workshop 5K (recap and review) have resulted in new PRs at the 5K distance.



While it has been a great year for my racing, my distance and dedication to training has declined. I had less miles that last year, largely accounted for training really hard in the summer leading up to my first half marathon in January then not training so hard this year. I had a couple of good months, but I also had my first blank month. Not something I'm proud of, but I acknowledge it happened and want to move forward stronger. A partial contributor to this is a new little cutie named Timothy, that has sucked up a lot of my sleeping hours in the almost half year he's been here, making energy and motivation a little lower. Not that I'd trade him for anything.

I look to rebound next year in my running, training, and all around fitness.

Blog

This year has been a great year for my blog and social media. I started my blog in March 2013. In April 2014, after a little over a year in, I decided to try and step up my blogging game. I purchased my own domain name to match my blog title, www.rungeekrundisney.com, which I used to set up my own email account for free through Zoho (check it out if you have a domain and want to use it for email). I started my own dedicated Twitter account for the blog and all things running and Disney, @rgrdisney (follow if you're not, please and thank you). I grew that account to pass 1,000 followers (hard for me to grasp) and I'm now on the edge of 2,000. My blog also got a new face, giving it an all new look and feel all its own.

With my social, I took the step into the world of a Facebook page. While the growth there hasn't equaled that of Twitter, it's quietly growing into it's own. I rebranded my other social medias to match that of Twitter more recently on Instagram and Pinterest. I'm less active there, but looking to grow.

I also did one last thing on my blog that I'm rather fond of: I started my own link up. I created the Mickey Monday linkup, that I host with Adventures by Katie, for everything Disney. I've really enjoyed writing those posts every Monday. It's really helped me in my writing and content of my blog. I felt like I've started to come into my own with my blog and writing. While it was started to help keep me in check, I've enjoyed my time as a blogger and am quite proud of what it's become.

Ambassadorships

At the end of this year (read: very recently) I was selected for not one but TWO ambassador programs. First, I was selected to be a BibRave Pro. This is the ambassador program for BibRave.com and their weekly Twitter chat: #bibchat. BibRave is a great site for finding and reviewing races. I review every race I run and use it to check out races I'm considering registration. It's a really great group of people at BibRave. Some of the other ambassadors I was actually already friends with (digitally of course) so it's been a lot of fun already. I really look forward to the opportunities I'll have this year with the program: reviewing races, gear and just interacting with the rest of the crew.


Second, I was selected to run for Team Nuun. Nuun hydration is a fantastic product I discovered this past year for staying hydrated. It's got all the good things you need like electrolytes and some vitamins with great flavor without the extra sugar and waste of other drinks. It also goes down light like water, not sitting as heavy in the stomach (in my humble opinion). I was selected to be a part of their team and run under the Nuun name, something I'm very excited about.

Going Forward

As I go forward into 2015, there's a lot of excitement on the horizon: more races, new races, new challenges. I can't wait for it to start, and luckily I don't have long to wait either.


6 comments:

  1. Nice running and blogging recap! Its been fun reading your posts. Happy New Year!

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    1. Thanks. Glad you have enjoyed them. Nice to know when people other than me like them, haha.

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  2. Sounds like a great year! I can't wait for 2015 - I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and it sounds like you have a lot to look forward to :)

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    1. Thanks. It was a good year. Really looking forward to 2015 too. Glad yours is looking fun too.

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  3. So happy to be your #teamnuun teammate! You sure had a busy year and that finishline photo is definitely a framer! I head to Disney for the Princess Half next month. It certainly snuck up on me this year. Hopefully we can meet up at a race one of these days!

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    1. Yeah. It's fun the people that I've found that I "know" from blogs that area also a part of #teamnuun. Best of luck on the Princess Half. Even though it's "woman centric" I still want to run that one. Let's be honest, I want to run them all, haha.

      That would be cool to do sometime. Right now the only race I have nailed down is the Rock n Roll DC half marathon and a 5K in Manassas. I am currently being talked into a sprint tri here in northern VA (by a Nuun Ambassador actually), which I've never done before, so that'd be a new challenge. Nothing lined up yet over the summer or fall plans. Definitely should connect sometime

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