Happy New year!

Hope those still reading my blog had a lovely holiday and are enjoying the new year.

I’ve wanted to blog lot more but haven’t made it a priority in my life over the last year. We’ll see what 2020 brings for this blog….now on its 8th year as of December past! (Happy belated blogversary).

2019 wasn’t an awesome running year. I started off the year sick (new years day) and it took weeks to shake the cold. In January, we flew to England to visit my husband’s family, a trip we wish we could do again and again. It was aovley trip and our girls had a blast flying, seeing the country and spending time with his family. We skied a fair amount last winter and the girls loved skating on outdoor rinks.

Running has never been a priority for me from January to March as we love to ski, skate and I play indoor soccer but I managed to get a good handful of runs completed before getting a bad injury in April.

Yes, the injury was soccer related and no I’m not quitting the sport I love the most. That’s like telling a runner they should stop running because they got injured while running once, likely not going to happen…am I right?!?!

That had me super sidelined: crutches for 10 days, no driving for three weeks was the worst for work, physio and kids sports. Thank goodness for husbands, amazing neighbours and taxi’s too. Also, I’m super thankful for an amazing physiotherapist who deals with sports injuries daily and understands my love for an active lifestyle.

Spring was SLOW going because of my calf sprain but I managed to do more cycling and saw a new light in the distance of more riding. Between physio, cycling and slow running I was getting back to normal come June. Soccer picked up again for both me and my oldest who was playing competitive soccer. She loved it and I loved watching her. Watching your kids do the things they love makes all those hard times worth it.

We had a great summer of soccer, swimming, vacations and increased cycling mileage for me. Early August I finally broke down and bought a new road bike I’ve wanted for 2 years and counting. My husband and I had a weekend without the girls that include some long distance trail rides.

Eventually, I’d start riding less on the trails and seeking out some back roads for longer rides….something I NEVER thought I would do. I’m learning to “never say never” and stop setting limitations for what I think I can do.

Despite getting super sick with Shingles (yeah at 39 you can get them) for 2-3 weeks, September brought a new adventure of completing my first ever Gran Fondo in Claire (amazing event). I thought I hated (running) hills before but I really hated them during this ride. I said a lot of “f yous” climbing hill after hill but was loving every minute of it (3:13).

When everyone else was getting close to wrapping up their running season in October, I was getting ready for my first running race if the year! I paced the 1:15 – 10k at the Valley Harvest Marathon in 1:14:50!!!! 10 seconds off! Pacing a race is so much more rewarding then running for myself. It’s one of the best things in running I’ve done over the last 3-4 years and I want to continue to pace others.

November was a busy month of basketball for my girls, work was nuts, any form of physical activity was almost non existent but we did celebrate being married for 12 years.

In December I managed to get back on track with the help of two challenges on IG. I ran 44km, cycled 26km, played 3 soccer games, swam twice during my youngest swim lessons, went to 2 yoga classes and went skiing once.

We had a Christmas concert, enjoyed running & walking with Carmacks and lots of family time over the holiday with cousins, aunts and uncles and ate all the food!

Despite low mileage, being injured and sick a lot last year (Jan/April/May/ Sept), losing interest in running over the summer, I can’t complain about my year. Life happens and I kept moving forward as best I could.

I’m really looking forward to 2020, setting some goals, creating memories with my family and friends.

Happy New Year…and maybe I’ll blog more than once this month! You can always find my *almost* daily posts on Instagram @pipersrun.

How was your 2019 year?

Are you setting goals for 2020?

What’s one thing you want to do this month?