I’m not very on top of wrapping up 2018, am I? It’s almost the end of January and I’m just getting around to it now.

2018 was a year of trying to avoid injury and get back to enjoying running again. I signed up for two half marathons, one 5 miler, a 10k and paced a 10k race as well.

The Bluenose Half Marathon was my first race of the year (May) and mainly signed up because a friend of mine convinced me to (well in advance). We both started our training plans in February and both managed to get through it all. The course was in reverse direction from previous years so that intrigued me for some reason.

I’m not going to lie, it was rough! Well, the first 11-13km was great – really great and then it all went downhill for me. Actually, it was literally all uphill from 13k on…hill after hill, after hill but I sure wasn’t ready for some of those climbs. The rain wasn’t a problem – even the downpour of rain didn’t bother me during the last few kilometers but those hills were a killer. In the end, we both had a great run. I finished in 2:25 – not awesome but I was happy to finish.

Then came summer with no races planned but lots of soccer, swimming and cycling. I started training for my next half marathon which I’d run later in October.

September brought two races my way. I ran the Berwick 5 miler which I feel this could be one of my favourite routes to run in a race. It’s super flat with an incline that lasts forever but not bad. I hope to run this again in 2019. I look like I’m dying in the photo below, that’s because I was. I pushed the pace in this race, something I haven’t done in a long time. I was literally trying to catch my breath when this was taken. Note my kids on the right hand side of the photo are clearly NOT concerned about me!

In September I also ran the Maritime Race Weekend 10k and felt great during that run – another great event! It was an extremely hot morning once the fog lifted but a great course on run on by the ocean! Finish line photo from my running buddy Krystol, (the only race we ran together.

During the month of September I managed to run 123 km training for my October half marathon. I’ve never run this much before in a month and most of these runs were done at 5:30 am or 6 am. I was finally doing some speed work and seeing the result during my runs.

October arrived and I was lucky enough to be a pace bunny for the 10k (1:10 finish time) at the Valley Harvest Marathon with True North Pacing. This was my third time pacing this distance and time and finished in 1:10:06!! I’m pretty sure I love pacing races more then I do running them for myself. It’s a lot of fun, motivating and inspiring.

A week later, my husband and I drove over to PEI (4.5 hour drive) to run the PEI Half Marathon together. Well, not really together since he runs so much faster than me but you know what I mean.

We both had awesome races. Saï finished in 1:46 and I in 2:16. I managed to knock off 9 minutes from my May half marathon. We had a great weekend away with our kids – yes, we run races while on vacation without our kids. I’ve already said to Saï that we have to pick our race for this year to run together.

So, 2018 was a great year for running some great races in Nova Scotia and PEI. Though some were rough, challenging, some were amazing experiences and an chance to continue being active in the sports I love.

How was your 2018?

Have you planning out your 2019 races? (I have not)

Anyone repeating a race from last year? (I will be – likely many).