Happy New Year: 2013 In Review!

Without going through every painful detail from 2013, I thought I would share just the mullet of the year, the short-long, the cole's notes version of 2013, before moving onto the 1st day of the year, and my Resolution Run race report.

2013: The year of PBs

What is left over from the year of races. These, and memories.

This year was certainly the best year I have had for improvement gains. I socked it to my 8k (30mins), 10k (37 mins), 21.1k (1:24), and marathon times (3:06). I managed to run in 3 ultra's (and finished two), complete two marathons, and I learned how to get faster by running short course xc races. I won an age cat. national championship; won the age cat. for the lower mainland XC Series; I finished a Gran Fondo, and did not race any cyclocross at all (CX was my passion as of last year--how things change). 17 running races, 10 pairs of running shoes purchased, and a couple of bike races for 2013 make for a very good year!

Here are the stats:

Looking back on the Lower Mainland Cross Country Race Series

Cross country and trail running has dominated my late 2013 racing season.

Wrapping up the Cross Country Series with an age category win was a major fall objective. In the attempt to get faster at longer distance events, it is my belief that I needed to race faster at the shorter distance events. These shorter xc races proved to be affordable, competitive, challenging and fun, and over the course of the last 3 months, I have seen some pretty cool things happen from my results.

The following are a few short summaries of my races, and some assessments of what I could improve on for the coming year of races. Read on!

The 30th Annual Gunner Shaw XC: The last race of 2013 on a beautiful day!

The 30th Annual Gunner Shaw XC Start! Photo: Leo Lam

The 30th annual Gunner Shaw XC presented by Lions Gate Road Runners went down under beautiful skies on Saturday December 8th. After a week off of all physical activity, I was not feeling too confident about this race. For one, I have been recovering from a cold that took me out two weeks ago, just in time for nationals, leaving me less than stellar for the race last week. To recover from said cold and the race, I laid low and did absolutely nothing. 7 days off of no workouts. The last time I pulled something like that was in August, while on vacation. Before that, it was during spring break in March when the family was in L.A. 

It has been a while since I took some time off.

2013 Canadian National XC Championships: A Wet Day in the Muck

Start of the 2013 Master's XC Canadian National Champs. W. McCulloch Photo.

The 2013 Canadian National Cross Country Championships were held on November 30--a cold and wet Saturdary morning. This race would prove to be a tough run-day at Jericho Beach. Rain, wind, mud, puddles--all perfect to make for honest cross country racing weather!

My goal for this race was to have a fast time, and let the chips fall where they may. It sucks that this week I managed to get sick trying to prepare for the national championship event, all the while finishing up my M.Ed final paper for the first course. Finding balance between the disciplines of my life are proving to be a healthy challenge during this fall.