Which races from last year were my favorites? Here they are in descending order:
8) Hot Chocolate 15k, Oct 30 - A PR by 8 seconds, but considering how sore and tired I was three weeks post Chicago Marathon, I'll take it.
7) Lakefront 10 Miler, Mar 19 - First race of the season, one minute PR and a harbinger of the good things to come for the rest of the season.
6) Grim Mile, June 11 - Racing all out on a track for a mile? Count me in! I beat my PR by "only" four seconds, but extra seconds are hard to come by when the race distance is this small.
5) Shamrock Shuffle 8k, April 3 - Twelve days before my marathon PR, I lined up for this race with no expectations and came out with a minute and a half PR. To quote Lynton: "Dude, you were running 5 minute miles!"
4) Run For the Animals 10k, June 4 - A PR by well over a minute in hot windy weather.
3) Ravenswood Run 5k, Apr 24 - A scant eight days after setting my marathon PR, I annihilated my 5k PR by 33 seconds. I've raced so many 5ks and to beat my best time by such a large margin still blows my mind.
2) Carmel Marathon, Apr 16 - A "woulda shoulda coulda" sub-three of 3:00:20. Nevertheless, I beat my previous PR by almost 5 minutes.
1) Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon Chicago, Jul 17 - Broke my "unbreakable PR" by two minutes. At this race, I was the fittest and fastest I've ever been.
 |
| Finishing the RnR in July |
Honorable Mention:
Oui Run 5k, Sep 25 - Not a PR, but I won the inaugural edition of this race and got some sweet prizes to boot!
How will 2017 pan out? Well, based on how low my mileage has been lately, I'd say that each of these PRs will be safe for another year, but who knows? Maybe I'll break one when I least expect it!
