Moving Forward

Apparently, according to what I've seen on Buzzfeed and Twitter recently, 2016 was one doozy of a year.  We've all taken some losses, some greater than others, and we've all had our triumphs.  Some of our favorite celebrities passed away, and some of us (@ myself) tripped over steeple barriers.  But 2016 was also the year that Emma and Evan both medaled in the steeplechase, the latest season of New Girl brought us all to happy tears, and I learned how to light a lighter (which is apparently a very basic skill that most adults already have, but whatever).  So where does this leave us going into 2017?

For me, 2016 definitely was a doozy of a year.  I lost and gained several close friends, met some truly incredible people, watched a Nazi zombie movie on the recommendations of a trainer, and had some huge ups and downs with running.  As you all know, my most recent season ended with some heavy disappointment.  Despite my new level of fitness and the summer of hard work that I put in, I never had a truly great race, and I finished at region weighed down with injuries.  But going into 2017, I have no intentions of losing my drive to compete and succeed.  Every time I have a setback, I like to think I learn something from it or renew my desire to become better.  As a result of the setbacks I faced this season, I decided to increase my mileage and the intensity with which I go after workouts.  As always, I have goals that are scary big, but I've spent more time reflecting on all of the little details of how I'm actually going to get to those goals.  Most of them should probably be centered around eating better, because in the spirit of full disclosure, I am probably going to get diabetes in the next two weeks.  Christmas season has been too kind to me.  To start off the indoor season, I decided to bump my mileage to 70 mile weeks.  Let me just tell you, I have been enjoying it too much.  My break has consisted mostly of me waking up, running, eating, and taking naps until it's time to eat again.  I absolutely adore high mileage, and it seems like the higher I go, the better I feel (after a few weeks to adjust, for the first few weeks I mostly just feel like roadkill).  Another small fix which is easy enough to remedy is my ferritin level.  At the beginning of the season, it was at 113.  By the time I got it checked for indoor, it had dropped to 69.  While this is still fairly high, especially for a female athlete, seeing that kind of drop over one season is not ideal.  I will also be rehabbing religiously for my badly behaving hamstrings, which have been improving pretty well after their escapades at the end of the season.  Also, the training room staff told me I can use the NormaTec booties whenever I'd like, as long as the training room isn't too busy, and I honestly might go mad with power.  I tried them once before break, and I loved it too much.  There's a very good chance I'm going to start spending 10+ hours a day in those boots.  10/10, would recommend to a friend.
So, going into 2017, I am going to do just like I always have.  Take the next step forward, and trust in good things to come.