Running Recap: January through May 2024
I can't believe it's already June! This year has been going by fast. I figure this is a great time to go over a recap of my running progress from the first 5 months of the year and show off some highlights.
The Raw Data
All of this data comes from my Strava profile for activities marked "running".
| Description | Value | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Activities | 61 | |
| Distance | 215.4 mi | 346.6 km |
| Time | 39h31m | |
| Elev. Gain | 20,663 ft | 6.3 km |
Per Month Averages
I record most of my runs, probably at least 90% so these numbers are pretty accurate. Here's the same data but divided by 5 to get my per-month averages.
| Description | Value | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Activities | 12 | |
| Distance | 43 mi | 69 km |
| Time | 7h54m | |
| Elev. Gain | 4,133 ft | 1.3 km |
Not bad - about 12 recorded runs per month with a total time just shy of 8 hours and a distance of 43 miles. Not quite one mile of elevation gain, but I'm more than happy with over 4,000 feet per month.
Highlights
The longest run I did this year was an 8-mile run at China Camp State Park with 1,000 feet of elevation gain. It was definitely a tough run but the views were incredible. This was the day after daylight savings time started, so we had an extra hour of sunlight that day.
Another noteworthy run was one I did at Mt. Diablo State Park. This was the first time I had ever seen a bobcat in the wild. It was a little scary, but I stayed back until it was far enough off the trail that I don't think I would scare it. Thankfully, that's the end of that story.
Probably the most frequent run I've been doing this year is a loop at Indian Valley in Novato. It's great because there is a wide, main fire road, great for running, walking, biking, and horseback riding. However, there are also several smaller trails that offshoot the main one, so I was able to mix things up. Surprisingly, in the early spring, I was lucky enough to see several waterfalls in that park.
A few other highlights was the fact that I joined the Marin Running Club, and started meeting weekly with them. We run at Tennessee Valley, which is a gorgeous trail near Mill Valley with an amazing view of Tennessee Valley Beach. Besides that I also did an experiment and tried to host my own runs in Novato on Mondays, which I dubbed "Monday Runday." A few people joined but it never really caught on, sadly. Lastly, there has been talk at Berkeley Lab to start a running club there soon. I signed up and put myself down as a "maybe" for a leadership role, and got dragged in immediately. We'll see how that goes!
Conclusion
I'm really happy with my progress this year, which is really all that matters! I have not been running as seriously as last year, since then I was training for the marathon. I may consider doing another one, but for now I just want to stay in shape and race in any 5-10k's that come my way.