I am linking up again with Kookyrunner and Zenaida for Tuesday Topics and we’re talking about our races and achievements for this year.
Compared to other people, I keep my race calendar fairly light. I usually just pick a handful of races per year, but I also participate in a bunch of other workout challenges. If you’ve been following my weekly run down posts, you know that I keep up with multiple monthly challenges that are organized by the Streakers365 Group, I participated in five Power Zone Challenges organized by the Power Zone Pack, and monthly challenges on the Peloton and Garmin apps every year. The bling comes in the form of completed trackers and badges, and it’s just as rewarding for me.
In 2023, I ran two official half marathons and (walked) a 5k.
In February, I met up with Tanja and a bunch of Peloton Streakers365 friends and we ran the Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon Las Vegas. It was a great time and running the Strip at night with friends was a pretty cool experience!
In July, Jon and I participated in the Davis Moo-nlight 5k Walk again. I was so thrilled that Jon was up for participating in another race with me. He had just signed up at the gym and gotten back to a regular walking routine.
In October, I ran my fastest half marathon to date at the Urban Cow Half Marathon. I had participated in two Team Wilpers Run Challenges beforehand and I give them credit for getting me over the finish line in a faster time than I would have thought possible. (I haven’t forgotten that I said I would share more about the Team Wilpers Challenges in a later post, so stay tuned.)
In August, I also earned my “comma club” badge (1,000 rides!) on the Peloton Platform with Tanja. I got up at 5 am on a Saturday to ride a 60-minute Power Zone Endurance LIVE Ride and we were rewarded with an awesome shoutout from the man itself, Matt Wilpers. That’s better than any medal, if you ask me! Haha!
In September, I finished the virtual Route 66 Conqueror Challenge, a virtual race where you run/bike the entire length of Route 66. You get sent virtual postcards along the way with information of the places that you passed on your virtual ride. It’s pretty neat, and they sent you an awesome finisher medal at the end.
Last but not least, here are the 5 Power Zone Challenges that have kept me busy and that I successfully completed this year. I aim for platinum status for these challenges (which means, I do all three of the weekly prescribed rides, plus a bonus workout (the accelerator) to earn maximum points for my team.
It’s been a fun, challenging, and most importantly injury-free year for me. That’s always its own gold medal in and of itself, amirite?
How was your 2023? Did you run some fun races, celebrate any accomplishments or new PRs, participated in some other fun challenges?
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
December 12, 2023 at 10:48 amQuality>quantity always for medals. If I was still running, I would definitely sign up for the Route 66 challenge. I did a few things like that back in 2020 and they were very rewarding.
Congrats on a great 2023!
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:51 pmYes, definitely quality > quantity for medals!
Kimberly Hatting
December 12, 2023 at 11:00 amYes, I know how active you keep with all your monthly challenges…you’re a beast!! That’s funny you also brought home a cowbell, LOL! Nice job, San, with ALL your fitness activities!
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:52 pmThanks Kim! The cowbell medals are really fun, aren’t they? :)
Melissa
December 12, 2023 at 2:47 pmYou are amazing San! What a great year you’ve had. Your consistent training is paying off with no injuries and faster times. 2023 has been mixed for me. Lots of stretches of interrupted training with colds, vertigo, migraine and bad fatigue and then my one solid training block that ended with my half-marathon PB. Hoping for a better year healthwise in 2024.
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:52 pmThank you, Melissa. I really had a good year. I am sorry you had to deal with setbacks, but hoping for a better 2024 for you! You still ran some great races!
Meike
December 12, 2023 at 3:23 pmLook at you! I am always so impressed by your dedication and your accomplishments!
I wish I could say I kept up with running this year but I guess it was not to be. The year was a little rough around the edges (including some shoulder and hop pain) and I am hoping next year will be better. I am working on it!
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:54 pmThank you, Meike. I keep saying that my excuse is that I don’t have kids and I can solely focus on my athletic endeveaors. You do a lot of other things (e.g. crafting, which has been taking more of a backseat in my life) but I hope you can maybe shift a bit back to running next year (if your shoulder and hip pain improve and you’re up for it!)
Debbie
December 12, 2023 at 4:37 pmFun! And I ‘m more than a little jealous that you got to run in two cow themed races. I grew up on a dairy farm and love cows. :-) I didn’t even think about considering Garmin badges as bling, but you’re so right.
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:55 pmI love the cow themed races too – I guess everything around here has been considered farm land.
I am counting all the badges as bling for sure :) You earned them!
coco
December 13, 2023 at 2:10 amWhat a good year of races! I only did one, Chicago marathon. I would have done more if the weather is not so hot and race organization is better.
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:56 pmThank you, Coco!
Nicole MacPherson
December 13, 2023 at 5:18 amCongrats San on a great year of races!
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:56 pmThank you Nicole :)
Grateful Kae
December 13, 2023 at 7:49 amAwesome! Fun to see the medals! I did zero races, but I still have my medals from the races I did years ago hanging off the side of my mirror in my room! They are always such neat designs.
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:57 pmThanks Kae. At least you’re displaying your medals from year’s past! Mine are all in a box in the closet LOL (I need a medal rack!)
Jenny
December 13, 2023 at 7:58 amFirst things first- your gift arrived yesterday! Thank you so much!!!!!!!! Photos and shouout on my blog post today.
You had a great year, and yes- the biggest medal of all should be for “staying injury free.” Someone should actually make those- it would be a great gift idea.
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:57 pmThank you, Jenny. I know you understand the importance of staying injury-free. :)
Tobia | craftaliciousme
December 13, 2023 at 12:14 pmThis is so amazing. So many challenges and races and as you said it yourself injure free. Congrats.
My big achievement this year is that I actually ran. Not far. Not much. But I started taking a walk and suddenly felt like running and so I did. Weird feeling but I felt accomplished. Running has never been my sport of choice.
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:58 pmThank you Tobia. It was a good year. And I am so thrilled to hear you went for a run! I know you mentioned that it’s not your sport of choice (and that’s totally ok), but sometimes it can be just freeing to run!
Lisa's Yarns
December 14, 2023 at 9:09 amI was planning to run a 10k in November but had to drop down to the 5k since I was recovering from a nasty virus. It was a very casual race so I don’t even know what my 5k time was and there were no medals which I was happy about because I no longer keep my medals!
You had a great year of running – especially your 1/2 marathon PR! That is so exciting! All of your hard work paid off!
San
December 16, 2023 at 2:59 pmThank you so much, Lisa. I appreciate it.
And I know you had some challenges with running but I think it was smart to drop down to the 5k after your illness. A race is never worth risking your health over.
Ernie
December 14, 2023 at 5:58 pmWow – you are a workout rock star. I have never run in a race. I jog (very, VERY slowly -my kids say I walk faster than I run) about 4.5 miles every other day in decent weather. I’m excited tomorrow is supposed to be in the mid 50’s, freakishly, so I hope to run in the afternoon. I’m tempted to try a half marathon, or do they have 1/4 marathons? ;) I’d like to be able to say I did something like that. If there was a cute medal or something with a cute catch phrase like a run with no udder, well, I’d be game. Congrats on all your runs.
San
December 16, 2023 at 3:00 pmOh, you run but never ran a race? You should do that… just to say that you did! :) It’s a fun experience! There are actually 1/4 marathons out there (some races offer that distance!)
Catrina Denker
December 16, 2023 at 4:21 amNice job, San! I love that moon-medal!
Well done also on getting Jon to move a bit more. It’s good when we can “influence” some of our family members to be a bit more active!
San
December 16, 2023 at 3:01 pmThank you, Catrina. I am very excited that Jon has been more active. He’s beend dealing with some health issues in recent years, so it’s great to see him move more again!!
Zenaida Arroyo
December 17, 2023 at 7:35 amI love the variety of your medals and badges! Yes, a shoutout from Matt is definitely better than any medal. The RnR Las Vegas is a fun race! I ran it years ago and also enjoyed it.
Kim G
December 18, 2023 at 6:57 amI love the addition of the Peloton “bling”! Joining the comma club is a huge accomplishment – congrats!
Anne
December 19, 2023 at 10:30 amLoved reading this, San. As always. You had an amazing year – and I love how you connect through Peloton, now, instead of maybe through a gym. I’ll have to look into that Route 66 virtual race… no running, but I could certainly do the biking part! (I also walk on the treadmill – does that count? :>)