A 2011 retro-/ introspective

2011 started with an injury and continued along the same lines until its conclusion. I've been injured the whole year: plantar fasciitis, a strained thigh muscle, and the mysterious pain in my foot that comes and goes, but never goes completely. One or all of them have accompanied me every single day of the past year.

It was the year where a black cloud came into my life and firmly established itself over my head. I've managed to ignore it for the best part of the year. I don't have to look up, after all. But it's there. Oh, it's there. It's casting a shadow and blocking out the sun. I wish I could say that it hadn't affected me, but it has, and it will continue to do so in the months to come. The work situation didn't help, either; stress has been a constant issue, especially last autumn.

But it was also the year where new milestones were reached. New personal records were set. New boundaries were crossed and new goals suddenly became realistic. I ran two half-marathons in the spring, on a still-injured foot, after having spent the entire winter with ”long runs” of 12-15 km. The first one was run on an empty stomach – now that was an experience I wouldn't recommend to anyone. In the summer, I had a taste of trail running in the mountains and fell head over heels in love with it. I built endurance and perseverance by running a few 30 km- runs solo. Last August, I covered a distance of over 60 km on foot, 51 while running. In the autumn, I ran my first marathon race. And, finally, last November I tested my limits and came out on the other side unscathed: the Ultra Intervals, 8x10km in one day, and one of the most bizarre and most wonderful experiences of my life.

Races, group runs, mud, mountains and many, many kilometres...this year had them all

It was the year I ran over 2200 km, which is 800 km more than last year and an average of approximately 185 km per month and 6 km per day. Despite all my injuries. Or maybe my injuries were a result of these 2200 km? Last New Year's Eve, as I was saying goodbye to my dream of running Stockholm marathon because of my raging plantar fasciitis, one of my resolutions was to listen to my body more. I think that I have done that, despite the obvious evidence to the contrary. I have gotten better at telling when that pain I'm feeling is just a passing one and I can keep running, and when it's the kind that can lead to injury. Better; not great. I'm still learning. I've also gotten better at prehab, building up strength in my body so that it can cope with what I put it through. Let's hope that it pays off in 2012 and that I can spend the year injury free.

Thanks for the memories, 2011. You've been a nasty piece of excrement at times. But I kind of loved you anyway.