Well, 2018 was an eventful year in my running journey.  Started off in February with a slip on ice that landed me in the ER with my first winter running injury.  Yet, still managed to top my annual race count with 10:  ran a 5k for the first time in five years, ran two 10ks, one 10 miler, and SIX half marathons!  I trained all year long despite the snow, ice, rain, humidity, or very hot weather.  If you followed along with my journey on Instagram you might recall me saying during the summer months, “summer miles equal fall PRs”.  Well, that was true again for 2018.  I topped my 5k, 10k, and half marathon PRs in the fall and winter.

I also made a big lifestyle change at the beginning of 2018 by becoming a vegetarian.  Was not sure how switching to a vegetarian diet would affect my running, but once I figured out what foods worked for me I noticed a big difference in energy and only saw positive momentum.  There were certainly days in the beginning I noticed lots of fatigue, but that didn’t last long once I figured out which foods gave me the right amount of energy.

Midsummer last year I did do a change in my training runs.  I noticed that in several half marathons, the hills really slowed my time down.  So, I altered my running routes and added more hills, which provided greater elevation gains than any of my past or future races would have.  This may have been one of the best and most important changes I made to my running.  I immediately noticed in my races that hills began to have little effect on me.

I got a lot of inquires during the hot summer months about running in the summer heat and humidity.  Some of the most common comments were: ‘Shouldn’t you take the hot day off and run on cooler days?’, ‘How do you keep hydrated and prevent chafing?’  I run on my scheduled days regardless of the weather. Each day, I remind myself that this is TRAINING for race day, because you never know what race day weather may be.  When I struggle on the real hot days, I remind myself that putting in the time will result in fall PRs.  Regarding chafing; yes this is a real issue that all runners and athletes know about.  I am very happy and pleased to be a brand ambassador for NIPEAZE, as this product works! It is so awesome that I never had any nipple chafing all year long.  Yes, I do use this all year and on every run.  I have used other products before I found NIPEAZE and none were right for me.  NIPEAZE for life here and no more nipple chafing, ever.

I may not be the fastest runner, but the enjoyment and challenge keeps running fun.  I hope that my blogs and Instagram posts help to inspire and motivate you.

Until the next entry, enjoy your runs and have fun.  If you want to follow along with my current running journey, you can follow me on instagram.com/tfitzbag and/or facebook.com/timfitzbagrunning

~Tim