As 2015 is quickly approaching, I have been reflecting upon 2014. I had a few set backs this past year. A stress fracture in my left foot in the spring, moving in the summer, a very busy political season at work in the fall, and a bit of soreness in my right foot after Thanksgiving. All of which threw off my goal of completing my first full marathon in December. In retrospect, this wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s pointed out things I need to focus on in the coming year. Also, I am not Wonder Woman despite my best efforts to pretend that I am.

I have been reflecting upon when I picked up running again. The dreaded season of shin splints in high school caused me to look into why I was plagued with the injury in the first place. The long and short of it: running too much too soon. So when I picked things back up, I started at a snail’s pace. And I was injury free for quite some time. I started pushing my luck when I increased my distances to get that first half marathon under my belt. I wasn’t building my base well and it cost me. A year full of injuries from over training and not listening to my body have put things for this coming year into perspective.

I have my calendar of races already planned out. I have a few favorites that I do every year and I my goal race for the year is to complete the full IMT Des Moines Marathon in mid October. The rest of the year will be slowly building a solid base for my running. As I am just finishing up physical therapy on my right foot, I have only been doing one to two mile runs, while slowly making myself into a morning runner. That’s still a work in progress. But when I do run in the morning I have found that while I am still tired at work, I actually do get a mood boost through the day. Reason enough to incorporate more running in the morning. Now to just get myself up and out the door in the cold winter weather. Small battles I suppose.

So here’s the list of my running resolutions for 2015:

• Run in the morning before work.
• Visit the gym for strength/cross training.
• Do speed work with the Capital Striders from April-October.

It’s a fairly short list, but I know that I need to focus on building my body into a better running machine in order to complete the marathon in October.