WordPress sent me my annual “Year in Blogging” report the other day, which reminded me that 2015 is coming to a close, and I really ought to reflect on the year that was. This year wasn’t my most exciting or interesting, but it certainly wasn’t a bad year, either.

As far as blogging, I’m a bit disappointed in my level of dedication this year. If you’re really bored and read my year-end report, you’ll see that my posting tapered off severely in the last three months of the year, and a couple of my most popular posts of 2015 weren’t even written in 2015. Blogging is just a hobby, of course, and my real job took precedence recently (as it should), but I need to carve out more time for writing in 2016. But that’s a topic for another post; for now, let’s look back at the highlights and lowlights of my 2015:

Miles run: 

2393

Favorite Races:

Blue Sky Trail Marathon. I was nervous about trail running, but I fell in love with it as I trained for and ran this race.

Chase the Moon Relay. This was such a fun way to celebrate turning 30.

Races That Didn’t Go As Planned:

Lincoln Marathon. Darn you, first hot day of the year.

Skirt Sports 13er. Okay, so maybe it’s not fair to put this one here, as it did go as planned. I planned it as a training run and ran it as one… but wished I’d raced it. Spoiler: there’s a good chance this will be on my 2016 calendar. #Redemption.

Most popular blog posts:

Dear Americans: Stop Being Ignorant about Your Food 

Why Women Need to Stop Saying “Just” and “Only”

Best Getaways:

Carribbean Cruise — our big trip of the year

Camping in Leadville — our first camping trip together. LOVED IT.

Estes Park Winter Weekend

Best Books I Read: 

I intended to post reviews of some of these, but clearly that didn’t happen. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed these and you should read them, too! The links are to Amazon just for your convenience. I don’t get a kickback or anything.

Get Up: The Dire Consequences of Sitting and What We Can Do About It by James A. Levine. This book changed my own practices and my teaching practices. Everyone should read it.

Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay. Relateable, thought-provoking essays on what it means to be a feminist. Loved it.

The Silence of Great Distance by Frank Murphy. This book explores the evolution of women’s distance running. It’s fascinating.

The Ultra Mindset by Travis Macy. Even if you’re not a runner, Macy’s tales of adventure racing and the life lessons from them will keep you entertained and help you examine your own life.

Stronger by Jeff Bauman. An incredibly inspiring story of one of the Boston marathon bombing survivors

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. #GirlPower

Worst Books I Read: 

They can’t all be winners. No links here because trust me, you don’t want to buy them.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. I literally threw it across the room after reading the line, “His lips are at my ear and he says nothing at all but I melt until I’m a handful of hot butter dripping down his body.” That type of junk was all through the book. Did I mention that this is a young adult book? Horrid.

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life  by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. I wanted to like this book; I really did. But it was wicked boring. Speaking of which…

Wicked by Gregory McGuire. My mother-in-law took all the family females to see the play in Denver last spring, and I wanted to read the book first. Liked the play, hated the book.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. Another YA book that should’ve been decent and instead was trite and oversimplified. Like Shatter Me, it did not make it onto my classroom shelves.

Goals I Met: 

Last year, instead of of making resolutions, I  made general goals — more of some things, less of others. The goals I met were:

• More trail running. I got in a lot of it, including a race. Win!
• Less hair-washing. I’m down to every-other-day washes, in case you care.
• More adventures. Still not as many as I’d like, but we got in three camping trips, a vacation, and two other mountain weekends, so I can’t complain.
• More risks. I’m putting this as a kind-of win, because I definitely have more room to step out of my comfort zone.

Goals I Didn’t Meet: 

• More yoga. For most of the year, I was less than great about yoga-ing. I’ve started getting back in the groove lately, so this will go back on my list of 2016 goals.
• More PRs. I didn’t PR once this year. Whomp whomp.
• More writing. Again, see the last three months. #Fail.

2015 wasn’t the most exciting year of my life, but nor was it the most boring. As I looked back on last year’s post, I realized that I wrapped up 2014 in much the same way. So maybe next year will be the not-average year? Stay tuned in the next couple of days for my goals and plans for 2016!

 

What was the highlight of your 2015?