Summing up 2014

This post is brought to you by the letter B and the number 2014.

Best run?

I'm not sure I'm running often or regularly enough to be able to recall a "best" run...
Except.
Wait.
Yes there is one...

My first post-baby run. In the rain!

Oh wait, that was 2013?
Shucks.

Run-commuting, which is all I seem to have the time or energy for lately, just isn't that glamorous.

But there was that one run...

I got together with a group of co-workers and ran the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms!

Image cropped to protect the innocent

Touristy?
Oh hell, yes!
But it was a picture-perfect day for a run.


If you could sum up your year in a word, what would it be?

EXHAUSTION.
But also laughter.
And puke.
(My kid's. Not mine...)


Best read

Despite the exhaustion (or maybe because of it) I have done an incredible amount of reading this year... Amazon claims I downloaded nearly 3 dozen e-books, and I can attest to having read almost all of them. And the range is quite wide. I read through almost all of the Number One Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. I read cooking and travel books. I read (and quit reading) parenting books. I read management theory books...

Of that melange, some of my favorite reads, in no particular order, were:

• The Milk Memos: How Real Moms Learned to Mix Business with Babies-and How You Can, Too
• Lonesome Dove: A Novel
• A Fork In The Road: Tales of Food, Pleasure and Discovery On The Road (Lonely Planet Travel Literature)
• And I just started Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover: The Fourth Rule of Scoundrels (Rules of Scoundrels Book 4)

But if I had to pick one favorite of the bunch, it would be The Goldfinch: A Novel. Donna Tartt's new book was so compelling that I stayed up late at night to read "just one more page," even when I was bleary-eyed with sleep deprivation.



Best "in my kitchen" recipe

My whole cooking style has had to adjust to a new schedule and set of demands. So I have a many new favorite week-night recipes, and I've taken to roasting lots of vegetables on the weekend so there's less work to do during the week. (I especially love Yotam Ottolenghi's cauliflower with saffron and olives.)

But I've posted few of those new gems. So, by default, this year's winner is apple cake.

Best race experience?

I only ran one race this year... and I hated it.

Even the Independence Day 5k tradition, which survived the 2nd trimester of pregnancy, fell victim to new parent exhaustion and stroller unfriendly race rules.

But I did find an incredible new running group, and got some speed back!


Most popular post?

Quality clearly trumps quantity.

Despite my anemic post record this year, the blog continues to be popular.

DIY Halloween Running Costumes and Random Acts of Kindness generated enough traffic to land them in the top 10 posts ever on this blog!




Thank you all for sticking around in 2014.

Happy Running!!!!!

You might be a mother runner if (2014 holiday edition)

You might be a runner if...
(holiday edition)

• All you want for Christmas is... a jogging stroller that isn't so heavy.
• All you want for Christmas is... for your baby to sleep in so you can go for a run.
• All you want for Christmas is... a babysitter willing to cover the hours from 6-9am on a Sunday, so you can run your favorite race.
• You still decorate your Christmas tree with race medals... but now it's because your toddler has broken all of your other ornaments.
• You avoid gaining weight over the holidays by run-streaking running after your sugar-cookie-fueled toddler.
• On Festivus you've got "feats of strength" covered, but your list of grievances is mostly about sleep deprivation and toddler tantrums.
• You can eat your weight in Christmas cookies after a long run OR after a long night of teething-related sleep deprivation.
• Your yes or no RSVP to a holiday party depends on whether or not you have a race the following morning it works with your kid's nap schedule.
• At holiday parties, your idea of "small talk" still involves bodily functions - sweating, cramping, and GI issues... but now you're referring to labor and diaper changes, too. (And you wonder why people shy away...)
• You sing Christmas carols to your kid while you push the jogging stroller through your weekend workout. It has to increase your VO2 max, right?
• Santa tried to recruit you for this year's sleigh team because he saw you running at night... wearing a blinking red light... because the only time you can find to run is after your kid is asleep.

What would you add to this list?


See the running jokes page for more "You might be a runner" jokes.

Image source