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!!!!!