One year ago, just a few months into the existence of this blog, I posted about my stats from 2017. I thought it would be a nice tradition to do this every year. I like stats!
I’d only had my Garmin for a short time last year so last year’s post was based on stats from MapMyRun. This year, I’ve worn my Garmin all year (even to sleep) so this time I have lots of fun graphs that have tracked my running, sleeping, and steps. One nice feature is the ability to compare yourself against the entire Garmin community or simply by gender and/or different age groups.
In looking back at last year’s post, my goals for 2018 were to run more races and to smash all of my PRs. I had just gotten back into racing in the summer of 2017, so I easily achieved these things. I ran 16 races in 2018 and I think I PR’d in all of them. I can’t say this trend will continue every single year (I mean, it has to stop at some point unless I am a robot) but 2018 was a great year for me as a runner.
In 2018, I ran (and walked) a lot! At least, compared to other Garmin users. In total, I took 6,544,751 steps, with a total distance of 3480.68 miles. I could have traveled from NYC to California and well into the Pacific Ocean.
That’s actually surprising. I wouldn’t have guessed I was running that much compared to other Garmin users. (I realize I might have more of a general population to compare myself against if I looked at my Strava stats, but I’ve barely used or looked at that app and only signed up for it last summer.)
I had a feeling that my speed would knock me down a few percentage points compared to the Garmin community, and I was right. A whole 39% of the population runs faster than I do – although my paces fall within the most popular range of paces.
I thought I might do better comparing myself to just women…
…and even better, my age group. Although not that much better. Ladies 40-44 are still pretty damn fast! A whole 20% of them are faster than me.
I wondered which age group was the fastest and thereby would make me look worst in comparison. Sure enough, it’s men 18-24. Although I run faster than a third of them – not too bad for an old broad like me.
I ran the most in September, when I was at peak marathon training. I ran the least in February, March, and July – months when I had dumb aches that prevented me from getting out there as much as I wanted to. November was also a “down” month given my lack of running following the marathon.
I was surprised to see that I’d run 1478 miles. Last year, I had a vague goal to run 1500 miles in 2018. Once July came and went, I had a feeling I wouldn’t hit that number and honestly kind of forgot about it. I was more focused on quality runs at that point as opposed to trying to get in the most miles. But had I known how close I would come to 1500, maybe I would have tried to break it with a month or so to go. At this point, though, I’m not running 22 miles with what’s left of 2018 (5 hours and 41 minutes, to be exact).
That’s a lot of calories. Good thing I ate as much as I did in 2018.
Here’s some step stats! Most steps in a day was the day of the NYC Marathon. No surprise there. Not sure what I was doing in early June. I guess just walking and running a lot.
Average number of steps a day: 17,930.8
Finally, my sleep stats. This is why I wear my Garmin to bed. I guess my sleeping habits were kind of crappy in 2018. I’m happy to say they’ve gotten better lately. I’m consistently getting about 7 hours a night. This means going to bed earlier than I ever have before, but I like it. I feel much better, too.
And let’s not forget my race stats! I ran more races in 2018 than any other year I’ve been alive. I’ve come to really love racing. They are great goals – I always want to have at least one race on the horizon I can look forward to, and even use to visualize while I run.
Races: 16
1M: 1 – PR: 6:47
5K: 3 – PR: 24:00 (7:44 pace)
4M: 2 – PR: 30:08 (7:32 pace)
10K: 4 – PR: 47:53 (7:43 pace)
15K: 1 – PR: 1:17:24 (8:19 pace)
12M: 1 – debut: 1:40:51 (8:25 pace) – TCS NYC Marathon Training Run
13.1M: 2 – PR: 1:46:34 (8:08 pace)
15M: 1 – debut: 2:15:35 (9:03 pace) – TCS NYC Marathon Training Run
26.2M: 1 – debut: 4:00:07 (9:10 pace)
Wow, that was a lot of stats. Mostly graphs, really. I love keeping track of things. It’s fun to be able to look back at a year’s worth of activity and see how far you’ve come.
I don’t have too many goals for 2019. Of course, I’d like to keep improving as a runner and as a human. In the back of my mind is the knowledge that, at some point, I’ll hit a plateau. I’m turning 45 next year, which is not old but it is also not young. I guess I’m… middle-aged. How do you like that.
That’s another thing: 2019 means a new age group. That’s exciting for me – as much as I really only compete against myself, it’s fun to size myself up against others. And lady runners 45-49 are no joke, so it’s not like it’s going to be a cake walk.
My major goal for 2019 is to run a marathon in 3:45. In all other races, I hope to continue to PR. I hope to have less soreness, fewer injuries, run more, sleep more, and eat more pizza. And maybe I’ll finally hit that 1500 miles in a year. Actually, I think I can definitely do that if I take care of myself.
Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve. See you all on the other side.
My Body Is A Machine 