I started running in 2009 as I was losing weight, and I got hooked—to the way those endorphins made me feel, to the victory of crossing the finish line, to achieving personal records.

But several years of aggressively chasing PRs wore me down and left me burnt out from running after my massive PR at the New York City Marathon last year. I took this year to let my running take whatever direction felt right, and I didn’t do many races. (I also thought I could apply my running endurance to a 70.3, but it turns out I’m not crazy about sitting on a bike for hours.)

2015, though, I’ve already got plans for you.

Marathon

I had a really fun day spectating NYCM…but I think it’s more fun to run. So I’m going to do that next year. It’s part of my master plan to BQ by the time I’m 35, when I get 5 more minutes (unless they change things again between now and then.) My current PR, 3:56, is 21 minutes away from my current AG’s BQ time…but only 16 minutes away from the 35+ qualifying time, and I’ll be 32 in February. My master plan is to just keep chipping away at that PR over the next few years, and BAM, BQ at 35. I’ve entered the lottery, but if I don’t get in, I’ll enter with a charity. There’s so many amazing ones to choose from that I’m not yet sure which one.

Half-Marathons

My current half PR is from the D.C. Rock ‘n’ Roll Half. They’ve added a jerk of a hill, but I’m familiar with the course and want to head back there to work on shredding my current half PR. Rock ‘n’ Roll is doing this great promotion today where you can register for three of their races for $199. I don’t care what date their new BK Half is, I’m running it. (San Diego is a huge maybe, I just wanted to play around with adding one more race to my TourPass and be slightly realistic…I do want to do their Dublin half, though.)

Brooklyn Half: The first year I ran this sucked, but I had an amazing time running it with coworkers last year. They don’t know it yet, but we’re running it again this year.

Triathlons

So, I learned 70.3 isn’t for me, but I did fall in love with the triathlon this year…

And at this point, it’s basically a tradition for me to do the Franklin Lakes Triathlon, so that’s a part of my plan FOR SURE…

…as is returning to my buddy, the Hudson River, and doing the NYC Tri again.

What’s on your race calendar for 2015? (Or the rest of 2014?)

Yesterday was the first time I spent the NYC Marathon on the sidelines watching since I first ran it in 2011, and I had the best possible day I could as a spectator.

I started the day off with a 3-mile run of my own, kind of thankful in that wind that I wasn’t running myself, but still a little nostalgic and wistful.

I made my way up to 88th and 1st to watch with my friend Heather. We stayed out there just long enough to see the elites pass, which was really cool. MEB!!!

Then, we made it over to the park, where we also saw the elite men cross the finish line.

But first, a selfie.

After that, we headed into the Blue Line Finish Lounge, where we ran into Jen! Thank you to Mary from New Balance for hooking me up with these tickets.

I look like a Michelin man in my puffy coat, so let’s go with a pic of Heather inside the lounge, which was such a fun place to watch from. It was nice and warm and they had a giant screen where you could watch the race. And maybe a little bubbly. We stayed in there until it closed, and then headed over to Cafe Tallulah, where I celebrated last year, to wait for some of our friends who’d run.

Congrats to Karen on your first marathon! You rock.

I went to sleep last night happy for a fun day celebrating friends, NYC and running. But enough time on the sidelines. I’ll be back next year.