My Year in Review: A 2006 Racing Pictoral

As I was waiting for my car to be serviced yesterday morning (de ja vu... I waited two hours the previous day, too, while my wife's Prius was serviced), one of the talking heads on television was waxing philosophical about the value of reflecting on the year that is quickly drawing to a close. I began this process a few days ago, thanks to a prompt from GRTC, but looking to extend the concept further, I figured an easy way to review my year in racing was to do so with the pictures I've collected electronically this year. It is kind of embarrassing to have so many pictures of oneself, but, yet, here they are! Like many parts of one's life that become part of normal behavior, the race experiences are beginning to run (UHG!) together...

In order from most recent to earliest, these are just some of the pics and races... I ran many cool races that aren't pictured here (in fact some of my favorites), but this would be a needlessly giant-sized post...

The first race covered was one in which a came "back to earth" a little... my first time running the Webster Turkey Trot 4.4 mile run which featured many excellent runners from the area. There was a large number of people participating and I was a little disappointed in my finishing place. I had gotten spoiled with a recent high places, due mostly to an uncanny ability to be at the right race at the right time and somehow (honestly, it wasn't on purpose!) I avoided races with the better local athletes.



Turning the final corner towards the finish line of the 2006 Run for Hospice, one of the many races I register for in the town that I currently teach in, Greece, NY. It is nice to occasionally see colleagues and students both running in, and cheering on others, at races.



If you think this pic looks a little odd, you're right, and not just because I'm in it! This is from near the finish line of the Seneca Falls Women's Rights 10k, and was taken by my wife. It looks odd because I photo-shopped the pic to look like an oil painting for use as a banner on this page... times change and so does the banner, but here it is for posterity.



The finish line of the 2006 FleetFeet Firecracker 5 Mile Run on July 4. This was the second time I had run this particular race. The course goes past the home my kids live in with their mother, so it was nice to go by, while my son was sitting on the curb cheering me on. This was also the first time I bested another runner who has regularly placed higher than I.



The final stretch of the 2006 Johnny's Running o' the Green. The course for this race has become a standard part of one of the ten miles loops I train on during the year, so hopefully I'll do better next year. This five mile run is unique (to me) in that it "feels" like a very short five miler. The view of downtown coming down the lat mile and a half over the river is fantastic.



The finish line at the 2006 Greece Valentine's Day Run, which was also a 2006 Freezeroo Series race.



The starting line at the 2006 Muddy Sneaker Trail 20k. There I am, in an oh-so-fashionable purple t-shirt, checking my watch all the way to the right of the picture.



The following is actually, a late-2005 picture from my first Freezeroo Race, The Ogden 10k.



Preparation for the 2007 Year in Review begins on Monday, January 1, with the first race of the new year, the second Freezeroo Series race, the Mendon 7.5 mile New Year's Resolution Run. See you there!

Embrassez votre été invincible!