I’ve typically always taken the winter months off from structured training and racing, dropping my volume, running just for fun but without following much of a training program. This year I decided to try something a little different.

Heading into my ‘off-season’ last fall after running the Grand to Grand Ultra, I decided to return to my road running roots and target the half-marathon distance instead.

What I learned was that running too fast can indeed make you slower, but that sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back before you can take two steps forward again.

2015 was my third full season on the trails and was by far my biggest. After running my first 100 miler in 2014, I wanted to raise the bar again by going a little faster and a little further, while taking care of some unfinished business and revisiting one of my first races, and testing my limits at a new style of racing.

This season wasn’t all about racing though, as I had an amazing summer of training that included a week in Colorado to pace a friend at the Hardrock 100. I also led my first two trail running clinics with North Shore Athletics, and got to be a part of Gary Robbins’ FKT of the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier while helping on a film project with the Ginger Runner.

As I set my goals for 2016, it’s time for me to now take a look back at my 5 biggest accomplishments in my 2015 racing season.

My race at the Fat Dog 120 (+10) Mile didn’t go exactly as planned, but was definitely still a success. After a few well-deserved days off, I was out to test out the legs which felt surprisingly good. But the fatigue would last for several weeks, along with an insatiable hunger.

It’s been a few months since I’ve posted a training update, but it’s certainly not for lack of having any training to talk about.

I had a successful run at the Sun Mountain 50 miler in May, where I nailed my goal of placing top 10, finishing in 7:47 for 6th place overall. This represented an hour improvement over my time from my first 50 miler there two years earlier, despite struggling with an ankle sprain.

The Diez Vista 50k in mid-April which was my first race of the season went pretty well, where I finished in 5th place. More importantly, I did so without getting injured like last year. But that didn’t last long!