It’s that time once again when I like to look back at the past year of racing and 2025 sure was a great one for me. I covered quite a range of distances! I (very reluctantly) ran 800m on the track twice in one day, raced the mile for only my second time ever, did five 5Ks, one 10K, one 10-miler, six half marathons, one 20-miler, three marathons, one 5K swim, and three triathlons – two Olympic-distance and one that was a 10-part adventure race. My schedule below shows how all of that played out.

As a result of all of that racing, I had my biggest year of running ever with a total of 2,233 miles. 2,184 miles had been my previous best in 2021. While I’ve cut it close trying to “Run the Year” the past couple years, I far exceeded the goal this time. In the past I’ve only run two marathons in a year, so training for and running three in 2025 helped boost my running mileage.

As my running mileage grew, my swimming and biking mileage dropped. While I swam 144 miles in 2024, I was down to just under 87 miles in 2025. Biking is where I really dropped off. I went down from 1,339 miles in 2024 to 442 in 2025. That was enough to get me through the few triathlons I did, and without any half-iron races on my schedule, I didn’t feel the pressure to ride quite as much. It’s nice to change things up year-to-year and have different goals so I don’t really get too caught up in the numbers – it’s just interesting to see how it all adds up.

One of my biggest and most exciting accomplishments last year was doing the Dopey Challenge at Disney World in January. It was something I had wanted to try for quite some time and it lived up to everything I could have hoped for. Four consecutive days of racing between the 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon made up the biggest challenge I’ve undertaken. I was thrilled that everything came together so successfully and it was a really great experience.

I was fortunate to run the Boston Marathon for the fifth time last year. The challenge of getting in then making sure I train hard enough to be prepared for the tough course keeps drawing me back. Not to mention all of the activities and events that surround it. This time I was only 10 seconds slower than my previous best at Boston which was fast enough to get me in again this April!

I only did three triathlons last year but one of them was the Battle of Waterloo. The 10-part adventure run-bike-swim-run-swim-run-swim-run-bike-run race is always a very difficult but very rewarding experience that’s a highlight of the season.

I’m glad I finally did the Detroit Free Press Marathon which I probably should have done sooner, seeing as how it’s the big hometown race. I decided to go big for my first time by doing the Supreme Challenge: 1 mile, 5K, and marathon. After completing the Disney challenge so successfully I was looking forward to doing something along the same lines and it was another fun adventure. As an added bonus, I was pretty shocked to receive $40 in prize money for my mile a month after the race!

It’s fun to look back at the medals that represent each racing experience from the past year.

I still keep piling up way more shirts than I can ever wear – six alone from the Disney challenge! I collected quite a few cool ones in 2025.

I have plenty more fun things ahead in 2026. I just started 16 weeks of training for my sixth Boston Marathon so that will keep me working hard through the winter. Between the snow, ice, and cold I’ve already coped with, I hope this isn’t an extra tough winter of training.

I’m trying to get around to some of the races that have been on my “to-do” list and decided this will be the year I finally go to Duluth in June for Grandma’s Marathon. I’ve heard many great things about that race and I’m looking forward to it.

I was still debating what to do the second half of the year until I heard Des Linden and Kara Goucher talk about CIM (California International Marathon) on their “Nobody Asked Us” podcast. It reminded me that it’s been on my list and it might be the perfect one to add to my schedule in December. Just like that, I signed up. I don’t really do the New Year’s resolution thing but I DO find it to be the perfect time to sign up for races to give me some big goals to work toward. I enjoyed my Freep experience enough that I decided I wanted to do something there again this October. This time I’ll do the Wonder Challenge, which consists of the 1 mile, 5K, and international half marathon. As if all of that isn’t enough, I’m still wondering if it could be the year that I finally try the New York City Marathon. NYC is a bit overwhelming to me but I visited a couple times this fall and decided I might be ready to try it. I don’t know if I’ll get in through the lottery system though. If not, I’ll have to debate if I should try to pay my way in through a race travel company. Three marathons in one year might already be enough, but I’ve been on a roll…could I attempt to go for four this year? I guess I’ll see what happens!

With so much running on the agenda yet again, I’m not sure what triathlon season may look like. I know very well that when I’m training for a marathon I like to “save my legs” for running and I don’t bike very much. I probably won’t commit to anything quite yet and see how much I think I can juggle as it gets closer to summer.

As usual, I will hope my body cooperates for all of these ambitious plans and that 2026 is another good year of athletic adventures!

– Janet

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