2017 Recap - Detroit Runner or Biker?

Hey all, long time, no post.  For those that have followed me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, you know that I was injured at the end of June this year.  It took some time to heal (and I purposely took off more time that I needed) and, in the meantime, I didn't just sit around and do nothing (Well, not everyday at least).

I moved to biking in July and started using my old road bike and my old mountain bike.  I used to ride my road bike thousands of miles years back when I was in school.  The injury was both a blessing and a curse.  No running but lots of biking.  And by the way, biking costs so much more!!!!

My 25+ year old mountain bike

I wanted to run again however this time I couldn't.  Fortunately I fell back in love with biking and bought myself a cross bike.  I figured I'd ride my old bike until I was sure I was going to get into biking again.

Specialized Crosstrail - an awesome all around bike!

I was able to get my endurance on the bike up to 50 miles and was pretty happy with that.  I even rode to work in the Summer several times.  Given the distance you need to cover on a bike to make it equivalent to a run, I got to explore some new places and some great trails and parks that I never would have seen from running.  I even did a bike race as well as a tour this year for the first time and it was so fun!

Beat the Trail group ride - a 34 mile course through Detroit (and it's awesome)

Tour De Troit - did this with a couple friends and was super fun

Then I liked it so much, I decided to buy a Fat Bike.  This was not only so that I could get back onto the trails that I loved running but also so I could bike all year long.  I had a little mishap at the end of October and fell on the bike and bruised some ribs.  Wow!  It took me out for 4 weeks - no running or biking of any kind for the majority of November. 

Addison Oaks mountain bike trails

It's been quite an adventure but I love having the option of biking in the Winter.  For those of you that have not tried it, it's really a fun sport riding on the snowy trails.

The Specialized Fatboy Fat Bike

I also added snowshoeing into the mix to help do some cross-training.  I really plan to focus more on cross-training this year to help keep me from injury.  Not only is snowshoeing really fun, it's a great workout as well.

The snow has been plentiful for snowshoeing this season.

Finally, I also got back to running but only December has been a little more regular.  I've built back to about 3.5 miles per run and continue to get stronger everyday.  I hope to be back to 100% by late Spring/Summer.

Finally some running too

I ended my year with 1,442 miles on the bikes and 786 miles running.  I'll take it for a year when injury was the theme.  The best thing that came out of this was that I now have two primary sports to focus on for next year.  Maybe I should start to swim?

My goal for 2018 is to get back to more regular running and get my distance back to the half marathon.  I'll likely not run a marathon or longer distance again but I do love the challenge of the half marathon and I can do the training for this while still being able to ride the bikes regularly too.  I've missed out on a lot of running races this year so hopefully I'll be back with a few reviews for some new races next season but we will have to see about that next year.

Hope you all had a great year.  With my injuries, I'm very happy 2017 is over and am looking forward to a much better year in 2018.

Have a great day and.....Keep Running!!!! (and Biking!)