2020 was something, am I right?!
Truthfully that title alone could be all I wrote, closed the blog post, and it was done. No one expected the pandemic to last this long. Even me, who sometimes has flashbacks to my epidemiology courses in college. (I got my degree in community health and took courses in epidemics, pandemics, and public health information…)
But is this not about 2012 me? It’s about 2020 me.
So where to start for this year. All of these happened:
- I made it to 300 diners.
- I broke my foot
- I moved across the country.
- I ran more miles than I EVER have in the decade I’ve run.
Here is the 1000 word version:
On January 1st, 2020, I had my best running race of the year. I declared 2020 was going to MY YEAR! I was going to run a sub 1:25 half marathon again and get back into shape. I was motivated and hungry. Like anyone, I didn’t realize what was truly in store for me.
In February, my husband and I settled on a “low-key” vacation to Hilton Head. When I lived in the Northeast, I found getting out of the area for a couple of weeks was good. So we went to Hilton Head, South Carolina. I ran a 1:31 half marathon, which I was equal parts happy but also disappointed with. I thought I was “in better shape.” Which, I probably was. That race ultimately set into motion a chain of events that led to my stress fracture. My Achilles became inflamed from the Nike Next%. Looking back now, it’s also scary we boarded an airplane in mid-February.
On March 1st, I ran the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup 4 Miler. During the last .25, something felt “off.” I thought I had torn a tendon in my ankle, but ultimately I found out I had a calcaneus stress fracture. It shocked everyone, including me.
As the world knows, the pandemic hit in March. My spouse was gone on a work trip, and I didn’t leave my house for nearly 2 weeks. (like I literally didn’t leave). I couldn’t be wait bearing with a broken foot, but also I had no need to leave because everything was closed. Looking back, this might be one of my greatest life achievements but not something I hope to do again.
April and May were extremely uneventful. I spent most of April healing. I canceled an unrelated trip to the Bay Area due to COVID. In May, I started running again. It was nice to finally get back outside and enjoy running. In fact, the most of this year and maybe of my life. I actually got more into biking for a few months. 
In June, we began the process of moving from New Jersey to California. We found out only a few weeks before our exact move date. Military moves can be like that sometimes, and that doesn’t even count moving in the pandemic. We were lucky our move continued as planned but June and most of July were a mess.
All of these things happened during our cross country move:
- Our car shippers lost our car keys.
- Our move packers got into a yelling match and walked out mid-pack.
- Our cat went missing the night before, and we had half of the neighborhood roaming the streets (we also posted a $1000 reward, and let me tell you, that gets people out)
Just before moving, I turned 30 on July 12th, and we did a 30k hike. Mentally I knew how far 30k was, but I never put it together that it would take us 8+ hours until we actually got there. Anyway, it was a lot of fun.
Our cross country move from New Jersey to California was a fun trip. Traveling across the country during COVID was scary, and I would never advise anyone to do it “just for fun,” but we had as enjoyable of a time as we could. We aren’t big tourist people, so we never felt like we were missing out. We didn’t eat in any restaurants and kept to ourselves. My favorite was stopping in Big Sky, MT, and hiking Cinnamon Mountain.
August was spent finding a spot to live in California. We settled in Napa because it was cheaper than the Bay Area and close enough to Travis AFB. We love living here.
In September, I spent a good portion running indoors due to the fires. I never realized how big and the extent of California fires. There were days the air was bright red, and you 100% could not go outside and run. We had 2 significant fires burn close to us, including the Glass Fire, which took out millions in Napa wine.
In October, I decided to test my fitness with a virtual half marathon. I ran a 1:31, and while I was happy, I was hoping to be faster (is that the theme of this year, maybe). I went down for a week to the high desert at Edwards AFB, and it was fun to see a different spot in California.
November was spent getting back into track workouts. I also saw my brother and met his fiance. I hadn’t been to San Diego in a while.
Not too much happened in December. I spent most of the month logging big miles, track workouts, and some trails too. We celebrated the holidays again with my brother and his fiance.
In December, I did get more into baking and cooking. I cooked a red velvet cake, cookie cake, and peanut butter cake as well. I won’t say this is a “foodie blog,” but I am trying new things, which has been fun.
What will happen in 2021?
I have no idea. As a military spouse, I stopped planning things a la 2014. If you asked me on January 1st did I think my best race would be Jan 1, I would break my foot, we would move across the country during a pandemic, and reside in Napa, CA, I would have LOLed. I don’t think 2020 was a great year by any means, but I also think I learned a lot about myself and what I can do. I don’t think every year can be the best ever, and this certainly wasn’t one of them.
Question for you: How was your 2020?