With 2010 about ready to end, I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at my goals for the year and see how I did.

Goal #1: Get better at tracking my mileage. End result: So-so. I did OK with this goal for the first bit of the year and then got pretty lazy about it until I got my Garmin. Once Garmin came into my life, tracking my mileage became super simple. I didn't have to do anything other than plug Garmin into my computer and save the mileage. There's still room for improvement here, but I did OK.

Goal #2: Cook at least one meal a week. End result: Success. My cooking challenge was a huge success this year and I'll be doing a longer post about what I learned from my time in the kitchen on Friday.

Goal #3: Run lots of races of lots of different lengths. End result: Success. I ran a total of eight races this year: Three half marathons, two 10-milers, one marathon, one 10K and one 5K. Only two of the races were ones I had previously run. I love running new races and for the coming year I hope to include a good mix of old favorites and new races.

Goal #4: Access overall knee health and injuries and make final decision about whether I can run a marathon. End result: Success. After strong spring and fall training cycles, I decided my legs were ready to run a full marathon and I completed the Philadelphia Marathon in November.

Goal #5: Increase cross-training with a focus on strength training. End result: So-so. I did OK with this last winter. I was pretty good about doing my Jillian workouts, and I've really picked up the strength training again this month, but during my peak training times, I didn't cross train much at all and I definitely didn't strength train. There's definitely room for improvement here.

I definitely had some highs and lows when it came to training this year. I battled hip and knee problems all winter long, which in the end I determined were a result of my form on the treadmill. But I also seriously kicked butt during my races, setting several new PRs. Overall 2010 was a pretty decent year of running for me and I can only go up from here in 2011.

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• Marathon, Running, Sports, SportsPLUS, Personal

This post is related to an ongoing story:

• 2010: the Year in Review