running by the numbers 2024

Like many of the apps we use these days, Strava has an end of year wrap up that shows how many miles you ran, vertical gain, time spent training, etc. I want to share this with you today because I had a bit of a comeback to running this year, and I was surprised to see my miles compared to the past few years. If you get anything out of this, I hope it’s that you realize playing the long game is key. If I run for the rest of my life, a couple of down years will just be a blip.

To paint the picture, let’s go all the way back to 2019, what I would consider my ‘peak’ running year where I logged the most miles and felt very fit.

(btw, this is chump change for big milage people)

In 2020 I start my slow decline. I ran a couple big epic runs like a Hut Traverse, but it seems stressful now.

2021 - We have a baby at home and running is hard to prioritize but I still get out there.

2022 - we have a two year old, another baby on the way, running takes a back seat. I had a hard time getting excited about running at all this year and remember that clearly.

2023, my low point of running. I hated running this year, and couldn’t get myself to enjoy it at all. I ran only once race.

Whenever I would get out on a run I would feel guilty… I should be with the kids, or mowing the lawn or calling this person back… These thoughts had been building for a couple years and reached the breaking point this year - I was no longer having fun.

After the 50k in August I decided it was time for a long break from running. I took some time to chill and the hired a weightlifting coach in November, and would spend 6 months training specifically for the sport of weightlifting thinking my running days are behind me because it just wasn’t fun anymore - it was stressful. And of course it was stressful, in 5 years I went from 200+ hours of running to only 60. The drop off was noticeable and it felt like I wasn’t being productive for any of it to even matter.

My 2024 running season started in February, though I didn’t get out for my first run until April. I was in full on weightlifting mode, gaining weight and training hard in a new rhythm now with a coach telling me what to do for a new sport.

When the Mount Washington Road Race lottery opened up, I couldn’t resist. I threw my name in for the 8th year and finally got picked!

I was stressed. I was coming off my ‘worst’ year of running and now I hadn't even run in months and Mount Washington was just 7 weeks after the weightlifting meet! But I had to do it, it’s a classic race and it’s been on my list for a while so I accepted my registration and forgot about running until after the weightlifting meet.

Getting into that race sparked something in me. I ran 7 races this past summer, more than I ever have. I had fun too, and really enjoyed it for the first time in years.

Having to ‘cram for the test,’ and get ready to charge up Mount Washington was a novel problem to solve - how can I get ready to run this very quickly with just several weeks of training? That combined with the Hannah taking on her longest trail run ever, 20-miles, was the spark I needed to be reinvigorated for the summer.

Here are the races:

Bow Lake 15k

Market Square Day 10k

Mount Washington Road Race

MMD Franconia Notch

Wasatch pacing

Great Bay 5k

Stone Cat 50 Miler (DNF, ran 25)

Here are some other numbers from the 2024 running season:

Longest run: 45 miles at Wasatch Front

Longest streak: 44 days (July 1-Aug 12)

Most active day of the week: Thursday

Most active time: 2-3pm

Average activity duration: 40 minutes

Total active days 140 - 73% increase from 2023

Total run time: 150 hours - 107% increase from 2024

Currently, I’m on a break from running. My goals for 2025 are fluctuating as I decide what to do. The break has been since early November, when I DNF the 50-miler. That result definitely changed my outlook on the 2025 season, but nonetheless I’m feeling the itch to get out there sooner than before.

Above: finish line on top of the Rock Pile.

Below: me and Noli finishing a stroller run at the Great Bay 5k and Market Square Day 10k.

The point, as I mentioned above, is to dive into these numbers because it’s fun to look back and reflect. Also though, I want to prove a point that just because you have a bad day or week or year(s) it isn’t over. We need to focus on playing the long game if we want to live healthy and fulfilling lives and part of that is the peaks and valleys of your training life cycle.

Take some time today to reflect back on your 2024 training. How did it go? What trends can you spot? How can you adjust heading into 2025?

Thanks for reading.

Justin Miner