What was your surprise accomplishment in 2019?!

My husband and I unexpectedly ran an ultra marathon! At the last minute my husband and I entered the Tour d’Esprit 24 hour race, which is a time based race during which you run as many circuits of a 1 mile course, both roads and trails, as possible. We had not been training for anything more than 10k, and had never previously run longer than a half marathon. We figured we would do at least 10k, since a glance at previous years’ results showed that the majority of people in our age group did 10k, attend the spaghetti dinner at the race site, and then see what we had left in the tank.

We ended up doing 11 miles before dinnertime. A half is 13.1 miles so it seemed obvious we should do at least a half, since it was only a couple more miles. Then we said, hey, if we just do that again we will have run a marathon! So we did 27 miles that night. And then we got a little sleep and said, 27 miles is technically an ultra since it’s longer than a marathon but it’s kind of weency for an ultra, why not do a few more miles and call it 50k? So we did a few more miles and ended up running our first 50k.

It’s not something I planned to do, and I doubt I will do it regularly, but we enjoyed running all through the night in the wilderness, passing other runners quietly struggling in the darkness, checking in with the guys at the timing booth each circuit. A 24 hour race is very different from a 5k!

I surpassed my yearly running mileage goal by a hundred miles, for a grand total of 700 miles! I attribute this to the fact that I had a UAE procedure to treat multiple fibroids and I’m no longer borderline anemic from them for the first time in years! I feel like my endurance has improved immensely. Also it’s now been about 6 years since I started running and I feel like I’ve really dialed in my form... didn’t even have any tendinitis so it’s been a fantastic running year for me, I’ve had so much fun! Happy New Year to all!

In January 2019, I weighed 231 pounds. I quit smoking, eating fast food, drinking coke, and all things containing corn syrup, and went on a low calorie vegetarian diet. In march I bought a spin bike and began using it every day. By june I had dropped 40 pounds, and now in december I'm weighing in at 160. Talk about surprise accomplishments, I'm still wondering whats going on!

I had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and after just a couple of months I have recovered more than some ever do from the surgery. So I guess getting the shoulder repaired and a speedy, determined recovery is my biggest accomplishment

Both my Century rides in 2019 were surprise accomplishments in different ways.

First one in July was supposed to be an organised Audax ride of just under 90 miles as preparation for my planned big August one where I was raising money for charity. Coming back from a major lumbar disc prolapse, a lot of family commitments and subsequently feeling under-trained I need to confirm to myself I could get the distance.
When the route came though it had grown to over 90 miles and on the day a road closure and reroute brought the distance up again. And then only 14 miles in I had a huge and very fast crash. Bike was a bit of a mess but I could make it rideable - I was a lot of a mess but could ride on with a torn medial knee ligament, displaced clavicle, mashed hand and fingers plus a lot of abrasions. As the day was ruined I thought I should salvage something from it.
A navigation error brought the distance up to 98 miles so I went past the finish and back again to click off the 100 miles and finish my hardest ever ride on a small high.

My physio had cleared me to ride in the August one "as long as I was sensible and didn't crash". My knee was very unstable as it was already missing a couple of important bits before I badly tore the MCL and although riding shouldn't damage it further a crash could be serious. Sensible plan was to take it steady until all the major climbs were done by 60 miles and then raise the pace only if I felt OK.
A few minutes before the start I had a "sensible and senile are far too similar, sod it - don't finish and wonder how you could have done it if you had given it everything" moment. Decided to flip my plan and push hard from the start and slow down if I had to.
Ticked off all three goals of a Century PB, 20 miles in an hour (managed 40 in 2hrs) and raised well over £1000 for a cancer charity in memory of my FIL & BIL.

Last New Years I was recovering from a total hysterectomy and single oophorectomy... mentally, emotionally, and physically I was a mess! Definitely struggled with depression through all of winter (SAD plus the emotional mess from all the hormone fluctuations and inability to get on with normal life).

Started to get back into running, but had gained enough weight that it was pretty hard on my joints. By the end of our cross country vacation in August I was up 15 lbs from before surgery. Day to day I just felt awful.

One day I said “no more!” Enjoyed a last hoorah meal out, and the next morning started MFP.

15 lbs down, physically able to do more than I have been able to do in years (fibro and chronic fatigue). I fully ran more than one 5k and am currently training for my first Sprint Tri this spring! 6 months ago I felt “done” - at 35 I didn’t know if I was going to ever be able to do much outside of day to day functioning. My mom has commented on how much better I sound emotionally as well. A couple hiccups where depressions tries to show it’s ugly self but it is quickly snuffed out!

ETA: oh! And yesterday I did 90 minutes at the trampoline park with the family! Rock wall, flips, jumps, dodgeball, basketball dunks - it was a blast! My husband said he feels like he has his wife back He never made me feel bad on my hard days/weeks/months, but inside he didn’t know if life would ever be the same

Qualifying for and competing in USAPL (powerlifting) Nationals.