I’m awarding myself a polite golf clap today for achieving a small personal milestone, passing 2,000 miles of running for the year.

My previous annual best total was 1,402 miles in 2012, so to blow past that by nearly 50% with still a couple of weeks of the year to go feels like good progress.

I think it was fitting that I passed the 2,000 mile mark alone, on a cold, wet, deserted section of the Burke-Gilman Trail, near my home in Seattle, because in many respect these are the times, and the miles, that running is all about.

Races are great – I LOVE the races. The crowds, expos, the bling, the adrenaline rush and sense of community that you get and so on. But races are also just a moment of time – I covered just 52.4 of those 2,000 miles running actual marathons, so this milestone is for me really  a celebration of the grit, determination, resilience and self-motivation needed to run 4, 5 or 6 days a week, month in, month out, rain or shine.

I’m also happy that it means I’ve had my first injury-free year for a while. Aside from a short illness enforced break early in the year, I’ve pretty much been able to run when I wanted, and after a couple of injury interrupted years, that feels really good too.

What feels best of all though is that I’ll be back at it tomorrow.

What about you? Have you been able to hit any big milestones this year? Whatever you’ve done, I hope you take a moment to stop and smell the roses. Enjoy and celebrate your progress, however you measure that, and then keep moving….