Miles in
2014: 100
Days until
Nike DC Women’s Half Marathon: 88
Recently I posted
a picture of my 2014 Running Goals on my facebook. It’s a funny thing about
goals. You make them for your own
personal growth, but to help with accountability you almost have to share
them. Goals can be nerve racking if you
put them out there for everyone to see.
If you don’t reach them – people might judge you. If you do reach them there is always someone
hating on your accomplishments.
I was
admittedly not a very strong runner when I first started. I hurt, I couldn’t breathe, I was too slow
for the group, I couldn’t keep up, I couldn’t finish a run using our 3:1
intervals, the list goes on and on. If
you were to ask my parents, I’m sure that they would agree with this next
statement. I’ve always been incredibly
stubborn. So I was not going to let this
running thing get the best of me. Every
5k I ran the goal was the same “I want to go under 40 minutes.” I came close on my 3rd one. At the 3 mile marker the time was 39:30… I yelled
and cursed out the man with the clock.
Finally 2 months later during my next 5k I was able to finally break
that elusive 40 minute mark. After my
first half (in my defense I ran it sick and had my fever break during the race)
a new goal was in place, this one was achieved in my next half. Running my first marathon I came nowhere near
my expected time goal. I’ve learned
about goals, you don’t have to reach them right away, that’s why it’s a goal.
2013 I
knocked things out of the park. I PRed
EVERY SINGLE DISTANCE I raced! That’s not normal. I took my marathon time down by an hour and
14 minutes. That’s CRAZY. My half marathon time came down 4 minutes
since my previous PR (and almost an hour from that miserable first race.) My 5k PR was 31 minutes and change – I can
run a 5k under that once elusive 40 minute mark without “really” trying
anymore. In short, it was a good
year. In the past I have been accused
(here come those “haters” I mentioned before) of only caring about myself and
my own personal times, or only running to improve and not to have fun. So let’s tackle those misconceptions.
I know I’m
not perfect, I’m no running saint, BUT I do genuinely want to see everyone I meet
through this running adventure do well with their own goals. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy being a group
leader. In 2013 I walked a half marathon
with my best friend, threw time out the window to just enjoy being able to do that
with her. I ran a few different races
with people new or coming back to running so they wouldn’t have to go it alone,
I helped officially pace a race almost 20 minutes slower than my PR. I RODE A ROLLER COASTER DURING A
MARATHON. So clearly time isn’t always
important, sometimes people need support more than I need to shave some time
off of my PR.
Now to the
one that really gets me. Yes, sometimes
I want to kill it out there on the road.
I was a swimmer in high school. One
thing that taught me was yes, I’m swimming against the other 7 swimmers in this
heat, but I’m also swimming against my own best time. I carry that notion with me when I run a
race. Yes, sometimes I want to beat
someone in front of me (sometimes I know them, sometimes they are just a random
target I’ve selected) but truly running is an individual sport. When you’re at the level of running I am it
is very unlikely that I will be in the front of the pack or a contender for any
awards. So really I just want to improve
on myself. I work very hard to get
better at what I’m doing. My parent’s
would also probably agree to this next statement. When I start something I dive in head first
and take it to the extreme. People have
called me too competitive. Sometimes,
yes, I am competitive. But I think it
really boils down to this: If I’m going
to spend this much time on something – why wouldn’t I give it my all? I know plenty of runners who are happy with
where they are. It’s comfortable and
they enjoy it. That’s great, they are
out there doing something wonderful.
However, for me, that’s not enough. I know I can be better. Sure it would’ve been easy to stay where I started. Running a few 5k’s and some 3 hour average
marathons. For some people that is there
goal. I know myself well enough to know
that if I stayed there in the 13-18 minute miles I wouldn’t be happy with
myself and I would quit after a while.
So for me the answer was to put in the work religiously and
improve. What I don’t understand is how
people think you can’t have one without the other. Yes, I can push myself hard in training and
targeted races AND STILL HAVE FUN. It’s
possible. I’ve picked up a pretty
amazing group of people that I train with.
Sometimes I’m up front and sometimes I’m the sweeper, but I ALWAYS enjoy
the time we spend together.
So here they
are my 2014 Running Goals:
1: Be at the
third milestone in Nike+ by the DC Women’s half – this means I need to run
about 356 more miles before April 27.
Looking at my training, it’s totally possible, I just need to sneak an
extra 35 or so miles into my training.
2. Get to
the Black Level in Nike+ - I expect that I will be Leveling up sometime in
August.
3: Run 1200
miles in 2014 by running an average of 100 miles a month. I still have one run left this month and I’m
already at 100 miles! Right on track!
4: Here are
the big ones - THE TIME GOALS:
5k – under 30
minutes
Half
Marathon – under 2:15 in the spring and under 2 hours in the fall
Marathon –
Under 5 hours at the Portland Marathon in October
These may be
difficult. That’s why they’re
goals. I know that if I achieve them
some people will be ecstatic for me and some will be “haters” I’m ok with
it. And if I don’t reach them, that’s ok
too, I set some tough goals in order to really push myself into continued
success. I mean, why shouldn’t I?
