GOALS

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 3^rd 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?