Setting Goals And Looking Forward

I don't know if there is a real designated season for running since you can basically run a race every month for the entire year. I like to think the season starts in January and ends in December like the calendar year, so as the season comes to an end it is time to start setting goals for the remainder of this season and the beginning of next season.

As the cold weather starts to move in and the nights become darker faster I tend to not want to run as many races. I am not a cold weather runner. I would much rather run in the heat with the humidity rather than the snow and frigid temperatures. With that being said I only have one more race to wrap up this season. The 5 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I have ran this race the past 2 years and it is always bitter ass cold on race day, which made me never want to even attempt to go for a PR or anything like that. My best time was 40 minutes the first year and 42 minutes last year. This year though I had a great season of training and I learned to control my pace and was able to hit negative splits for most of my races. I think this year I am going to try and PR the race without really using a Garmin or anything. I am just going to go and run the race like I ran most races and see what happens. If I PR great if not then I guess it shows I need to do some work next season.
After the Turkey Trot there is one month where I will just continue to train the way I have been before going into full blown marathon training in January. The main goal is to just keep getting in some long runs so I am ahead of the game come marathon training and to stay injury free.

Next season will obviously start with the Kick Off runs for the Pittsburgh Marathon. I am planning to add a few more races before Pittsburgh this year. I normally will run the Just A Short Race in March and last year I added the Boston Trail Half Marathon in April. One race I am tossing around which I really want to go do is the Shamrock in Virginia Beach. I hear it is a flat and fast course and its a race that everyone should do. I am hoping to find a running friend from Pittsburgh that wants to do this and we can split the hotel cost. I am a pretty fun person to hang out with, just saying. 

Even if you are not planning on running many races I still suggest setting some type of goals. When you set a goal you have something to work toward and are less likely to give up.  Like I always said there is no goal that is to big, set them bigger and work harder.

"Shoot For The Moon, Even If You Miss You Will Land Amongst The Stars"

What are your "end of the season" goals?
How often do you set goals for yourself?