HAPPY NEW YEAR friends!!!! I don’t know about you, but I am ready to start this year. Don’t get me wrong 2014 was a great year, but I have my eyes set on 2015. Like last year I set some goals for myself. The difference this year though is I actually sat down and planned out a way to reach my goals. Just like last year I am setting the bar high. Like I said before, you have to dream big, set big goals in order to accomplish big things. I plan on accomplishing some big things for myself this year. So without any further ado here is my goals for 2015.
The first and main goal is obviously to make it through the 2015 year injury free. Now I know that some things are unpreventable, hell even Olympic athletes are not above an injury. What I can do though is take the best measures. I will be stretching more pre and post runs. I will dedicate a few minutes each night to roll out my muscles with my massage stick, and I will use my compression socks to help with recovery time.
Goal number 2 is going to be run under 1:30 for the PGH Half Marathon in May. This goal is the one that I am working on right away. I have come up with a training plan that will help me get faster and help me with my endurance. Starting on Monday I will be waking up before work and going to the gym every day to do my normal body workout, which consist of lifting and using the synergy machine to help with obstacle races. I will start bringing my running clothes to work and I will do runs as soon as I finish work. This is going to give me an extra hour of sunlight and it will give me some new courses during the week. I also have already started a diet. My plan is to drop 15 lbs. before the race and go into it the lightest I have been in years. This goal is very doable for me and I figure it will be my determining factor on how I want to play out the fall. If I hit my goal and go above it, then I am signing up for the Erie full marathon in hopes of Boston. If it is a total failure which I am already saying it won’t be, then I will stick do doing more half’s and working on my speed. I also plan to bump my speed workouts a lot this season. Last season I feel I didn’t give it my all on the track. So this season it is time to go back to the basics of what I know and do the speed workouts from the ground up.
Goal number 3 is to continue to drop my 1 mile time. Last year my goal was to get back under a 5 minute mile. Well I haven’t done that since high school and I need to realize I am no longer in high school. That ship sailed in ’97. However I did manage to drop 15 seconds from two seasons ago to last season. At the liberty mile I finished with a 6:01. My goal is drop at least another 15 seconds this season. I am going to be doing a lot more speed workouts for marathon training and hopefully this will help in this area. One problem I had last season was going to the track and it being full with people and kids on the field. For some reason I would get nervous and hold back on what I was doing. I need to get over that this season and just focus on myself.
Goal number 4. Do more obstacle races. What can I say I am hooked on these races. As a kid growing up I was always climbing and jumping from things. These races are built for me. My running background gives me an advantage on the endurance part, now I just need to focus on the strength part. Once again my marathon training is going to play right into this. I am already signed up for a few races and I even have some friends doing them with me this season, so I am looking forward to that.
Goal number 5 and probably the most important to me, I want to help other runners get better. The main reason I even started this blog was to hopefully inspire someone who may be on the fence about running to at least give it a try. I want to share any knowledge I have from my 20 years of running and help other runners reach their goals. I have already started the year off by doing this. During a #runchat session a fellow runner asked if someone would help her with a 10K training plan. I happily said I would make her up a plan. I plan on checking in on her and making sure things are going good and I will alter the training plan if need be based on her progression. I also was just contacted and I have been hired as the running specialist for the PGH Marathon. I will be able to help many runners from January 3rd up until the marathon.( I will post more details later)I am hoping I get to help a few others this season as well, even if it is just on a run together or something I can tell them to motivate them. If you haven’t set your goals yet for 2015 I recommend adding this one to your list as well. Even if you don’t think you have that much knowledge, you probably can still help someone who has never ran before. Sometimes all it takes is for a person to see someone who used to be in their position succeeding.
So there you have it my five main goals for 2015. I am sure throughout the year I will have a few more goals. I like to set a goal for every race I run. I will continue to share those goals with you as each on comes up, but for now these are my main ones that I am working on. I know this season is setting up to be one of my hardest season yet, and I am more than ready. So I leave you with a quote as we set out on a new year with new goals and adventures.
“IF you plan on taking the hard road, then you have to cherish the ride!”
What are your goals for 2015?
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.
