The 2013 Goalpost

I am more excited to lay out my 2013 goals than talk about last year. I think it is because, despite my progress, I feel like I have so much potential to be better, faster and stronger. I'm getting closer to some ideals that I envisioned less than 2 years ago when I made a commitment to running.

My 2013 enthusiasm is only slightly tempered by my recent cold, which has limited my 2013 mileage to well, zero. I'll be better soon and back at it soon enough. With that said, I'm gonna lay out my goals for the upcoming year, starting with my "big" one.

1. Run a sub 20 minute 5k race.

I was thinking about being able to do this from the start and I think this is the year it can happen. I have run races this quickly before, in high school many moons ago, and achieving this would be a big milestone. It won't be easy, as I need to drop over 2 minutes from my PR after dropping 2 minutes from last year.

To do this, I'm going to dedicate myself to some speedwork, which I plan to do in the early Spring. I've only done intervals a couple times, but have not yet had any consistent speed training. This will involve moving out of the comfort zone and routine I've developed, which can be scary, but one needs to train fast to run fast.

2. Run a sub 1:42:30 half marathon.

Last year, I met my goal of running a half marathon with a time under 1:50, running 1:49:09 on the difficult Brooksie Way course. I wanted to but 1:40 as my goal pretty badly, but I think my recent struggles to get mileage in and my other goal plans made me temper that a bit. 1:42:30 works out to a 7:50 pace for the 13.1 mile run. I think that is reasonable based upon where I want to be.

3. Complete a marathon, beat Subway Jared by one hour.

Eat fresh!

I signed up for the Detroit Free Press Marathon a couple days ago to both commit myself to doing my first marathon and to save a little money ($65 now as opposed to $125 in the couple months prior to the event). I've said in the past I don't want to do a marathon just to do it - I want to feel like I can succeed in it. I think this is the year.

As for the time thing, our family has a love / hate relationship with the Subway pitchman Jared. This relationship is complicated by pictures of him running that look vaguely like me running.

I don't really look like him other than the glasses and general hair color.

Therefore, to exorcise all Jared demons, I must beat his marathon time by over one hour. He ran the NYC Marathon in 5:13:28, therefore I must best a time of 4:13:28. I hope to beat this time by a good margin, but, at least as of this moment, I will not set any other marathon related goals. Finish, beat Jared by an hour, that is all.

4. Run 1000 Miles in 2013

I've put myself in a bit of a hole for this one, as I haven't run in 2013 at all yet. Not worried about it, though I'll need to work to get back on schedule. I believe that my marathon training will get me close to this goal and, as long as I keep it up in the cooler months, I should make it.

I have other things I want to do this year, but those are my main goals. We'll see what happens!

What are your goals for the year?

Are they all measurable?

Do goals help you or add too much pressure?