2014 Running Goals Revisited!

After reviewing my blogging goals for 2014, I realized that I wanted to also take a look at the running goals I hoped to achieve in 2014. 

While things started off great and were building throughout the spring and summer, the year-end was certainly difficult for me.  Here you having my 2014 Running Goals Revisited:

Goal #1.  Build a Solid Base:

As I am coming back from an 8 week break, I am taking it slowly.  I want to continue to build my mileage throughout the winter and fun a few races for fun.  Last year, I got to the point where I could sign up for a race on a whim since I had a solid base; I hope to get there again.

Status:  I would say that I successfully built a base in the first half of 2014.  I was able to “jump” into races as I pleased by the spring and summer months.

Goal #2.  Run Regularly:

To achieve a solid base, I need to run more regularly.  I will admit that I am fairly close to calling myself a weekend warrior.  I have a really hard time running on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.  I somehow always get wrapped up in the work week.  I was really good about this during the summer and early fall but when I started my new job, I fell back into quasi-weekend warrior status.  This year, I intend to appropriately spread out the workouts that I need to run.   With the proper rest between runs I will be better able to hit my target paces/distances for my training runs.

Status:  During the first half of the year, I was running pretty regularly.  Definitely more regularly than 2013.  However, three runs per weeks was about my norm.  And, when I got injured this fall, all bets were off.  I ended up taking off a good 6 weeks from running before slowly starting things up again in November and December.

Goal #3.  Run a Half Marathon PR:

I think that if I run a little bit smarter, as I mentioned above, I can achieve a new half marathon PR.  Last year, I saw a huge improvement when I slowed the pace, increased my mileage, and hit my speed work on my training plan.  I hope to do the same and run sub 1:50 at some point this year.  My guess is that I will probably try to pick a target race for early fall.

Status:  Sadly, this did not happen in 2014.  I was looking to PR at the Gulf Beach Half Marathon but my fitness levels just weren’t there.  I had a few issues pop up with my foot during the summer.  That slowed my training.   I still optimistically ran Gulf Beach as a training run {Recap here}.  At that point, I was still hoping to run a fall marathon.  Yet, after Ragnar in mid-September, I ended up pulling the plug on my marathon goal.

Goal #4.  Take it to the Trails: 

Now that we have relocated, I have tons of trails available to me.  I dabbled in trail running as I prepared for Marine Corps Marathon.  This year, I want to leave the Garmin at home and discover some new trails around our house.  If all goes well with training this winter, I would love to run my first trail race in late spring.

Status:  At the start of the year, I targeted a local race at Bear Mountain.  But, after planning to run that event, I realized that my sister-in-law would be having her baby shower that same weekend.  So, I didn’t actually run a trail race this year.  I still have hopes to run the Endurance Challenge this year though!  In good news, I did run trails a  bit more than the year prior.  But, it’s still one of those things that I want more of in the coming year!

Despite the challenges this year, I would still say that I had an awesome amount of running experiences!  And, I’m trying to sort out my 2015 running goals.  After a year of highs and lows on the running front, I’m not so sure where to begin!  How did your goals for 2014 stack up?  Have you ever had a year that just did not go as planned?

Lisa