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
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