A Dream + A Plan = A Goal

I changed my mind.  On my last post I said I was going to talk about fueling on a long run.  Since I didn't get a chance to blog over the weekend, this topic seems to have lost some of its luster for the time being.  I'll cover it at a later date.

Tonight I want to talk about my big, holy cow goals for running.  These goals started out as just dreams for me, but I'm starting to think that I can truly achieve them with some hard work and dedication... and more importantly belief in myself.

Its just a matter of setting the goal and making a plan to get there.  The plan has to be realistic, because if I set milestones with expectations that are unreasonable, that gives me a way out.  An excuse to fail.

I have 3 goals for 2015/2016.  They all are completely achievable.

Run a 5k race in 27 minutes.  This is a "loose" 27 minutes.  If there is a plus seconds involved, I wouldn't be broken hearted at all. My best race time now is 33:30 but I have done 28:50 in training runs. A 9ish min/mile is only about 30 seconds faster than what I can do now when I push.

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Finish the Run to the Pub 1/2 Marathon in 2 hours.  This is a lofty goal, but not out of reach.  My best half marathon race was this very same course this year and I did it in 02:20:22 (give or take a few seconds).  The half marathon before that was around 15 minutes slower.  If I can improve that much in those 6 months, I'm sure I can take off another 20 minutes in the next 6.  My best half marathon training time is 02:18:28.

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Run the Missoula Marathon in under 5 hours ~ 04:50:00 ideally.  My Bozeman Marathon time was 05:18:34 (by my Garmin).  Under 5 hours is less than a minute a mile difference and I was unusually slow that day due to IT Band issues.  The key will be to get to the marathon healthy.

BTW.... registration opens for Missoula TOMORROW!!!  I'll probably be sitting on the website over lunch tomorrow, waiting!  It would be hilarious if I got another #1 Bib, but I have to admit I would love it more if I got number 2 (for my second marathon...LOL).

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My BIG runner's goal is to get to the Boston Marathon.  In January of this year, I said I wanted to make it there in 5 years or less.  Current qualifying time for my age group is 03:45:00.  This year, runners had to have an official marathon time of 2 1/2 minutes faster than that to get in.  The competition gets better and better every year.  So my personal goal at this point is 03:40:00.   That's much faster than I am now so it will take a ton of dedication and hard work to get there.  This year and in to next is a step in that direction.

I will be incorporating a speed work day, a hill workout day and a long run (as always) each week. Then one or two easy runs and cross training.

I've already started the hill workouts.  It's going to be the hardest change to make so I will have to go back and read my last blog post OFTEN.

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And with that I leave you with my very favorite running quote: