I'm not a huge fan of new years resolutions. I guess it brings to my mind a packed gym that is empty again in February, diets that are soon forgotten due to lack of will power, ect. Yet the end of the year naturally causes me to reflect on the past year and what I want to accomplish in the future. I am a huge believer in goal setting and I try to look at it as a year long process rather than a once a year activity.
To look at where I was a year ago and where I am now gives me a huge feeling of accomplishment. My first big race of the year was the Boston Marathon. I felt I was in great shape and although I achieved both my goals of running under 3 hours and placing in the top 100 I felt it was a mediocre performance after becoming very ill just a few weeks before. I knew I'd need to improve a lot to have a chance at qualifying for the Olympic Trials in the fall. The summer went fantastic though with PRs in everything I was running and a win at the Top of Utah half marathon. Then Chicago was one of those races that every runner dreams of, where everything falls into place and goes perfectly. After I qualified for the Olympic Trials in October I felt that I was on a high I just couldn't come down from for the next month. My excitement of how all the training had paid off with such a perfect race and the anticipation of running at the Olympic Trials was a thrill beyond what I had ever experienced. The satisfaction of accomplishing such a difficult goal was tremendous. I often wondered how any running experience could top what had happened in Chicago. I was enjoying some down time, just getting in some relaxing miles with friends because I believe recovery time is crucial to successful running. Yet as the weather turned colder and time went on I found myself feeling flat with no specific goal in sight. With 16 months between Chicago and the trials it seemed too far away to focus on.
A few weeks ago in church a neighbor asked me, "So what do you do now that you qualified for the Olympic Trials? Do you think you can run faster? How old are you?" He didn't mean it in a rude way but the reality that I'm having a hard time accepting is that I'm not a young athlete. I turned 37 a couple months ago and 40 seems to be looming up a lot faster than I want it to. His question actually made me think about what I want to accomplish in the next few years before the inevitable starts to happen. So here they are. Things I want to accomplish before the big 40 and how I'm going to do it.
1. Stay healthy and maintain my fitness level for the Olympic Trials. Obviously this is number one since my main goal for last year was to qualify for the trials. Injuries are never fun but it would be terrible to blow this experience with an injury in the next year. In order to accomplish this I need to train smart and keep up on my strengthening exercises (which is not my favorite part of running.) As far as maintaining my fitness level, I need races to motivate me keep training hard. The next big race on my schedule is the Ogden Marathon in the spring. Along the way I've picked out several races on the USA Track and Field Utah racing circuit. My coach Paul Pilkington is a huge part of my success and his advice has been priceless in getting me to the fitness level where I am. I look forward to continuing to work with him.
2. Break 2:40 in the marathon. This seems a little crazy since less than two years ago I was still trying to break three hours. When my neighbor asked if I still thought I could run faster I thought, of course! What runner isn't trying to get faster? This will be a tough one but I think a two minute PR in the marathon is reasonable. I'm not sure if Ogden is a fast enough course but if I can't do it there I'd like to try at St. George sometime in the next few years. And depending on what the course is like for the trials I will be running with the best runners in the country that could push me to perform better than I ever have. Chicago was such a perfect race that it's hard to imagine going any faster but I think I can still train a little harder. To me running is all about trying to get better and I'm going for it.
3. Win a marathon. I've won a lot of smaller races but I've never come across the finish line first in a marathon. This one is a little harder to make happen since it depends on who else is running and I can only control what I do. But I learned this year I can run a lot faster than I thought I could in the past. I need to go out harder from the start and race against whoever is there. Hopefully this will translate into a win for me.
I'm so excited to be on the Brooks ID Elite team this year. Brooks is a fantastic running company and their support in helping me reach my goals is tremendous! I really love their slogan. Run happy!
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