Update and Review of Running Goals for 2015

- Mel

In January, I set some running goals for 2015. I could never imagine then the things that I was able to accomplish in just one year. Although, there were a few disappointments, this year was BIG.

Quick stats for the year:

  • As of today, I completed 92 runs for a total of 479.97 miles.
  • I ran my first half marathon in May, then my first full in October (and achieved my goal times in both races).
  • My longest training run was 20.76 miles.
  • My longest race was a full marathon — 26.2 miles!
  • July was the biggest month, with 14 training runs; the least was November with only 3 runs (hello, marathon recovery!)
  • I won my first age group award!
  • I also finally got my sub-30 5K time.

So, here were a few areas that I targeted for my goal-setting this year (which I self-graded, naturally):
1. Run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in 2:20 – A+
I only looked at my pace on my Garmin while running this race, and had no clue my final finish time until my boyfriend texted me when it was over. While the race itself was not my best work, I finished in exactly the time that I trained for (2:20:49). I’ve since PR’d that distance at a finish time of 2:18:36.

2. 100 individual runs (not including races) – B
SO CLOSE! I’ll hit 100 if I run every single day until the end of the year, but then that also includes all my races (I didn’t realize until looking at my goals again this week that I didn’t plan to include to track my races, so… FAIL). 92 runs though (training and races) as of 12/23. How do people do run streaks?!

3. Run 500 miles – TBD (but probably an A-)
Again, SO CLOSE! Can I run 20 miles before the end of the year? Stretch of a possibility, but given that I have the next week off AND I have 7-mile long run this weekend, the potential is there.

4. One race per month – C
I basically failed this goal right out of the gate and DNS the Frigid Five Miler in January. BUT April-November, I did complete one race per month, with two races in May and another two in September. I never replaced the Christmas Story race on my December calendar either, so I’ll likely not have a race this month. A mediocre completion of a huge year-long goal.

Nonetheless, I am so pleased with my year overall.

My PR board -- I see so much potential for 2016!
My PR board!

As it stands, my current race PRs are:
Full marathon: 4:57:24 on 10/25/15
Half marathon: 2:18:36 on 9/12/15
10 Miler: 1:48:35 on 11/09/14
5 Miler: 48:58 on 11/27/14
10k: 1:00:39 on 12/12/14 (virtual race)
5k: 28:08 on 7/26/15
1 Mile: 8:10.92 on 7/31/15

I can’t wait to set and share some of my 2016 goals with you! How did you do on your goals this year?