It’s that time of the year again. Time to look back at the previous year (not too long, though. It was kind of a mess…) and to start planning your new year.
In running, as with most things, reflection is a good thing. Taking the time to think about where we’ve been and where we want to go is great, but to make that reflection worthwhile we need to make a plan.
Now, I may not be able to help make many plans (my interior design motif could be described as flea market nouveau, for example) but one thing I can help you with is running. I want you to think about where you want to be in your running in one year. You pick the destination, the end point, and I will help you get there.
Do you want to complete your first 10k or set a Personal Record in a 1/2 marathon? Maybe you want to complete your first ultramarathon? (Allow me to suggest the Gate2Gate Trail Run) Whatever your goal, it’s time to make that plan.
For a fun twist on the idea of a destination for our year the theme of our New Year party on January 7th will be “Oh! The Places you will Go!”
Here’s what you’ll do: first you will get an idea of the number of miles you want to run next year. Don’t have any idea? I think 1,000 miles is a good number to start with, but it could be more or less. It’s up to you. Once you have a distance you will pick an actual destination that is roughly that many miles away. For example, you could choose New York City. I love Central Park and it turns out that, according to Google Maps, the Central Park Zoo is 1,002 miles from Gainesville. Bingo! There’s a fun destination to run toward for the year. All year you can check on the total miles you’ve run and map out your progress =)
You don’t have to start in Gainesville. You can start anywhere. Have you ever wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail, but don’t have the months it would take to hike it? Make the length of the AT (2189.8 miles) your yearly goal in miles. Pick any two spots and map a route!
Where will you end up this time next year?
Two Rules Running 