2012 Goals and Resolutions

Updated Januray 2013.

With a race calendar a mile long and a strong will to return to my pre-pregnancy fitness level I have compiled a list of goals for the new year. These are all hopefully within reach, as all goals should be, and I may alter them as the year goes by depending on how I'm coming along.

1. Run a sub 23 minute 5k (road). My current 5k PR is 22:23. I was hoping to break 22 minutes last year when I got pregnant so at this point I just want to get back to where I was Fall 2010. Ran 21:32 at the Turkey Trot, Thanksgiving Day 2012.

2. Run a marathon. Planning on running a trail marathon in early June. Then another in September (also on trails) and then, if all is going well, to run the Suntrust Richmond Marathon in November. Ran 4:05, a course record, at the Carvins Cove Trail marathon in June.

3. Run an average of 25 miles a week. Sounds easy enough but I have a problem with consistency. I would rather be consistent than all over the place. Ran an average of 36 miles a week, not sure they were all that consistent though.

4. Cross-train. If I'm realistic this will be the first of these goals to fall by the wayside. I need to cross-train, I'm just not as motivated. I'm hoping fear of injury will help me with this goal. FAIL!

5. Keep a training log. I think this one will be pretty easy because it's like journaling and I love to journal. I am going to keep track of miles, where I trained, how I fueled and how I felt pre-, during and post-run. I also plan on logging my runs here weekly in the form of a post. Kept several different logs throughout the year but didn't keep up with the weekly blog log.

There are several more smaller goals, some having to do with particular races, but this is a good start. Every two or three months I hope to reevaluate where I'm at and make any adjustments at that point. There is still so much I want to do, so many goals big and small. This year I want to work on a return to speed. Not that I was all that fast before, I was just getting to a place where I thought I might get fast when I got pregnant. I'm going to start introducing track nights at least every two weeks and try and add more speed-play in some of my other runs. Other than that I would like to build a good base over the course of 2012 so that I can run the LUS (Lynchburg Ultra Series) in 2013.

-Alexis