Reflection and Anticipation

Another year is coming to an end, and another year is starting. Every year this time I tend to reflect on what has happened in the past year and what I plan for the next year. What have I done well? What can I do better? Where do I go from here?

The year never turns out quite how I expect it. Whatever goals I set for myself, whether I accomplish them or not, turn out differently than I expected. This past year I had three main goals. The first was to get a job. I did get one, but it was not in the area I expected. Maybe, though, that worked out better than I had expected. I am not using any of what I learned in grad school in my current job, but I am in an office that understands my running and my general lifestyle. And I can always feel good about the work I'm doing, which is more than many can say.

My second goal was to get back into running shape. I started the year running just a few miles a week, ten to twelve at the most. While this past week I have only run 20 or so, I am in generally running quite a bit more than that. I am in better base shape than I have ever been, by my estimation, and that is something.

My third goal was to run my first marathon. While I was not anticipating that taking place at 10,000+ feet, I cannot express anything but satisfaction with my Leadville Race. I finished. Not only did I finish, I finished in the top 20. I bonked, but I learned a lot from that bonk. Since then, I have been altering my training to better suit my racing goals, including things such as major nutrient intake before and during my run so that, when my next race comes along, I can take enough food in that I do not bonk again.

Those were successes, but none of them turned out like I expected.

Fully expecting the same thing to happen this year, I have set a few goals for myself for the coming year. Some are personal, but I will focus on those relating to running here. First of all, my overall goal for the year is to run my first Ultra. This will likely be a 50k, or possibly a 50 miler, depending on how my training goes.

My second purely running goal is to run at least one mile a day for the entire year. This is a goal I've tossed around before, but never come close to reaching. It may not be an entirely reasonable goal given my goal to run an ultra. I will have to play it as it comes. If I find out my body does not take well to running every day, I will ramp the goal back a bit to running 6 days each week. That would be roughly 312 days out of the year.

To go with that, I will be working on a daily routine, to keep my arms and core strong along with my legs. I have let my core work slide this year, and I think if I work on that a bit, it can only help the rest of my body.

Finally, my goal is to work on my photography. While this might not seem so related to running, I have found that I always take my favorite pictures while running. Add to this that on my runs I often get to places few people reach, I think it possible to form a business out of my running photography. That is my final goal for the year.

As I do with just about everything, including my music, I will have to play it by ear. If my body does not handle running every day well, as I said, I'll switch to a goal of running 6 days every week. If my body does not take well to the training required to run an ultra, I will tone that back as well. The photography? That I fully intend to stick to.

As ever, I welcome any comments, as long as they are constructive. Particularly, I would like to hear from others as to what their goals are for the year.