New Year New Goals.... 2011 Edition!!!

A while back I wrote a post urging marathon runners, especially the "Mega Marathoners" to reach for new goals each year, each week, each race... and not be content with just finishing a bunch of marathons in a year. There is a lot to be said about somebody completing 10... 20... 30+ marathons a year, but it takes a lot more to finish those while trying to improve your running in some way or another. 

Sticking with my own advice, I like to create a list of goals around different areas of my running (speed, endurance, consistency, strength, states, etc) to help push myself in training while keeping up my "crazy" (as some of you say) mega marathoning. Last year I made quite the list and did pretty well hitting all of them. You can find the recap here. And now... 

Steph's 2011 Running Goals!!!

1) Complete my 50 Marathons in 50 States Challenge!!!! At the end of 2010 I had completed 50 marathons in 45 states. At the time of this post, I have completed 2 new states for a total of 52 marathons in 47 states.

2) NYC Qualifying Time! - NYC qualifying time for me is 17 minutes faster than Boston. My goal last year was to make Boston at 3:40, this year I wanted to make NYC with a required 3:23 (females 18-39). Note: This was one of my definite goals for 2011, and I actually hit it this past weekend before I was able to finish this post. My PR prior to 2010 was 3:24:01. My new time is 3:21:05.

3) WS100 Training! Western States is giving me QUITE the training plan (found here). Most Ultra Runners face injury, fatigue, illness, etc that keeps them from completing their entire training plan. I have a few goals for WS Training.... 

     a. Hit 85% of my total mileage 

     b. At least one 90+ mile week

4) 100-Miler. I'm training for Western States, but the smart runner in me knows a lot of people do NOT finish their first 100-miler. Further, this is one of the toughest 100's out there. So, to be realistic I'm going to make my goal to complete A 100-miler. 

     b. Stretch goal?... Western States!!!!


5) 2500 Miles! In 2010 my goal was to completed 2010 miles. I ended up with over 2050. Since my training is picking up a lot, I'm giving myself a pretty good bump in goal mileage. 

6) Stay Healthy and Injury Free! This increased training is going to be the toughest challenge I've put on my body. I need to keep up my weight lifting, stretching, etc. I hope to include yoga a few times a week in my training. Most importantly, keep pushing through my long runs, but listen to my body at the same time. 

7) 10-Star Marathon Maniac!!! To become a 10-star maniac, I must complete 30 marathons in 30 states in 1-year. I'm hoping to hit that early this year (Feb '10 to Feb '11 or Mar '10 to Mar '11). 

8) Get Faster!!! After WS100, I'm hoping to concentrate on speed, tempo and strength. I will also drop down my marathon craziness to only 1 marathon a month, in hopes to get a new PR, and hopefully a 3:18. Stretch goal? Sub 3:15! And (as suggested by MM Diva Alison) I'm buying a new running outfit for every sub 3:20 as an incentive :) 

9) Try to Tri! My long-term goal for 2012 is to do a longer triathlon. I'm going to try and build a base in swimming as well as start road cycling instead of just spinning classes. I'm not planning on this training until the 2nd half of the year so I can focus on miles, endurance, and hill training for WS100. 


10) Triple! Run a triple marathon weekend. So far I've done doubles and I've don a 50-miler, but I've yet to attempt 3 days of marathons! 


and just for fun: (as suggested by Don K.) Hug a Race director at the end of a Marathon!!! 

Happy Running!

Stephanie

"Run to Win" - Meb

Worried about getting injured? Need a boost in speed to hit a PR? Ask yourself... "Have I done my strength training today?!?"