Big Fall Goals

I have some big goals, some of them I've shared on here before, some of them I've kept, and will keep, to myself. I've very driven by goals, and have always been someone who has no problem setting goals and then working my butt off to achieve them. I was texting one of my running buddies, Courtney, the other day while ice bathing, and we were talking about fall race plans. She asked if I ended up deciding on a fall marathon and I said no, but that I was shooting for a half PR.

Uff da.

Saying it outloud makes it seem real and scary and really scary. My half marathon PR is from April 2011. It was in the middle of marathon training, while training for my third marathon. At that point in my running, I had two years of really strong, insanely consistent running under my belt. The time period of 2010-2011 is arguably the best distance shape I've ever been in.

So to look at this goal, it seems a little crazy on paper. My last half marathon was a 2:05. To take off 15 minutes from that time in six months, might seem impossible.

It has been so long since I've even thought a PR could be possible, that I'm letting the craziness take root and not be freaked out by it.

I've been running fairly consistently now for the past year and a half INJURY FREE. This is huge. I've added in functional strength training that has 100% changed my body's power, speed, and ability to hold up over longer distances. I've learned SO MUCH about running, and training, and injury prevention in the past 7 years, and using that knowledge has kept me healthy as well.

Additionally, training through the obnoxious heat in the summer here and then traveling to the east in mid-November for my goal race will only help me reach my goals.

Overall, I'm really excited to have big goals again, because that means I'm putting in the work to make them seem feasible. Regardless of if I PR in November, I'm just so darn excited to be running healthy and strong and loving running enough to be putting all the time and effort into the sport again.