The Challenge

With a week into 2013, many of us have already put a decent number of miles in on our new pair of shoes we got for the holidays or figured out the running gadgets we might have purchased with that holiday bonus. As I explored Twitter and Facebook, it is clear that runners are on a mission when it comes to 2013, many have already set their goals and registered and listed their racing schedule for the upcoming year. A common thing I noticed amongst runners is that, the word ‘resolution’ was not used as much as non-runners when talking about the New Year.

As I started to look at various runners’ goals I noticed, each runner was on track on setting specific goals. Each one was measurable, which is often a mistake when people bring up resolutions, they end up being too vague and generic. If the goal or resolution is too generic that is when it typically fails. Runners on the other hand are very specific with hard numbers and with those numbers also includes a plan. Some runners have goals of setting specific PRs in various distances, logging a specific number of miles in a calendar year or run for a specific number of days in 2013.

For me there are a few specific items that top my list for 2013. The first item is to run everyday, with each run being at least 1 mile. The second on the list is to set a PR at the marathon distance; currently my best time is 3 hours 32 minutes 8 seconds. The third goal for the year is to complete 5 marathons over the next 12 months; the most I have ever completed in a year is 2 marathons. Of course along with these specific goals is to enjoy every training run, race, and running moment over the course of the year and years to come.

The first marathon on that list of 5 marathons in the calendar year is on March 17 at the Honda LA Marathon. With less than 75 days before toeing up to the start line, my running has come a long way. I have logged some high mileage weeks as well as running some back to back long runs. Just this past week I logged an 18-mile run on Saturday followed by a 14 mile run on Sunday. I know many of the San Francisco Marathon Ambassadors are doing the same thing, as many of us will be running the LA/SF Challenge, which is separated by 13 weeks. Along with running the Honda LA Marathon and the Wipro San Francisco Marathon during that 13-week period, Big Sur International Marathon will be placed right in the middle of those 2 marathons. By the end of June, 3 of my 5 marathons will be completed. The other 2 marathons will be in the Fall/ Winter as I run Santa Barbara International Marathon in November and the California International Marathon in December.

Remember it is not too late to register for the LA/SF Challenge. The first step is to register for the Honda LA Marathon and then register for the Wipro San Francisco Marathon. Take on the “LA/SF Challenge” and during this adventure make sure to follow myself and other SFM Ambassadors (Westly, Charlene, Meg, Courtney, Aletta, Luis, Keith and Lauren) along the journey to stay motivated and informed, up to and beyond the LA/SF Challenge.