Like a lot of people, each year, I set out some goals.  Sometimes I achieve them — like last year, when my goal was to BQ — and sometimes I don’t.  But writing them down is the first step.  For reference, here are my goals from 2016 and from 2017.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I want out of my running going forward, what I want out of my body, what I want out of my life.  Should I try to beat my BQ time from Phoenix?  Should I run an epic 50 miler, or even a 100 miler?  Should I try to shed 20 lbs and see what my body can do when I’m more runner-size?  Should I just give up and get pregnant and resign myself to a life where my body is no longer my own and I am no longer in control and I am no longer the most important person?   With these questions in mind, I’ve mapped out my 2018 goals…

Race Goals

I’m registered for two marathons in two new states in 2018:  the Austin Marathon in Texas and the Boston Marathon in Massachusetts.  Once these two are done, my state count will be up to 22.  I may add a marathon or two or three later in the year, but nothing else is set in stone yet.

I haven’t run a road marathon since the Bayshore Marathon this past spring, so I am not entirely sure where my fitness is at the moment and what times I might expect for these.  For the Austin Marathon, which is just six weeks away, I am going in with a goal to run sub-4 hrs.  I feel like this should be do-able.  For Boston, I think I am going to shoot for sub-3:45.  I’ve thought about getting myself back into BQ shape — diet, speedwork, all that — to actually run Boston, but I’m just not sure that is really what I feel like doing right now.  I’ve been having a lot of fun playing in the mountains and still feel like I am adjusting to life in Colorado.  My diet is not in a good place.  So, 3:45.

Green Mountain Goals

Green Mountain is an integral part of Boulder’s iconic skyline.  I somehow never did a Green Mountain summit when I was traveling for work last year, and I knew when I moved here that I needed to summit it to be “official.”  One of the groups I run with does a loop up Green every Monday, and I assumed there would be a good subset of folks who power-hiked up at a social pace — I mean, Green isn’t Everest but it is a mountain.  So I decided to skip out of work a little early one late July afternoon and join them.  I was a little nervous when I arrived and didn’t see any of my usual buddies and I quickly learned that there would be no power-hiking.  So as these lithe strangers pranced up the mountain, I struggled to keep pace for maybe a mile and then they — really reasonably — dropped me.  I tried to keep moving, thinking I might at least catch up at the summit if they stopped there for photos and to catch their breaths.  But about halfway up, I hit a junction.  Seeing no trace of the group, and having never actually been up Green before, I wanted a gut check.  So I asked some hikers if they saw the big group go by.  They told me the group had turned right, which seemed wrong to me.  But how could the hikers be wrong about the direction of such a large group?  I turned right.  And then I hit a road.  No, this couldn’t be the way.  I asked a ranger if the big group had come through.  She said no.  Ugh.  I asked her for directions to the Green Mountain summit, and I might as well have been wearing a giant scarlet NOOB across my chest.  She pointed me towards the summit and I plodded that way as fast as my wrecked legs could carry me.  The climb was interminable.  I hadn’t brought water and was melting under the July heat.  Step after exhausting step, I wondered whether this would be the end of me.  In the back of my mind, I knew the sun would be setting at some point.  I had no headlamp.   I could only imagine the headline: Lowlander rescued after getting lost on local hill.  How embarrassing, I thought.  Green Mountain.  Finally, I saw the summit marker that had appeared so many times in my Instagram feed.  No one else was there.  They were probably back at the trailhead by then, or well on their way to the post-run happy hour.  I snapped my photo.  When I dragged myself into my apartment, my body hated me.  I couldn’t even drink my La Croix.  I took a shower and went to bed, dinnerless and happy-hour-less, feeling like I was going to puke.

In 2018, I am going to summit Green Mountain 50 times.  By the end of the year, I am going to run up it, and I am going to finish the 6.6 mile loop, with 2,500 ft of gain, in under two hours.  I am going to make it to happy hour.

Fitness Class Goals

Through work, I have access to free Crossfit and pilates classes.  My cross-training has taken a serious hit in the past few months, so my final goal for 2018 is to go to one Crossfit and one pilates class per week.

What are your goals for 2018?