Ah, making resolutions. Something that I have loved to do for as long as I can remember, but this year I've dragged my feet a bit on this blog. Not because I don't want to write new resolutions; I have lots of goals for myself this year floating around in my head just itching to be put down on paper. It's because writing this blog entry means that I need to revisit last year's resolutions. I knew what my big goals were even without looking... qualify for Boston and run 1500 miles. Nope and nope. I hate failure... hate it SO much! But if I am going to be honest and put myself out there, failure is at some point inevitable. Both of these goals were not met due mainly because the first goal that I set was not met: to stay injury-free. This resolution annoyed me last year, and it annoys me even more now. I know that no one can really control if they are going to get injured. I did have a goal of running smarter in order to stay injury-free, and I honestly do believe I ran smart in 2015 about 90% of the time. It was the couple of times that I didn't that left me at home lamenting what could have been.
There was one resolution that I made that I actually did accomplish: to continue to run with friends and run with joy. This was honestly the most difficult part of not being able to run for so many weeks this past year. I missed my friends something awful!!! When I was running, though, I surrounded myself with people who had my back 100% of the time. My circle is huge and I love having so many amazing women who share my love for this sport!
OK, as the title of this blog states quite clearly, I am taking a "very quick glance back" on 2015, and that glance is over. I don't want to dwell on the year that could have been. It started out amazingly fantastic with my huge half PR in Virginia Beach, but since that race (well, a couple of weeks after) things haven't really been so hot. Time to stop looking back and start looking forward to 2016!
1. Train smart. This is a huge goal. It is going to make or break my year, I am sure, so it needs to be my #1 resolution. I need to keep in mind everything I've learned in 2015 and actually live it this year. Training smart includes running each run how it's supposed to be run (pace, miles, etc.), working to keep injuries at bay by doing my PT exercises, and taking the appropriate rest days (during the training cycle) and weeks (after my big races).
2. Qualify for the Boston Marathon. I'm not going to mince any words here. This goal was so close that I could taste it back in March. I have it in me... I just need to get to the starting line at Glass City in April. Goal is a 3:35, which not only will qualify me (the standard is a sub-3:40 for my age group), but actually allow me to register for the race.
3. Compete in my first half-Ironman (HIM) race. I have no time goals for my first HIM in August. Some people absolutely don't believe that I can do this race without a time goal. Honestly, though, my first triathlon back in July showed me that tri's are a totally different beast, and it's going to take me years to truly understand how to race them. So for now, I'm fine with a "finish" goal for this one.
4. Find gratitude in every run. I never, ever want to take running for granted, not ever again. So, even when it's windy and freezing rain like today's 5 miles, I want to be sure to take a second to thank God that I'm able to run. Too many days without running has definitely instilled this into me! Gratitude will be that I am out there with my friends, breathing in the air and moving forward.
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