Running: Retrospective and Plan

I set 4 goals for my running in 2012 at the start of 2012 (see my New Year's Running Resolutions post). I did pretty well in regards to completing the goals (missed just one):

1. Participate in 12 organized runs of at least 5K

   This is the goal on which I came up a little short: I only completed 10. I ended up skipping out on the Sacramento Zoo Zoom in April due to illness. Had I not, I probably would have done the Jingle Bell Rock'n 10K in December to get in my twelfth event. Of the ten I completed, only 1 was a 5K, 8 were 10Ks, and then the other event was the half-marathon (I distance I didn't expect to do at the beginning of the year).

2. Lower my 5K Personal Record to below 27 minutes

   I annihilated this goal in the sole 5K I ran in 2012 with a time of 25:33. Going to be hard to beat that one.

3. Set/Lower my 10K Personal Record to below 62 minutes

   Only one of my 10Ks was worse than 62 minutes: the hilly and hot Folsom Run with Nature. My best 10K of the year was 53:05 which will also be a tough time to beat.

4. Increase my "Pace Record" at two or more events

   I actually increased it in 4 (I only re-ran 4 events from 2011 in 2012): The Folsom Firecracker, Run for Courage, Intel GPTW 5K, and the Folsom Turkey Trot.

I have a few more goals in mind for 2013 although I'm not sure that I'll be as successful as I was in 2012. Here's what I'd like to accomplish in the new year:

1. Complete two half-marathons

   If I'm going to run half-marathons, I probably should target two a year to keep myself in the right condition to complete them. I've already signed up for the Shamrock'n Half Marathon and expect to also run the Urban Cow Half Marathon in October.

2. Participate in ten 10Ks

   An increase of two from what I did in 2012. Will likely require that I double up on a couple months in the summer (to not interfere with half-marathon training).

3. Improve my half-marathon PR to under 2 hours

   2 hours may be a bit optimistic, but if I keep healthy, I think I'd be able to get pretty close. I also think the two half-marathons I'm targeting are flatter than Four Bridges which should also help.

4. Improve my 10K PR to under 53 minutes

   Since my PR is currently 53:05, this goal is pretty much to just set a new PR.

5. Improve my 5K PR to under 25:30

   Similar story as the previous. My current PR is 25:33, so this is just a goal to beat it.

6. Set a new "Event Pace Record" at every event

   Basically if I run an event I've ran before, finish at a faster speed than I did previously (regardless of distance).

7. Run 800 miles

   If I run 16 miles a week (4 miles twice during the week and 8 on the weekend) every week, I'll run 832. I'll run more than that most weeks while training for half-marathons, but I'll run less during race weeks (targeting 11 at this point). I'll likely miss out on some miles while on vacation and/or while recovering (from racing or injuries). My gut feel is that this goal is too ambitious, but at least I'll have a baseline distance at the end of the year.

I look forward to taking on and hopefully completing these goals in 2013.