Goals for 2014

As 2013 draws to a close, and I have looked back at my running year, it’s time to set my goals for the coming year.

Complete Two Marathons

I will be running the Brighton Marathon on 6th April, where I will be looking for a new PB, and the Richmond Park Marathon on the 18th May, where I will be enjoying a nice run around the park. No autumn marathon for me this year as I want to drive down my shorter distance times instead.

Run a sub 4 hour Marathon

I am already several weeks into my marathon training and things are going well. I’ll be aiming for my first sub 4 finish at Brighton.

Run a sub 1 hour 38 minute Half-Marathon

Time to set myself a new half PB. I’ll be looking at the Brighton Half on the 16th February to gauge my fitness with a fast race at Reading on the 2nd March and at Ealing on the 28th September.

Help The Son Complete His 50th parkrun

He doesn’t need any help with the running but definitely needs assistance with ‘getting out of bed’ on a Saturday morning. With 31 parkruns to his name, this should not be a huge push.

Complete My 100th parkrun

Forget about parkrun running shirts and the jacket – I want to complete my 100th parkrun.

Volunteer at parkrun

I volunteered 3 times at Gunnersbury parkrun this year, taking the role of marshal and barcode scanner. parkrun takes place every week due to the generosity of its volunteers and I want to help at least 6 times in 2014.

Run and Blog Through Janathon & Juneathon

This really helped me in 2013 and the Janathon running streak saw me lose a lot of unwanted & unneeded weight. I won’t be able to run every day in January this time round, due to Japan -> UK flights, but I will be exercising and blogging each day.

Lose 5kg of Weight

The easiest or hardest goal? Let’s wait and see.

Hit the Majority of my Targets for Jantastic, Febulous, and Marchvellous

Bring.it.on. In 2013 I went for 6 runs each week, as per my marathon training plan, but I have dropped down to 5 times a week in January to accommodate Japan -> UK.

Run a sub 20 parkrun 5k

I was originally going to aim for a sub 21 minute 5k but that seems too achievable to me and I should just zip up my man suit and get out there. Marathon training through the spring, which might lead to a new PB, but then specific training in the summer to lower my 5k and 10k times.

Run a sub 45 10k

My last 10km of the 2013 Reading Half Marathon was completed in just over 45 minutes. Again, let’s zip up my man suit and get racing. Summer League would be a great place to start.

Blog Throughout the Year

Just like losing weight… it sounds so easy.

Enjoy Running with a Smile on my Face

This should be easy, even when injured I can volunteer at parkrun or cheer on my fellow Eagles, but in 2014 I would like to get The Son more involved and enjoying his running. He’ll be racing at Summer League again, to hopefully win his age group, but he also wants to win his school cross-country race, defend his 100m & 200m titles at school sports day and win another sports day race with the aim  of taking the athlete title for his school year.

I know that he can do it but he will need to run at parkrun and join me for a few training runs – something only possible if he is enjoying his running.