2013 Running Goals - Grassy and Wanting Wear



New Ruu, New Trail and New Road Shoes. Ready for the New Year!

I've set some lofty running goals this year. Lofty and unusual, let's say. I've gone back and forth on them for the past month and am finally nailing them down...a little.

 

Last year I set the goal of running 1000 miles. After an injury I was pretty sure it was unattainable, but with some encouragement (Thank you all!) I made it with two days to spare, running 140 of the miles in December. I'm wearing my reward Ruu in the picture.

 

This year I've set the goal of running 1322 miles. I know. It's ambitious. Only running 75 so far in January is already spooking me. (Move forward. Don't look back. Snap out of it. - Sorry, a little self talk) I picked this number because it is 1/5 the distance from Chicago to Beijing. You may or may not know that my family has begun the very slow paper-filled often overwhelming process of adopting our son from China. We have been working for the past six months on our home study and are awaiting its completion. Then we will move on to the next step, our dossier. It is moving slowly because the process is slow, and we are slower still. Sigh. It is 6606 miles from Chicago to Beijing, and I divided it by 5 because we are currently a family of 5. The goal makes me a little nervous because I was injured this year and obtaining 1000 miles was strenuous. I have given myself a little out in my goal in that 1/6 the distance is 1101 miles, and I would be content with that too. I would so appreciate your encouragement, prayers and support this year. I don't think our son will be with us this year, but it is good for me to keep in on my mind.

 

In light of this, I have gone back and forth on registering for races. In the end, and after much discussion with the hubs, it is good for me to have some races on the calendar. I've signed up to do the Wisconsin Marathon half with a gaggle of folks from the running club. I will probably do one marathon this year, but I don't know which one. We will have to see what the schedule and finances enable. Those new hot pink shoes need a workout. (They were on sale! When I opened the box my daughter said, "Mom, those are not you.") Part of my goal is to include a little whimsy in my schedule (and in my shoes) and to see where the road leads.

 

There is one race that I really want to do. Two years ago I ran the North Face Endurance Challenge half marathon in Madison, WI. I loved it. It reminded me of cross country skiing as a kid in the North woods of Wisconsin. I want to do more trail running this year, to run those trails that are grassy and wanting wear, to take the roads less traveled. There are a few trail races nearby, and I will be keeping an eye on them. I want to give my trail shoes as good a workout as my road shoes.

 

I'd like to pace a race this year. I've volunteered for one already but don't know if I'll be selected. I think it would be so fun to encourage others. The race times that I could pace at are pretty slow, but those are the paces that need encouragement. I should know. I'd like to mix up my workouts a little more too. Weights. Yoga. Swimming. Variety.

The Road Less Traveled by Robert Frost

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

 

 

1322 miles. Trails. Whatever. Them's my goals. I promise to keep you posted.