Running goals for 2012

Just because I need it in writing to hold myself accountable I thought I'd better post some goals.

Last year I logged 193.61 miles into my Nike+ app. I know I actually ran more than that since I don't always use the app while I am on the treadmill. I am going to guess that I actually logged about 250 miles in 2011.

I'm going to go for a 20% increase for 2012 which, if I did the math correct, puts me at a goal of 300 miles.

Another goal for 2012 is to run a half marathon. That is 13.1 miles. That is an overwhelming thought for me during these cold winter months but I think it's doable come spring or summer.

Finally, to overcome my "it's to cold outside to run outside" attitude my last running goal is to not let more than 7 days go by without getting a minimum of a 30 minute run in outside.

Feel free to hold me accountable these, please.

What are your goals for 2012 running or other?

Wake up!

I can't believe it has been since February since I posted last. I need to figure out a way to "wake up" my blog. I enjoy going back through it and seeing things that I posted that I had forgotten about. So my fellow bloggers how do decide what you will blog about and when you will blog. It used to come so easy and now every time I look at the big blank box my mind is also blank.



I've shared that I started running last September. Well I am now running a lot. I am up to a couple 5k's a week on my own. It is so rewarding to me to see my hard work paying off. I was excited when my niece asked us to join them in the Race for the Cure last Saturday. We all walk/ran in honor of my mother-in-law Audrey Hill who passed away from breast cancer on Aug. 8, 2005.

She was a wonderful example of a godly, loving woman for all of us and she is dearly missed.

My first 5k

Yes you read that right!

I participated in my first 5k this past Saturday!

I started running 8 weeks ago with a podcast program from Running Mate Media called 5k 101. I instantly fell in love with it. "Todd" starts you out really slow and builds your confidence and endurance. Every week when it was time to run further and longer I would think "there's no way I can do that" and then I would do it! It is such a sense of accomplishment that it makes you want to keep going.

The only problem is I ran the entire program on my treadmill and at the end you are encouraged to enter a 5k near you. Well that meant running outside and since I had not been running outside I knew my lungs were not going to like the 38 degree weather that was forecasted for the time of the run. I signed up anyway and as anticipated I wasn't able to "run" the entire 3.1 miles BUT I did finish and I helped raise money for Paradise Bound Ministries. That is the mission that my oldest 2 daughters and I served at this past summer in Guatemala.

My friend Karen and I discussing our strategy. She was only on week 7 of the program and still decided to join me. Very impressive! She has been running the outside for the entire program.

And we are off!

Karen ran the entire way! She finished before me. She rocked it! Libby joined me at the end to cheer me on... in her FLIP FLOPS! Who raised that kid?

See? I finished! That was the goal.


We did it! I was SO bummed that I couldn't run the whole thing. I can complete a 5k on the treadmill... in the warmth but I am now even more determined to complete one outside. I am going to start running outside tomorrow. My wonderful family was cheering me on the entire way. I love them. Karen already sent me a link to a 5k in March so stay tuned my 5k story has just begun.