At long last: 2013 running goals

Today's run (treadmill): 25 minutes

I realized last night that I never posted last year's running goals. In prior years I had done that on the blog, but I guess I just forgot to do it for 2012. I'm not sure what goals I would have set last year, beyond hoping to improve my half marathon time and participating in a race I'd never run before. I did both of those things last year, so I guess I achieved something. This year I'm thinking about the following as my 2013 running goals:

1. More weekday running diversity.
For practical reasons, my running routine has become less and less adventurous. My weekday 4:00 AM runs were once daily adventures where I'd run on different streets each day and then scramble to get home in time to stay on schedule. This devolved into running the exact same route, every day, to stay within a rigid time frame. Worse, some time last year I stopped doing outdoor runs on weekdays in favor of the treadmill to minimize prep time and maximize recovery time

Goal: Run outdoors at least once a week before work. Establish at least one alternate route to take every other week.

2. More NYC running.
Way back when, I'd frequently run in Central Park, on the West Side bike path or even over bridges to New Jersey or Brooklyn. Regular running partners Adventure Girl and JQ have left the east coast and I've had trouble finding running buddies who are willing to commit to workday runs.

Goal: Monthly runs in Central Park, with or without a partner.

3. Break the neighborhood running habit on weekends.
Just like my slide to predictable routes and then to the treadmill on weekday mornings, my weekend runs have become fairly mundane workouts that take place mostly around my neighborhood. My excuse has been that local runs save time (which is in short supply on weekends) but boring running really undercuts the experience.

Goal: One run outside of my neighborhood every weekend (weather permitting).

4. Return to racing.
Event date changes and race cancellations due to Hurricane Sandy disrupted my running momentum. I am completely out of the racing habit and don't have a race on the schedule until Marcie Mazzola in April.

Goal: Run at least one race prior to April's event. Bonus: Run a different half marathon than the RXR LI.

5. Participate in a group run (club organized or otherwise).

Goal: find a an open meet-up, local club run or organize one myself. 

Unlike years past, I've decided not to put in any performance or distance goals this year. If I meet my race goals, performance will take care of itself. I have run enough distance at this point to know I can run more. Besides that, I'm not sure running more than 13 or 14 miles is really that beneficial to my health.

Now that I've posted these goals, I guess I need to start working on them. This weekend will present my first opportunity to do that. Bethpage, here I come.