Reflecting on '07 / Goal setting for '08

Happy New Year, everyone.

For just a moment, I will reflect on what a great year for running 2008 turned out to be for me.

Firstly, I am amazed I ran 2,101 miles this year. That's over 40 per week on average. I put in five 60+ mile weeks with the peak of 67 back in August. This crushes last year's output of 1,632 miles.

I ran three marathons, my single year PR. I'll never forget my experience on April 16th when I ran my first Boston Marathon despite the feared nor'easter storm. What an experience it was. I'll never forget learning of the Va. Tech massacre upon returning to my hotel, which overshadowed the glory of the race day.

Chicago was nearly as memorable as Boston with the heat and adjusting my goal from a 3:00-3:05 target to simply finishing, which I did in 3:32. Man, it was a scorcher. Not to mention that I tapered for Chicago in China, which made the experience that much more interesting.

And knocking out my third marathon just three weeks after Chicago was quite a another accomplishment. Though I didn't get that BQ, I set my 2nd best time and showed that I can travel across the globe and still train for a marathon.

Along with setting a PR for running mileage, I set another PR for airplane mileage at the same time with all of my 2007 business travel. I made Exec Platinum with AA and ran in some fascinating places. I ran in London several times in 2007 and put in a great deal of mileage in the city of Chengdu, China on my 4-week assignment there.

In round numbers, assuming conservatively an average pace of 7:45, I ran for over 271 hours or nearly 39 total days in 2007. This means that there was over a 10% chance you could find me running at any given moment in 2007.

It's goal setting time. I am not going to set a total mileage goal, since I am not sure I can beat this year with my daughter coming to us this year. I figure if I can hit the races below, it will be a decent year of mileage.

Here are my running goals for specific races I plan to run in 2008:

- Run 3:10 or better at the LCFB Marathon – 2/17/08
- Run 1:31 or better at the March Madness Half Marathon (last year’s time 1:32:50) – 3/16/07
- Set a PR at the Chicago Shamrock Shuffle 8k (last year’s PR: 31:53) – 3/30/08
- Run my second Boston Marathon* – 4/21/08
- Run the St. George (UT) Marathon** – 10/4/08

*NOTE: Running Boston is contingent on running a BQ at the LCFB Marathon and, more importantly, the condition of Jennifer and the impending birth of our child. (Her due date is May 5th).

**NOTE: I am not setting a goal time for St. George since I will spend the summer adapting to fatherhood. I simply do not know how I will balance my newly acquired daddy duties and my training.

Here are PR’s by distance I will aim to achieve regardless of race selected:

- Set a new 10k PR – Goal: 40:30
- Set a new 5k PR – Goal: 18:59
- Set a new half marathon PR – Goal: 1:27:59