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Goal setting for the Distance Athlete

After completing Sunday's run my mind has gotten into the goal setting mode. I think that Saturday marked the end of the "off season" and the training season has now begun. While some people are already in the process of training for Boston or whatever, I haven't made the transition to serious training yet.

This is where Goal setting comes in. What are my goals for the next month? Three months? Six months? Year? As I sit down to write this, the countdown timer on the blog says 108 days 20 hours and 27 minutes to go until Mississauga. This is the marathon that I hope to Qualify for Boston at. But what are my goals between now and then?

The first thing that I want to do is run a PB at the Peterborough Half at the end of February. I ran it with a good friend last year. This year I think that I will be better prepared for the hills at the beginning. We'll have to see if I get treated to the same "tour of the neighbourhood" that I was given last year. For more details about Vascular Health YMCA Half click Here. The price has already gone up once, it goes up again on Feb 12th.

Some of you are running the Burlington Chilly Half Marathon on March 5th. I hear that it is a fairly flat course and that they have a commemorative medal this year because it is the tenth year running. Check out the details Here. The price for that one goes up Feb 15th. Don't forget that there is also a processing fee for registering online.

Up Next on my goal sheet is the Around the Bay Race in Hamilton. I have run it the last two years and my goal this year is to silver medal. I need a 2:15 to do it. Again the ladies get a 15 minute bonus as they only need a 2:30 to do it. Just so you know, a 2:30 ATB translates to about the same as a 1:43 half---go figure. All the details can be found Here. The price for that one goes up February 5th so don't delay. Remember, if you sign up thru the RR website they give you $6 towards a pair of shoes or a cult jacket.

April is a weird month for running. Usually you can have some of the best days of the year for running. Mild, Sunny days with cool mornings. The problem is that there are also days of cold and blowing rain. This is the reason for there being so few races in April. That said, the Seaton Mudpuppies run has been moved to April this year. This guarantees that the river crossing in the Seaton river are going to be frigid ones. While I would love to do this one, I am not sure and I will probably wait until the week of the race (the problem with that is that I will miss out on the great giveaways). Price goes up March 18th. For more details check it out Here.

There is also the Bob Hartwell Challenge and the Harry's Spring Run off in April to peak the interest. Again, look at the pictures from past years to see the different weather conditions that could happen.

And that brings us to May. The month of the marathon. I don't think you could pick a better month of the year to run a marathon in Ontario. The Mississauga marathon is on Mother's day this year and is always perfect weather. Registration goes up Jan 31st so register soon. Again the RR is offering to pay you in coupons for your registration, I wonder if I still qualify for a bonus for registering?

Ottawa's National Capital race weekend takes place the last week of May. I have also run this one the last two years and I really love the course. As far as goal setting goes, I will wait until after Mississauga to decide if I will do this one. Details for this one can be found Here.