2013 Goals

Run my third marathon
Over that past two years, I'm three-for-three on injuries during marathon training cycles, with only two marathons to show for it.  This year I'm skipping a spring marathon attempt and focusing on the fall.   "Chicago Marathon registration opens" is already marked in my calendar.

Run a sub-5 marathon
My first two marathon times were a 5:28:01 at Chicago in 2011 and a 5:10:53 at Rock 'n' Roll USA in 2012.  If I'm being honest, I was not happy with those times, and still feel a little strange calling myself a marathoner.  Based on my performances in shorter races, I should be able to run a full marathon somewhere in the 4:30-4:40 range, so 5 hours seems totally reasonable.

Finish my first triathlon
This one is a holdover from last year.  I have the bike, I took the swim classes, it's time to make this happen. And while we're on the subject ...

Finish an Ironman 70.3
Not long after tackling the marathon, I started to think about going longer.  My body doesn't seem to be in any kind of shape for an ultra at this point, so this seemed like the logical next step.  I'll even admit to having full Ironman ambitions, too.  But not this year.  I'm not crazy.

Run a sub-28 5K
My last two years have been so distance-focused that I've let my speed (such as it was) go to $#%!.  While I've come a long way from my first 5K in 2010 (a 32:21 finish that resulted in my breakfast meeting the pavement), I've significantly fallen off the sub-28 PR I ran in 2011.  Running two of three holiday 5Ks this year in under 29 minutes on very little training has given me the confidence boost I needed to think about running sub-9 pace again.

Run a sub-2:10 half marathon
I'll still aim to break 2 hrs someday, but with some other big time efforts underway this year (hello, marathon and 70.3) I'm not sure 2013 is the time to try.  But the half marathon used to be my favorite distance (before a few miserable races this past summer) and I'd like to get that back.

Turn Klaus into a proper running buddy
I love my puppy, but so far he is not my favorite running buddy (his favorite place to run is directly under my feet).  I know my goals for this year are going to require an ambitious training schedule, so turning some runs into dog-exercise time will be a crucial time saver.

Time to get off the couch, buddy!

That's all for now.  Happy New Year, everyone!