Achieving Goals One Day at a Time.

With a little more than a week to reflect on the marathon, I have to say I’m pretty chuffed with myself. I have to remember that when I started this year, and set a goal, it wasn’t to run a marathon. I set out in January with the intention of running 52.4 competitive miles this year. Four half marathons, or two half marathons and a full marathon. I wanted to add to my medal collection and plan enough racing to make sure that my training for the races kept me fit.

And I have already achieved that. I’ve run three half marathons, a full marathon, and a 10km race this year. That works out to 71.7 competitive miles. And I have one more half marathon in two and a half weeks. So that will work out to 84.8 competitive miles in 2015. To train for all that, I’ve run 1,091.6 miles this year so far. Well, probably actually about 2.5% less than that. Running with my watch, which has a better GPS device than my phone, I’m realizing the phone reads high. But regardless, I’m up over a thousand miles.

When we signed up for the marathon, BB immediately wanted to sign up for another half marathon shortly after. Her reasoning was that it would keep us motivated. She really didn’t want to burn out on running during the long, arduous training season for 26.2 miles. That’s why we planned (at her suggestion) for two days a week in the gym rather and an extra crosstraining day throughout most of the training plan. Keeping things mixed up was better for our overall fitness, and holds off burnout.

And it worked! I’m excited for the next race. I’m excited to keep running through the winter. Sunday BB and I ran 7.4 miles together, and yesterday I ran 4.9 miles with a couple of kids from work, at a 9:08 pace. They had 15 years on me, almost, but I kept up my pace and didn’t embarrass myself. Even though what was a tempo run for me was a recovery run for one of them. I’m taking the year step by step and making a commitment to myself and my relationship and my sobriety.

Running is not just about fitness or weight control for me, though those are powerful benefits. It’s about making a daily decision to live a life worth living. In that way, it’s exactly like my sobriety. Every day, I wake up and decide not to drink. Every day, I wake up and decide to take care of my physical condition. To do that, I have to plan out goals and adhere to a program.

2015 has been a good year. I’ve accomplished the things I set out to, and I find myself with emotional reserves left over. So I’m going to go run again. Tomorrow. The next day. One step after another, my partner by my side. Strong, sober, and hopeful.