Happy New Year! As you’re reading this I hope you had a great night of celebrating with friends and family and you woke up ready to tackle a new day, new week and new year. I find it just a little more exciting when the New Year falls on a Monday. It feels good to know there are opportunities ahead, some known and some unknown. A New Year springs up new hope for a better future, that things can and will be better.
There is no such thing as luck. There are only moments when preparedness meets opportunity.
Opportunities will present themselves to all of us this year. Will you be prepared to take action and use your preparation to create your own luck? What are you doing today, January 1st to prepare for tomorrow, next week, your next race or your next career advancement? There is no better time than now to start taking action to improve your condition in life!
New Years resolutions and goals are generally very self-centered and focused on self improvement. My goals going into 2024 are really no different, but I want to do more. I want to be more prepared to help my family, friends and community. I want to go for more. More time with my kids, more adventures with my wife, more miles with friends and more time spent doing things that will create happiness and resiliency.
So, what are my goals for 2024? Here are just a few.
Stay healthy and capable of running 1500 miles in 2024.
This requires proper nutrition, strength training, mobility work and sleep.
Properly prepare for my Marathon Build that starts in July.
Be prepared by being lighter and leaner, ready for the rigors of a thousand miles.
Complete the City of Oaks Marathon in 4hrs or less.
Incorporate Strength Training throughout 2024 with 330+ days of Strength Training Tracked.
Read more books than my wife in 2024. (She read over 100 books in 2023)
Have a conversation with my mother-in-law, in Spanish by Christmas.
Complete the clubs Thursday 5-mile route in under 40 minutes!
Continue success in business by creating growth of 20% or greater!
S.M.A.R.T.
Be smart and use S.M.A.R.T when thinking about your goals. It is a proven methodology of attaining success. I can attest, it is much better than the “Ah, fuck it!” approach of winging it. Make a plan, have the discipline to see it through and the flexibility to adjust when required.
Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Relevant. Time-Bound.
Of those elements, it is the “Achievable” part that is the most difficult for me to wrap my head around. I find that I put self-imposed limits on what I am able to do and this affects what is achievable. Some goals should so big, they scare you because they are on the edge of impossible or improbable. I closed out 2023 running with my friend Tony G. who set a goal to run 2,024 miles in 2024! This is a massive increase over his 900 miles in 2023. It’s a goal so big, it intimidated me and it’s not even my goal. But that’s it! Right? A goal so large, it is intimidating.
My 2024 goal that is intimidating is completing the City of Oaks Marathon in 4hrs or less! It was my first Marathon and I barely completed it just under 6hrs back in 2022. It’s a tough course that will require an immense amount of discipline and training.
I will be relying on the expertise of Coach Brown at Run With Your Heart for this fall race. She was influential in my RVA Marathon PR and I look forward to another Marathon build with her. I’m also thankful I have some friends willing to put in the training miles with me and Anthony willing to race it with me!
I will continue to run with my local club, Clayton Area Runners every Wednesday possible and on our FAR weekends often. The Run Club has had an immeasurable effect on my physical and mental health that I really can’t put into words.
With my weekly runs, I have the following opportunities on the Calendar for 2024!
Running Opportunities:
January 13th: Java Jog 5K
January 14th: Mill Chill 4-miler.
February 3rd: Half Marathon Buildup Begins
February 25th: NCRC 5-miler (Social Run)
March 11th: Disney’s Castaway Cay 5K
April 20th: Tar Heel 10-miler
April 27th: Sunset Beach Half Marathon (13.1)
May 27th: Memorial Day Murph
July 13th: City of Oaks Marathon Buildup Begins.
October 18-19: Tuna 200
November 3rd: City of Oaks Marathon (26.2)
November 26th: Turkey Day 5K (Social Run)
This blog will continue on for the foreseeable future, capturing all of the highs and lows of my continued journey on The Long Run.
Q: What is a 2024 goal that you’ve set that is so large, it’s intimidating?