Revisiting Goals

I fall into the same habit every week.  It is predictable and laughable.

Every Tuesday I go to track.  Now that it is the "off season", the crowd is much less.  According to some, only the "die hards" come out now on Tuesdays.  I guess I fit into that category since I go to track every week.

I love track - not only the workout part of it, but also the camaraderie part of it.  Listening to the races people did the past week motivates me, while listening to people talk about future races makes me want to sign up for everything.  And that is what happens.

I come home every Tuesday night and want to sign up for a race.  Granted, I have nothing major on my running schedule right now in the near future, which makes me want to sign up even more.  A local 5k?  Sounds good.  Indoor triathlon?  Sure.  Fall marathon?  I'll highly consider it.

In addition to getting wrapped up in everyone's excitement, I often receive encouragement from friends.  "You're running so well lately" was something that my track partner told me tonight.  "You looked good running those 1200s" a fellow runner put on our track Facebook page.

I questioned myself - why do I feel the need to sign up for a 5k road race right now?  I've been wanting to for the past month, but haven't.  I was recently reading some older posts I wrote back in January.  Although I knew what my goals going into this calendar year were, it was nice to see them written out.

To recap, they were:

• Stay injury-free
• Sub 20-minute 5k
• Sub 1:40 half marathon
• Qualify for Boston
• Consistently lift weights 

I lifted weights off-and-on all year, but more so than last year.  I BQ's in April, and ran a 1:34 half in September.  I found out I have a knee problem, took some time off, and have come back stronger.  I wasn't 100% injury free, but I took the right precautions and tried to help myself by taking the month of July off of running.  The only one not touched in that sub-20 5k goal.  In a way, it kills me not having crossed the line in 19:xx for a 5k.  I want to run fast.  I believe I can.  Therefore, every Tuesday after I do track, this goal become more and more vivid, just waiting to be crushed.

There are not a whole lot of 5ks left in the year, but there are quite a few this weekend around where I live.  So I signed up.

I'll be toeing the line of the Drumstick Dash on Saturday.  I'm excited to see how I can do.