JANUARY MILES + FEBRUARY GOALS
One month down, 11 more to go. I am actually SUPER happy with how my running went in January. It’s really weird not to have a real goal race I’m training for. Right now, it’s all about gaining speed. So, all of my runs are focused around that. I’m not as concerned about distance, but more about hitting times + splits for all my runs - recovery runs included.My goals for the year are 17 race and running a 19:45 5K (or under), so I am trying to do at least one race per month to achieve BOTH of those goals. Obviously, it will help me toward my 17 races for the year, but by doing one a month, I am able to really test my speed to ensure that I am making progress in my running. It’s really interesting because while I had a really great race last weekend at the Frostbite Series 4-mile, I was actually MORE looking forward to inputting my time into my running calculator to see my progress and new training paces.
Pretty fun to see some BIG progress in my goals. A 19:58 5K?! I’ll take it! I haven’t run a sub-20 since 2014, so I’ll be super pumped for anything under 20, regardless if it’s a PR! Unfortunately, I don’t even have a 5K on my race calendar yet! I know, crazy, right?! How can I achieve my goal without one?! Don’t worry - I’m still looking for one, I’m just being a little more picky because I NEED some competition. The past few 5Ks I’ve run, I’ve been literally the first to finish out of EVERYONE because they were such small races. I’m a chaser - I need someone in front of me to help me be competitive. If I’m the first runner with no one to look at in front of me, I don’t perform nearly as well.I do have a few 7Ks scheduled (one in March, one in April), so those will be fun. Especially since I’ve done one of them last year - I love getting to see how much better (or worse) I get from year to year.As for February goals, I’m really just looking to make progress in my speed. I have a 3-mile race this weekend (maybe a 5K since the last one was supposed to be a 4-mile and I ended up going 4.10), so that will be fun, but other than that, I have no other races planned. I’m thinking I need one the last weekend in February as almost a “goal” race - a 5K to really see if I can get under 20. If you’re in the STL area and know of any good ones (flat + fast is a bonus), let me know for sure!Overall, January was a great month - let’s hope February proves to be even BETTER!
January Miles: 99.3 milesYear-to-Date: 99.3 miles
And if you are looking for some motivation + to gain a little more running knowledge, I’d love for you to join me + 22 other runners, coaches, and experts at the first ever Real Runners Virtual Summit, beginning February 20th! The summit is hosted by Katie Heddleston of Healthy Heddleston + BAMR Bands and will have everything you could ever want or need to become a BETTER runner and gain some inspiration + motivation. I will be talking about fostering the young runner, but you'll also here some amazing stories of inspiration, as well as some incredible training advice from other expert coaches in this 2-week summit. Plus, you'll get access to a private Facebook group where you can ask questions to ALL the speakers, as well as join us for a virtual run! You don't want to miss it!