New Year's Resolutions: Running Goals for 2014

2014 holds the promise of running Western States 100, which blows my mind, to be honest. One event eclipses everything in my training. But before I get too deeply into the coming year, let's revisit my 2013 goals:

1. Complete the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run
2. Race trails not roads
3. Be injury-free
4. Grow Wanderplace
5. Run the Dipsea

I did complete AR50 in under 10 hours, thereby punching my ticket to States via the Sierra Trailblazers administrative spot. Succeeding in my primary goal was satisfying, although I left something out there on the course. I'm still learning how to cross the line with nothing left.

Racing trails not roads? I crushed this goal, only racing 19 out  of 300 miles on the hard stuff. 2013 was the death knell of my taste for road racing. I may have another road marathon in me, but it will be along the lines of the Mount Lemmon Marathon ("the toughest road marathon in the world"), Pikes Peak, or to run a fun one with family and friends. I can see myself going for a BQ in my fifties or sixties, but those years are decades away.

2013 might have passed without an injury, had I been training to be a corner-back leading up to the Run For Your Lives 5k. All the juking and jiving I did while chasing those poor bastards resulted in a derailed summer and a reset of my endurance. I cannot afford a mistake like that in 2014.

Wanderplace has grown by leaps and bounds, thanks in no small part to the automated bots and indexing sites which seem to bombard the site every time I put up a new post. I'm fairly certain there are some actual people who visit, aside from my parents (even Twirly admits she doesn't really stop by that often). So a huge thanks to the 7 or 8 of you out there who find value in these pages.

Dipsea continues to elude me. This iconic race is tough to gain entry to, and the jury is still out as to whether it belongs on my calendar this year. The debate has been set, but I will leave the final decision up to the coaches.

That brings us to my 2014 goals and aspirations:

1. Finish Western States under 30 hours
2. Finish Western States under 24 hours
3. Set a new 50k PR at Way Too Cool 
4. Be injury-free
5. Improve my hill climbing performance via cross training and MORE TRAILS

Obviously my primary goal is to get across that finish line in Auburn before 11 am on the 29th of June. Anything else will be unsatisfactory. That said, I want to shoot for a sub-24 hour finish. A new 50k PR will be a big confidence boost heading into Lake Sonoma 50 mile and the crux of training for States, and remaining injury free will be necessary for all of my goals to be met.

Thanks for reading, as always. See you on the trails!