“Without dreams and goals there is no living, only merely existing, and that is not why we are here.” -Mark Twain

Icing the calves, heat on the back, and shoveling waffles in my mouth. The real life of a runner. This is #behindthescenes of someone who set a handful of running goals for 2018. My first goal was to streak 2018, or run every single day of the year. I also set a stretch goal to run the year in miles, 2018 miles for 2018. That’s an average of 5.5 miles per day for the whole year.

I slowly saw that stretch goal slip away in the summer. I was averaging around 3 miles a day, and some days hating every step I took. There were so many times when I wanted to quit, or take a day off. But I kept going. At least I’d hit one of my goals, right? That was enough. Settling for mediocre.

I can’t really say what happened other than that I found a new wind, a new love for running. Near the end of September, I did some math to figure out how many miles I would need to average to hit my stretch goal—about 7 miles a day. I laughed at it, shrugged off the stretch goal, and maintained my streak goal. The next day, I ran 7 miles. Then another 7. I have now hit six consecutive 50+ mile weeks in a row and I am on pace for #2018in2018! These past few weeks has been quite a challenge, both physically and mentally, but the finish line is in sight. I have already learned so much about myself through this journey and I’m already thinking about 2019 goals.

What are some of your goals, running or in life? And why did you set them?

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” -Zig Zigler