She Runs by the Seashore

Again, it’s mid-February, but I already announced one of my 2024 running goals on social media. I’m going to officially share them here on the blog, too.

1. Run at least 100 miles every month. This is the goal I’ve announced on social media. It has been years since I set any kind of mileage goal, because I do like doing what feels right. But I thought it would be fun to shoot for 100 miles per month in 2024, since I’ve never done that before. I’ve already hit this milestone for January and the previous two months — the last two months of 2023. I think the last time I set a mileage goal was in 2018, when I set and met a goal of running 2,018 kilometers. Even in 2019, my highest mileage year ever at 1,484 miles, I still didn’t hit 100 every month.
2. Beat my times in the following standard distances from 2020-2023 — 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon. The times to beat will be 27:41 for the 5K (from 2023); 1:00:33 for the 10K (from 2023); 2:20:31 for the half marathon (from 2021); and 5:29:15 for the marathon (from 2020). I think the half marathon and 5K times will be the toughest to beat, but I think I have the capability to beat all of these times. Beating these times won’t mean any personal records, but it’s tough to compare my times to my times from 10-plus years ago.
3. Complete another town’s streets. It’s always nice to have some kind of unique goal that doesn’t revolve around time. This year, I think I’ll complete all the streets in another town — and it can be a tiny one. I’ve already completed all the streets in Vienna, Md., and Henlopen Acres, Del. I’m at 94.15% completed for the streets in Salisbury, Md., where I live, but not all of the streets are accessible. There are tons of small towns by me, so I think I could finish out another local town during 2024.

I also plan to run a marathon in a new state (I’m signed up for the Revel White Mountains Marathon in New Hampshire in May) and keep up my monthly 1600-meter runs with the hope of going sub-8:00 again.