Every January, we go through our human, personal ritual of examining the past year and projecting that which we hope to achieve upon the coming twelve months. Like nearly everyone else on the planet, I did the same thing in December and January, hoping to define my road to success for 2022. For the next several paragraphs I hope to outline my goals for the year and, perhaps, inspire you just a bit to pursue your own. It’s worth stating the obvious, that I am writing this at the beginning of February. I’d like to say that this is because I spent a month refining and narrowing down my goals, becoming absolutely sure that this is what I want to achieve, but in reality, life got a little in the way. Despite nailing down four concrete goals I failed to nail my writing schedule in January. A second use, however, of posting a “goals” article in February is by this time each year many of us have given up on our so-called resolutions. I hope to encourage you all to revisit the goals you laid out on December 31st and January 1st and reevaluate how you may or may not be on track to meeting them in 2022.
I have four things I would like to achieve in 2022: Run 1,000 miles, run a sub-3:25 Marathon, run a sub-1:32 Half-Marathon, and run a sub-5:00.00 Mile. Each of these goals was selected because it seemed to be the next logical step in my progression as a runner; another rung in the ladder.
James Clear points out that having goals is one thing and creating systems to achieve those goals is something else entirely. While in some respects I already have a well-established system to help me meet these goals, I will go into a little more detail with respect to what I need to do to achieve each goal. Perhaps this enunciation will help you when thinking about what systems you will need to meet your 2022 Goals.
Running 1,000 Miles
Last year I ran 668 miles. In 2020 I ran 656 miles. The year before that I ran 218 miles. As I’ve written about before, consistency is key to improvement and progression. Over the past several years, it has also been one of the aspects of running I struggle with most. Setting a goal of running 1,000 miles is more than just trying to hit that sleek, four-digit number. I know, just as you probably do instinctively, that I cannot get there without being incredibly consistent. I have to average 83.3 miles per month in order to get to 1,000. That breaks down further to 21 miles every week, or just over four miles daily for 5-day-a-week runners. I usually shoot for six days a week, including long runs, but sometimes I get back late from work or cannot run for other reasons. That said, in the back of my head I would like to get up to 30–40-mile weeks, especially as I get into my Half-Marathon and Marathon training cycles but looking at the historical data it is more realistic for me to set my goal that targets consistency at 21 miles per week. And if I exceed that standard, all the better.
Sub-3:25 Marathon
I’ve run three marathons to date. My first was 4:31, the second was 3:38, and the third was 3:31. While my ultimate mid-range goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon (sub-3:00, but we all know it’s more like 2:52-2:55 since they cap the number of participants) whittling my time down by six minutes should be a very attainable goal. I also know that my training cycle for last year’s marathon was incredibly convoluted and inconsistent, so I can do a lot better in 2022. A 3:25 Marathon boils down to a 7:49 average per mile. In training, I will be shooting a pace window between 7:30 and 7:45 in order to have a little bit of cushion when it comes time to race. I am currently planning to race in late August but may push back to October depending on how life unfolds for us in 2022.
Sub-1:32 Half-Marathon
While my main focus in running is the Marathon, I planned a Half-Marathon for May 2022 in order to have some speed in the bank going into my Marathon training block. I have not raced 13.1 in years, since before I was a runner, and my time is honestly embarrassing. When I ran the Munich Marathon last year, however, I clocked the first half in about 1:36. I ended up bonking a few miles later, so it wasn’t the greatest plan, but what I learned is that, with some specific training, I should be able to drop 4-6 minutes on my 13.1 to get down to around the 90-minute mark. This works out to a 7:01 pace (1:30 would be 6:52), which I will target in training. My thought process in setting this goal is twofold: to gain experience at the distance and to hold a pace similar to what I would have to hold for my Boston qualifier for 13.1 miles.
Sub-5:00.00 Mile
While the Marathon is glorious in its own right, the Mile is one of the most prominent distances in running. My last timed mile was 5:47, clocked right after I recovered from Covid-19 in early 2021, so I am sure that sometime in 2022 I can drop it down to a low five. My ultimate goal is to run sub-4:30, but getting down to the five-minute mark would be a significant step forward. I plan to run a time trial a month out from my Half-Marathon and a month out from my Marathon. Once I complete my Marathon in August or October I will shift to training specifically for the mile.
I have a few other 2022 goals, such as breaking 18:00.00 in the Thanksgiving 5K, and running my first official Trail 20 Miler in March, but these are the four that I will be focusing intently on throughout the year. As I get closer to each goal, I will post updates with my progress or lack thereof. While it is important to have accountability with someone nearby, you – the running community – are part of my accountability for 2022. I do hope this post has inspired you, at least somewhat, to revisit any of your goals that may have fallen to the wayside in January. I’d love to hear what you’re trying to achieve in 2022, leave a comment down below with your plans!
If you liked this article, check out: Why I Run