Running Goals for 2025

Last year was not my best year of running. My running stats for 2024 are highlighted here and my five goals for last year are discussed here. Again, 2024 was not great. That's OK, a new year brings new opportunities! So, what are my running goals for 2025? 

1. Qualify for 2026 Boston Marathon (BQ). Next year I'll be 60 years old when Boston comes around so I need a 3:50 marathon to BQ. To be safe, running 3:45 will likely get me into the race. First goal is to BQ with a 3:50 time, bonus for 3:45 or better. Don't think I'll be ready for a spring marathon. Maybe summer or fall. June-Sept there are downhill trail marathons around Seattle area. In Sept there is the Last Chance to BQ2 marathon in Chicago suburbs. 

2. Run a 1:45:55 half-marathon. According to McMillan running calculator, a 3:45 marathon is equivalent to a 1:45 HM. Seems like a good spring goal to give confidence for a latter full marathon. Bonus if I can run a 6:39 mile, 23:05 5k, or 47:57 10k (time trial or race). Those times are all based on McMillan calculator equivalent to 3:45 full marathon. 

3. Run across Grand Canyon (Rim-to-Rim). Bonus if I can turn around and run back (RTRTR). Best time of year is April-May or Sept-Oct. I'm not ready for a spring attempt. Can I do it this fall? If I can find 1-2 friends to join me, it's a go! 

4. Finish one ultramarathon. Bonus for 2 or more. I used to run several ultras every year. Last year my longest run was just over 20 miles. Sad. Time to take it up a notch! We have the local Free Ultra Quadfecta, so no excuses. I'll miss the Riddle Run in January, but that still leaves Backyard Ultra in July, Allerton Trail Ultra in October, and Winter Solstice Ultra in December. 

5. Run at least 1,200 miles for the year. Bonus for 1,243 miles (2,000 km). I can average 100 miles/month, right? I didn't in 2024. Seems like a good process goal. If I am training for a BQ, an ultra, and a Grand Canyon run, I better be running consistently and knocking off long runs. Minimum of 1200 miles. Minimum.

Did I Achieve My 2024 Running Goals?

Time to look back on 2024 and see how my running went. Already did the basic statistics and compared those to 2023. It wasn't pretty. I expect my goals were not achieved either. Let's take a look at them:

1. Finish top 10 in the Mahomet 5K road race. Fail. I did run the race and finished in 12th place overall (1st in age group). Not bad! But not top 10. Am I disappointed? Not really. This is a solid performance for a 58 year old! 

2. Run a 6:21 mile. Success! Didn't try many times, but I did run a 6:15 mile on the roads. Should have tried hard on the track to beat that time. Still, a good effort. Happy.

3. Run 1:42:10 in the half-marathon on the KRT. Fail. Never really tried to run fast on the KRT or anywhere else. My best half-marathon effort was 1:50. I am sad that I did not run faster than 1:50, but 1:42 is pretty fast. Think I would have been happy with 1:45. 

4. Run 22:04 in a 5K or 45:50 in 10K. Fail. My fastest 5k was 22:16. Pretty close!  And I'm happy with that finish time. Never ran a 10k race or time trial. Need to try more 5k and 10k time trials at the KRT (flat packed dirt). 

5. Run 40:00 on the 5-mile Lake of the Woods trail course. Fail. Never tried to run the full 5-mile loop fast. Maybe I was afraid of how slow it would be, but it just didn't happen. 40 minutes is pretty darn fast on that trail. Especially for an old ultrarunner! 

I was successful in 1/5 goals. Not very good. Oh well. I was pretty close to achieving two of those goals (#1 and #4) so I almost made 3/5 goals. That would have been a good year. Maybe 2025 will be better. I'll set those goals soon. 

2023 vs 2024 Running Statistics

I usually love looking over my running stats from the previous year. It's a great opportunity to relive achievements and show improvement from year to year. Brings a sense of accountability to my running. Did I set any PRs? How far was my longest run? Average run distance? Did I have a good run streak? What about elevation gain? This year, I'm not looking forward to seeing how 2024 went--or how it compared to last year. My summary statement: "I'm not happy with how 2024 went for my running." I started the year sick and finished the year with plantar fasciitis. No super long runs, no ultras, no PRs. I'll review whether I met any of my 2024 running goals in my next post. I'm not optimistic. Here are my main statistics comparing 2023 with 2024:

	2023	2024	Improve?
Activities	260	232	x
Total Distance	1,253 mi	930 mi	x
Average Distance	4.8 mi	4.0 mi	x
Max Distance	28.8 mi	20.6 mi	x
Total Activity Time	212:12 h:m	155:16 h:m	x
Avg Time	48:58 m:s	40:09 m:s	x
Total Elev Gain	37,967 ft	24,701 ft	x
Average Pace	10:08 /mi	10:01 /mi	✔
Average Heart Rate	127 bpm	129 bpm	?
Longest Run Break	7 days	7 days	--
Longest Run Streak	17 days	30 days	✔

As the table shows, 2024 was not very good. Only did better on two stats: average pace was faster and I had a longer run streak. My runs were shorter and included no ultras so the faster pace makes sense. Run streak was 30 days--not great, but not bad for me. I'm not a streak runner! Average HR was slightly higher--not sure if that is good or bad. Probably ran faster, so makes sense to be higher HR. But if I was in really good aerobic shape, that HR would be lower. Call it even. 

Since this was a rather poor running year, I doubt I met my running goals. We'll see soon. Post coming!