Friday, December 19, 2014
As we close in on the end of 2014, I feeling the pressure to achieve the goals that I set out at the beginning of the year. The goal that concerns me is my running goal. I set a goal of running 2,400 miles before the end of this year. As of now, I’ve run less than 2,320 miles. This means I have to run more than 80 miles in order to reach my goal. Ordinarily, running 80 miles in 12 days wouldn’t challenge me. But I’m so busy now that I don’t have as much time to devote to running. Exercise and a commitment to fitness remains one of the values by which I define myself. Discipline is another one of those values. If I don’t reach my goal, I will fail. I’m determined not to fail, which means I need to set my work aside for at least five long runs before the end of this year. I should have started today. But I didn’t.
In 2015 I’m going to have to take this busy schedule into consideration. If work and career projects are going to require more time, I’m going to have to set a lower running goal. While incarcerated I always ran in excess of 3,000 miles each year, and sometimes in excess of 4,000 miles in a year. In the world that exists beyond prison boundaries, I have more responsibilities and different priorities. I’m going to lower my running goal for 2015 to 2,000 miles. I’ll strive to hit more, but I need to spare myself the pressure that comes from being so close to the end of the year without hitting a goal that I defined as being important.
Days since my release from prison: 494
Miles that I ran today: 0
Miles that I ran so far this week: 13.1
Miles that I’ve run during the month of December: 86.97
Miles that I ran so far in 2014: 2,317.96
Miles that I need to run in order to reach my annual goal of 2,400 miles: 82.04
Miles I’m ahead of schedule to reach my 2,400-mile goal by the end of 2014: -1.25
My weight for today: 168