I've been giving my 2017 running goals some serious thought. The number one goal is to enjoy my running and racing by training consistently throughout the year. This means not succumbing to sickness or injury — easier said than done! My favourite race distance is the 5k and luckily enough I have the opportunity to run a timed 5k every Saturday morning at Parkrun. So, what finishing time should be my goal time?
I've decided to aim for a time that's challenging yet (in my mind) achievable. My recent best (7 January) is 23:51, so obviously something faster than that! My all-time Parkrun PB is 22:31, run nearly two years ago at the Tuggeranong Parkrun. I don't think the pace needed to improve on that time is physically impossible, but the thing that's holding me back from declaring 22:20 or 22:29 as a 5k goal is my terrible track record of achieving yearly running goals. Since 2004 I've only achieved two goals, both related to finishing the 45k Six Foot Track Marathon in fairly modest times.
The Runner's World Age-Grade Calculator is the tool I've used to come up with a 5k goal for 2017. I'd be happy to improve on the 69.8% age-grading that 22:31 represents. The time I've come up with is the equivalent of 18:31 for an open aged runner, which is a time I could run fairly easily in my early thirties. So, the big 5k time goal for 2017 is 22:45 (70.18% age-graded).
I hope everyone is doing well in planning for and going after whatever running goals you have lined up for 2017. I'll be checking your blogs regularly to see how you're progressing. No pressure, but don't let me down!
A few of the 'Speedygeese' that make Monday training fun
