Looking forwards and backwards, all at the same time

2010 is over. In it, I devoted much of my time to non-running pursuits - like finishing law school, taking the bar exam, and getting married - yet I managed to finish my first 50 mile race all while running one of my lowest yearly mileages in recent memory. I also spent only a handful of nights outdoors and only went on one non-scouting camping/hiking trip.

I don't like resolutions. I prefer to make goals, and the start of a new year happens to be an excellent time to announce these goals. Here are my running-related goals for 2011 and beyond, listed in likely chronological order of completion:

• Complete the Hundred Pushups program
• Finish Superior Trail Races Spring 50K and run sub-5 hours
  
• Pace at FANS 24 hour run: my wife for the first 12, and a friend for the rest
• Finish Afton Trail Race 50K and run sub-5 hours
• Finish Superior Trail Races 100 mile (Sawtooth 100) in the allotted time
  
• Finish the Mankato Marathon and run sub-3 hours
  
• Sign up for Arrowhead Ultra 135 (February 2012)
• Enter (and win!) the lottery for Western States 2012
  
• Run 2011 miles this year
• Volunteer at various ultras in MN
  
• Run as many miles as I can in sandals
• See how many miles I can put on my racing flats before they need to be replaced (600+ right now and going strong!)
  
• Finish Arrowhead Ultra 135 (February 2012)
• Finish Western States 2012

How am I going to do this? I figure that all I need is more consistent training and then I'll be able to physically and mentally handle the longer races. I only ran about 840 miles in 2010, and it was really divided into two chunks: January and February, when I ran every day; and the 10 weeks or so leading up to the 50 miler during which I ran almost every day. That's only about 19 weeks out of the year, and I know I can do better. In the course of this running, I'll likely follow a self-made training plan like I have in the past.