In early 2017, realizing the positive health progress I was making with sobriety, I decided to set goals. I needed something to strive for. I’m not sure if everyone is like this, but I’ve come to recognize that I appreciate things more when I’m challenged. Something that comes too easily is just not very rewarding and can easily be taken for granted.
I’ve always enjoyed running. Simple physical movement that provides a mental reset. And there is something peaceful and calming in the movement and muscle fatigue. Once upon a time, it was an easy thing and I could run 5 or six days a week with no issue.
Now with sobriety, I had daydreams that the active glory days of my youth may not be entirely lost. I had been jogging and feeling pretty good in late 2016 for a few months. I promised myself that if I stayed injury free, I’d sign up for a 5K. So I signed up for a local 5K scheduled for January 2017 in my area. My only personal goal was to finish it. I intended to run as well as I could, but I had no delusions that I’d challenge my personal bests, which were clearly decades ago.
It went pretty well and injury free. It had been a long time since my last 5K. It was good to be out there again. After it was done, basking in my accomplishment another thought occurred to me. I needed to do this more often.
After some consideration, I decided I had to do it more often. I had to set a goal. Not just any goal, but an ongoing goal. It took some thought, but I finally hit upon the idea of a year of 5K’s. My goal was to sign up for a 5K for every calendar month and finish each one. My first was in March of 2017 and my last was February 24th 2018, just a few days ago.
For each month I would sign up for a 5K run with the goal of completing it and
When I started my goals were fairly simple. For the most part I met them. I finished them all, but it wasn’t without setbacks along the way. I determined I have the capability to run faster than I do, but allowed myself way too much leeway and lack of discipline and never really hit my potential consistently. I feel like I’ve started a decent foundation to build on, if I use improved discipline I can do even better still.
I’ve captured notes along the way and will include some of that monologue in other posts to share.
21 Buzzards 