My next birthday will be 70. A big goal at this age is to just keep doing it, one year at a time. I hope to continue doing half marathons for a while longer, and do one more full, once I am 70. Running helps you to be realistic about your mortality. Basically, 70's is the last age group. I am so thankful to be able to still do this at my age. I am usually a little shy of the 1000 miles a year, but don't worry about it any more.
I love Run The Year! This is my sixth year participating. I figured I'd add a margin over the 5.5 miles in case something happened and I missed a day, so I made my mantra: "A 10K a day keeps the doctor away!" Well, we started out the year with 35 degrees below zero wind chill and 40 mph winds, and I decided it wouldn't be prudent to venture out to run ... and I don't have a treadmill at home and didn't feel like driving to the gym to use the treadmill ... so, reminiscent of high school indoor track in the winter when we ran laps around the orange cones in the gym, I decided to empty everything out of my home gym into the living room so I now have a bedroom that is completely empty, and I started running laps around my home gym! I didn't even bother to count how many laps make a mile, I just set my Garmin with GPS to track the distance for me, put on my favorite tunes, and happily got lost in the zone!!!! I can only handle about 4.25 miles at a time running those miniscule laps so I decided to go back to two-a-days as we used to do in high school. Since I'm at home, it's easy to just take a break and go run some laps! I love it! It's my new favorite activity. No excuses, no fuss, just crawl out of bed, put on my workout clothes, and go run barefoot in the home gym! Which I did until I started getting rug burn on the soles of my feet, then I started putting my running shoes on.... But for me it renewed my love of running, because it's down to the simple act of running for the fun of it, no fuss, no complications, just run!
I think it's more helpful to think of an average weekly total. 1000 divided by 52 weeks = a little over 19/week. That is very do-able, and don't feel you have to run 2 - 3 every day! If you run only three or four times/week, you can get that by two or three shorter runs in the 4 - 5 range and a longer weekend run in the 8 - 10 range. I wrote about annual milage totals in my post this week and linked to my annual totals dating back to 1995, if you're interested. You can do it!
I am going to use that way overused aphorism--"There's a reason they tell you to put on your oxygen mask first." We take care of others best when we are doing what is necessary to build a strong mental/physical and emotional foundation for ourselves. As for the number of miles? I "pencil" something in as an intention in January--I live with it for 30 days to see if it rational or over-reaching, and then I come up with my "real" goal in February. Oh--and one of my former employees lost 125 pounds by committing to healthier eating AND religiously walking 10k steps each day. He got completely clear on what was reasonable (but also a reach) for him. He then set the goal and stuck with it. And man, the transformation over the last 18 months--and obviously not just from a physical standpoint--has been wondrous to behold. I use him as my "model" when I set health/fitness goals. ie. something I can do consistently, without wearing myself out. Good luck, and Happy Birthday!
I live in Texas. January 2018 I decided to run the equivalent of running from El Paso out west to Orange the farthest eastern town which are about 850 miles apart. I was signed up to run the only full marathon I’ve ever done in December of the same year. I made it just before completing the marathon and ended up over 1,000 miles for the year. It was a lot of fun. I’m glad I did it.
Hang in there! That type of thing is an investment IMO - me personally, I'm a happier person and a more patient and better mom and wife when I get my active time in consistently. It's definitely been harder to be consistent about since having a baby, especially while lactating, so my goal this year is just to be consistent and build back to full fitness steadily. And a secondary goal is to resist signing up for races, for now, so as to not put undue pressure on myself! A season of both discipline and grace.
I want to start by saying you can do it. A friend of mine did it this past year. As for me, I'm closer to your father's age than yours so a bit more conservative. I do plan on running at least one half marathon for the 33rd consecutive year, but otherwise just make sure I walk or run every day, maybe drink a little less alcohol - none so far this year, eat a little less red meat, more fruit than cookies. Read every day and spend as much time as I can with my grandchildren. Best wishes to all and good luck with each of your goals.
Happy birthday!!! Hope it was a wonderful day! Buy the treadmill. It will make you happier & healthier. Spend time with your dad when you can. Your daughter will make it to college & everything will work out. I promise. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Those "run the year" or "run 1,000 miles" goals become a lot more accessible if you make them metric. Not proselytizing for the metric system, just sayin'...
You can totally hit that goal!!! I'm a big fan of the 8 mile run as the standard distance, myself. 10 can sometimes feel a bit long, 5-6 goes by too quick. 8 racks up the miles quicker even if you don't hit it every day. If you get in 3 runs per week and most of those are 8-milers, you'll be well over 1000 miles for the year, no problem :)
Hi Terrell, two years ago I set myself that same goal - 1,000 miles over the year. The good news: I did it! The really good news: It helped me to enjoy my running far more than when I’d been chasing times, and regularly getting injured. One thing I did was slow down my running, which helped me avoid injury and to take in the routes I was doing. Running with people also helped the miles fly by. I’d definitely say with a challenge like that, finding enjoyment in it - rather than just slugging towards a target - is the most important thing. The other bit of good news, is that increasing your running will give you more energy to do those other things with your family, so it’s a win/win. Good luck with it and I hope the treadmill recovers soon! Best wishes, Craig (Running Tales)
Goals for 2023 ... simply “to stay healthy “. Simple but complex at the same time ... it embraces the physical as well as the mental and emotional sides of things. Every day provides opportunities to decide to do the right thing, whether it’s lacing up when you’re not quite inspired or providing help to someone in need ... be it a friend, a relative, a colleague at work or a stranger in the grocery store!
My goal is to do the 1000 miles. Previous best in ‘19 was 900. So far I am off to a great start, for me. I have done 5 days in a row so far. The last time I ran more than 2 in a row was ‘21. Last time for more than 3 in a row was ‘20 when a 90 day streak ended due to Covid.
So I am quite excited so far. Also doing light calisthenics and yoga every day. All is at a slow start to avoid burnout. It has been in 50’s up until today when I ran at 32 degrees. But I am a northerner who loves the cold. If we get another super cold snap this winter I may have to look at something else.
I’ll build my miles eventually but just doing 2 miles per day right now. I am feeling great and so very happy to be back in a groove after last year. Hoping to do 2 halves and maybe a full in Sep then our annual 10k on Thanksgiving day. Thank you for helping us all have this place to encourage one another!
Happy birthday Terrell- and my two cents: get that new treadmill!! It’s key to the 1000 miles goal being accessible, and your happiness (and by extension happiness for everyone around you)!
And thanks to Faith for sharing the lovely Bruce Lee quote- it pretty much summarizes why I make new year resolutions every year even when I don’t meet most of them:-)
Happy Birthday, Terrell and to your father, too! Does finally make sense as to where you fall in the Zodiac!. I'm a Gemini. . .so my constant babbles. Astrology was something I was introduced to at an early age, so I'm always wondering about people. . .:)
Age doesn't really matter. I'm one of your older readers and runners, yet, I'm still learning and could be considered much younger. I don't set goals, as I know I'll never keep them. They change as time goes by, be it a year or a day.
Read an article on older people who have super memories. . .most are in their 80s and up, yet they have no set schedule, or diet, do what they want to do and are dictated by no one. Seems to work .
It's admirable that you have goals and are willing to help your children. It is still a puzzle to me that parents are expected to get their kids into college when they might not be interested in that at all!
Oh, well! My dad was the only one who had sense to move me toward an art degree. . .I obviously was not like his other children who were all STEM inclined and are all successful engineers.
So. . .get yourself a treadmill, if it makes you happy! Get out when you can, then you are actually running,, not balancing yourself on a moving belt! Set goals if that makes you happy. You have the perseverance and are responsible enough that you'll get your kids to college. It all works out!
My next birthday will be 70. A big goal at this age is to just keep doing it, one year at a time. I hope to continue doing half marathons for a while longer, and do one more full, once I am 70. Running helps you to be realistic about your mortality. Basically, 70's is the last age group. I am so thankful to be able to still do this at my age. I am usually a little shy of the 1000 miles a year, but don't worry about it any more.
I love Run The Year! This is my sixth year participating. I figured I'd add a margin over the 5.5 miles in case something happened and I missed a day, so I made my mantra: "A 10K a day keeps the doctor away!" Well, we started out the year with 35 degrees below zero wind chill and 40 mph winds, and I decided it wouldn't be prudent to venture out to run ... and I don't have a treadmill at home and didn't feel like driving to the gym to use the treadmill ... so, reminiscent of high school indoor track in the winter when we ran laps around the orange cones in the gym, I decided to empty everything out of my home gym into the living room so I now have a bedroom that is completely empty, and I started running laps around my home gym! I didn't even bother to count how many laps make a mile, I just set my Garmin with GPS to track the distance for me, put on my favorite tunes, and happily got lost in the zone!!!! I can only handle about 4.25 miles at a time running those miniscule laps so I decided to go back to two-a-days as we used to do in high school. Since I'm at home, it's easy to just take a break and go run some laps! I love it! It's my new favorite activity. No excuses, no fuss, just crawl out of bed, put on my workout clothes, and go run barefoot in the home gym! Which I did until I started getting rug burn on the soles of my feet, then I started putting my running shoes on.... But for me it renewed my love of running, because it's down to the simple act of running for the fun of it, no fuss, no complications, just run!
I think it's more helpful to think of an average weekly total. 1000 divided by 52 weeks = a little over 19/week. That is very do-able, and don't feel you have to run 2 - 3 every day! If you run only three or four times/week, you can get that by two or three shorter runs in the 4 - 5 range and a longer weekend run in the 8 - 10 range. I wrote about annual milage totals in my post this week and linked to my annual totals dating back to 1995, if you're interested. You can do it!
I am going to use that way overused aphorism--"There's a reason they tell you to put on your oxygen mask first." We take care of others best when we are doing what is necessary to build a strong mental/physical and emotional foundation for ourselves. As for the number of miles? I "pencil" something in as an intention in January--I live with it for 30 days to see if it rational or over-reaching, and then I come up with my "real" goal in February. Oh--and one of my former employees lost 125 pounds by committing to healthier eating AND religiously walking 10k steps each day. He got completely clear on what was reasonable (but also a reach) for him. He then set the goal and stuck with it. And man, the transformation over the last 18 months--and obviously not just from a physical standpoint--has been wondrous to behold. I use him as my "model" when I set health/fitness goals. ie. something I can do consistently, without wearing myself out. Good luck, and Happy Birthday!
I live in Texas. January 2018 I decided to run the equivalent of running from El Paso out west to Orange the farthest eastern town which are about 850 miles apart. I was signed up to run the only full marathon I’ve ever done in December of the same year. I made it just before completing the marathon and ended up over 1,000 miles for the year. It was a lot of fun. I’m glad I did it.
Hang in there! That type of thing is an investment IMO - me personally, I'm a happier person and a more patient and better mom and wife when I get my active time in consistently. It's definitely been harder to be consistent about since having a baby, especially while lactating, so my goal this year is just to be consistent and build back to full fitness steadily. And a secondary goal is to resist signing up for races, for now, so as to not put undue pressure on myself! A season of both discipline and grace.
I want to start by saying you can do it. A friend of mine did it this past year. As for me, I'm closer to your father's age than yours so a bit more conservative. I do plan on running at least one half marathon for the 33rd consecutive year, but otherwise just make sure I walk or run every day, maybe drink a little less alcohol - none so far this year, eat a little less red meat, more fruit than cookies. Read every day and spend as much time as I can with my grandchildren. Best wishes to all and good luck with each of your goals.
Happy birthday!!! Hope it was a wonderful day! Buy the treadmill. It will make you happier & healthier. Spend time with your dad when you can. Your daughter will make it to college & everything will work out. I promise. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Those "run the year" or "run 1,000 miles" goals become a lot more accessible if you make them metric. Not proselytizing for the metric system, just sayin'...
You can totally hit that goal!!! I'm a big fan of the 8 mile run as the standard distance, myself. 10 can sometimes feel a bit long, 5-6 goes by too quick. 8 racks up the miles quicker even if you don't hit it every day. If you get in 3 runs per week and most of those are 8-milers, you'll be well over 1000 miles for the year, no problem :)
Hi Terrell, two years ago I set myself that same goal - 1,000 miles over the year. The good news: I did it! The really good news: It helped me to enjoy my running far more than when I’d been chasing times, and regularly getting injured. One thing I did was slow down my running, which helped me avoid injury and to take in the routes I was doing. Running with people also helped the miles fly by. I’d definitely say with a challenge like that, finding enjoyment in it - rather than just slugging towards a target - is the most important thing. The other bit of good news, is that increasing your running will give you more energy to do those other things with your family, so it’s a win/win. Good luck with it and I hope the treadmill recovers soon! Best wishes, Craig (Running Tales)
Goals for 2023 ... simply “to stay healthy “. Simple but complex at the same time ... it embraces the physical as well as the mental and emotional sides of things. Every day provides opportunities to decide to do the right thing, whether it’s lacing up when you’re not quite inspired or providing help to someone in need ... be it a friend, a relative, a colleague at work or a stranger in the grocery store!
My goal is to do the 1000 miles. Previous best in ‘19 was 900. So far I am off to a great start, for me. I have done 5 days in a row so far. The last time I ran more than 2 in a row was ‘21. Last time for more than 3 in a row was ‘20 when a 90 day streak ended due to Covid.
So I am quite excited so far. Also doing light calisthenics and yoga every day. All is at a slow start to avoid burnout. It has been in 50’s up until today when I ran at 32 degrees. But I am a northerner who loves the cold. If we get another super cold snap this winter I may have to look at something else.
I’ll build my miles eventually but just doing 2 miles per day right now. I am feeling great and so very happy to be back in a groove after last year. Hoping to do 2 halves and maybe a full in Sep then our annual 10k on Thanksgiving day. Thank you for helping us all have this place to encourage one another!
Happy birthday! My big goal, at least in the first half of the year, is my first marathon in London on April 23.
Happy birthday Terrell- and my two cents: get that new treadmill!! It’s key to the 1000 miles goal being accessible, and your happiness (and by extension happiness for everyone around you)!
And thanks to Faith for sharing the lovely Bruce Lee quote- it pretty much summarizes why I make new year resolutions every year even when I don’t meet most of them:-)
Happy Birthday, Terrell and to your father, too! Does finally make sense as to where you fall in the Zodiac!. I'm a Gemini. . .so my constant babbles. Astrology was something I was introduced to at an early age, so I'm always wondering about people. . .:)
Age doesn't really matter. I'm one of your older readers and runners, yet, I'm still learning and could be considered much younger. I don't set goals, as I know I'll never keep them. They change as time goes by, be it a year or a day.
Read an article on older people who have super memories. . .most are in their 80s and up, yet they have no set schedule, or diet, do what they want to do and are dictated by no one. Seems to work .
It's admirable that you have goals and are willing to help your children. It is still a puzzle to me that parents are expected to get their kids into college when they might not be interested in that at all!
Oh, well! My dad was the only one who had sense to move me toward an art degree. . .I obviously was not like his other children who were all STEM inclined and are all successful engineers.
So. . .get yourself a treadmill, if it makes you happy! Get out when you can, then you are actually running,, not balancing yourself on a moving belt! Set goals if that makes you happy. You have the perseverance and are responsible enough that you'll get your kids to college. It all works out!
Don't worry, be happy. . . Meher Babba. :)