Running Goals

What is it they say about goals? That they're more likely to happen if you write them down? My goal is to finish the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. next year.

I'm currently training for the Seal Beach 5K, at the end of this month. I've been using the beginner's schedule in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Running. I like that schedule more than the one in Runner's World Complete Book of Running. Both books cover similar information, but I can't imagine keeping one book in favor of the other. There are some things that are covered better in the Complete Idiot's Guide than in the Runner's World book, and vice versa. Runner's World also published their Complete Book of Women's Running. I don't think I'll get that one, although it probably would be more relevant to me than the other two books.

I've been training on the treadmill, but once I can run a 5K I'm going to start hitting the roads and trails. It's hard to run continually outside when you don't have much of a base to start with.

I think that forcing myself to compete in "fun runs" will help me meet other runners, and will help me make small, short-term running goals that will in turn help me accomplish the big one.

I think it will, in the long run, encourage me to eat better and take better care of myself. Not to mention lose a few extra pounds and gain some muscle definition!