My Running Goal
At the beginning of 2019, I set myself a running goal which was to run 2000km by December 31st, 2019. Did I know I could do it? No, not really. I had hoped if I consistently work at it each day, each week, each month I would get there. Was it easy? Definitely not!
As the months passed by, did I get more confident I could do it? I had a feeling that yes it was becoming possible. But whenever I got sick and couldn’t go running for a week or more doubt crept in. I wondered if I was able to complete the goal. I had to increase my average km per week so that I could make up for the lost time. When I traveled, I wasn’t always able to go running for various reasons. Such as unsupportive friends, time constraints as other things were planned, jetlag or being on a plane/train for nearly a full day and just needing a day to recover from that. Honestly, I don’t think until mid-November, did I truly believe I could actually complete the goal. December was a tough month. It rained a lot and I really don’t like running in the rain.
How I went from a goal to actually achieving and going beyond my goal.
Firstly, a goal is NOT SET IN STONE! I use it as a marker, not the maximum, not the minimum. But something in between that I want to achieve. Goals are flexible and as long as you give it your all, you put your heart and soul into it and really try to achieve it, that is all that matters.
The key thing I have learned over the years of working with athletes and other sport psychologists’ is that we need to break things down into bite sizes. 2000km BIG CHUNK. That just seemed crazy, maybe a bit unrealistic.
The Plan
There are lots of running plans online for 5km, 10km, half marathons, marathons. But none for running 2000km in one year. Next step figuring out what I needed to do every month if I wanted to achieve my target. I worked out that I had to do 166.67km per month. Or as there were 52 weeks in the year it was about 38.46km per week. That looked a lot better.
Next question to tackle: how often per week was I going to run? I had just started running again after a bit of a break. I didn’t think it would be smart to go straight into having a running goal of 5 to 6 runs a week. If I did 4 runs per week that would mean I would have to do about 9.61km per run. That still seemed like a lot in one run. I thought okay the better and fitter I get the more runs I can get done. Therefore the more distance I can do. I decided I could start off with running a bit under the 38km per week and work my way up to doing more as the year went by. While doing the planning I did try and take into consideration getting sick and going on holiday.
In my diary, I mapped out the first 2 months and how much I wanted to run each week. Of course, I got sick in January and couldn’t get a lot of runs in. Not the best start.
Here a breakdown of the Kilometers I did per month over the year:
| Month | KM | Total runs per month |
| January | 79.4km | 11 |
| February | 117.3 | 18 |
| March | 186.1 | 24 |
| April | 190.9 | 20 |
| May | 126.5 | 15 |
| June | 219.9 | 21 |
| July | 130.5 | 11 |
| August | 136.8 | 17 |
| September | 162.6 | 21 |
| October | 188.8 | 21 |
| November | 253 | 23 |
| December | 208.2* | 18* |
*These were the runs just to get to the 2000km I did keep running for the last 3 days of the year.
The Reality
As you can see January was definitely not a great month and well below what I needed to do for that month. Not the best start, doubt started creeping in, wondering if I could do it. I reminded myself I still had 11 months to go so plenty of time to make up for it. All I needed to do was readjust my weekly and monthly targets, and not freak out just yet. I just needed to consistently go for my runs every week.
Traveling and Running
In February I went to Rostock, Germany for a long weekend. At the end of February and early March, I traveled to Dubai (UAE), Malaysia, and Vietnam. Rostock had a nice little park behind the hotel, so I got a few runs in there. I was in Dubai for 12 hours. So I decided to do a short run at one of my favorite running spots along the beach. Arriving in Malaysia I saw my legs were swollen more then what I usually get from long flights. Therefore, I decided to rest, recover, drink lots of fluids and keep my legs elevated as much as I could. The next day legs were still crazy swollen so I thought okay maybe a run would help. The hotel had a nice gym, so I did my km on the treadmill.
Swollen feet 
Hot and sweaty
In Hanoi, Vietnam the hotel I was staying at was close to a lake so I could run around that. The next stop was Hoi An, which was near the beach. Here I decided to combine sightseeing and running and ran into Hoi An from my hotel. Other days I just ran along the road near the hotel. The next stop was Ho Chi Minh City. Again here I found a small park not too far from the hotel, but I also combined running and sightseeing. Back in Kuala Lumpur, I ran in the gym at my friend’s place but also in her neighborhood.
The next stop was a small Island to do some diving. Pom Pom Island was rather small, one lap around the island was 2.33km. The sand varied, it went from super soft and difficult to run on to hard, and rocky. I didn’t do as many runs as I would have liked. I had another couple of days in Kuala Lumpur and this time I took a hotel close to the KLCC park and ran my laps around there.
End of March I was in Munich (Germany). My hotel ended up being right behind the famous English Garden. Luckily for me most days the sun was out the weather was perfect for running. Even though on holiday I managed to get some runs in. It wasn’t as many as planned. However, as I consistently went out there and did something I did not fall as far behind as I thought I would. The one thing I took full advantage of while in Kuala Lumpur was making sure I treated myself to a few massages. The legs definitely needed some deep tissue work.
Beach Run in Pom Pom 
Vietnam
Bridesmaid Duties and Running
In May a friend of mine got married in the UK in the countryside. I managed to get a run done the morning of the wedding. After that, I had 2 nights in Heathrow got 2 runs done there. After that I went to visit a friend in Newcastle, we managed to go for 2 runs. My friend in Newcastle is a sports therapist so I got a few tips from her on how to make sure I stayed injury-free. Especially as certain muscles weren’t working as effectively as I needed them to. After that, I was sick, I thought I had the flu/cold turns out I had hay fever. So took a bit of a break from running while I was recovering.
July was not one of my best months. I was at a conference for a week and just didn’t manage to get a run in. After that I was on holiday in Portugal, I did manage to get 2 runs done, so not the best. August, I traveled a bit as well, though I managed to get a few more runs in. Mainly shorter distances and not the long runs that I needed.
The 10km and Half Marathon
I was really behind schedule and was wondering if I could do this. Had I set myself an unrealistic goal, did I bite off more than I could chew? Therefore it was time to re-look at my plan and see what I needed to do to make it happen. Therefore, I decided maybe if I signed up for a 10km and a half marathon race that would help me. Turns out it didn’t really help me run more. Most programs get you to sprint a lot and only really have long runs 1 day a week. At least I got a Personal Best for my 10km and for the Half Marathon in Lisbon in October.
Giving my body some time to recover
After the half marathon, my body needed a few days to recover. I only clocked in 21km the week post half marathon. In August I realized that my legs really needed some deep tissue massage. Therefore, I went to a few sports massages. As I wasn’t earning a lot of money, this wasn’t a luxury I could really afford. But my post-run stretches and foam rolling were not enough especially with the 10km and half marathon coming up. I treated myself to 2 before the 10km one post 10km and another after the half marathon. Just to make sure that everything was okay. I wish I could have done more as there were times throughout the year where my legs needed it, but it was just not in my budget.
The final months
So close to the end of the year and still quite a long way to go. I now had to average about 50-60 km per week if I wanted to make this a reality. In November I tried to run 55 to 60km every week. Hence November was my best month. It made me realize that I can actually do it. I only had 208km left for December. I can run that! This is where I finally believed I could do it.
In December, a friend of mine decided she wanted to run 100km in the month of December. She wanted friends to run with her virtually. Even though I had to do double it helped as we checked in with each other. Grey, rainy month of December was tough even though I knew I could do it, didn’t mean it was easy. On the days when the sun was shining, I made sure I went for long runs. So that on days where it rained, I could spend less time in the rain. Or hoped that I could run if there was a short break in the rain.
My legs were getting heavier and heavier but again I just couldn’t afford a sports massage. Instead, after speaking to my friend the Sports Therapist, I just extended my time stretching and on the foam roller. I just didn’t want to risk any injuries so close to the end.
Running and Mental Well-Being
During and prior to my runs there was a lot of internal discussion going on (self-talk). Not all of it was always positive. There were days where I just didn’t feel like going out for a run. Most people say that once you get a routine it gets easier, not sure I would agree with that. On days you are motivated absolutely but, on the days, where you are just tired or feeling lazy it isn’t as easy. What did help was knowing why this goal was important to me. But also knowing how running helped me. It made me feel happier, more balanced. I could just switch off and not worry about work and other things that impacted my mental wellbeing. While running, I sometimes came up with some ideas on how to market myself better or ideas for blog posts.
Research has shown that sport is beneficial to your mental wellbeing. I especially enjoyed my runs outside in the green, trying out new routes. Research has also shown that being out in Nature helps with your mental wellbeing. When I had a lot on my mind, worries, arguments with friends, parents, partners, running helped me clear my mind and put things into perspective. As it gave the time that I needed to take a mental and physical step back from the situation. I enjoyed just being in the present moment focusing on the task at hand. Be it focusing on my breathing, my pace, the rhythm of my steps or taking in the beautiful sights that I saw along my run.
Running without Music
Most of the time I ran without music. I was told it was important to be able to listen to what your body is telling you. It helps you be in the moment and focus on the aches and pains and doesn’t impact your running pace. However, while that is one of the reasons, I don’t run with music. The other is so I don’t have the distractions, so I can fully focus on the task at hand. It is my quiet time, my me time, and music distracts me from that time.
Self Talk
I used self-talk to motivate myself to run a little more on days where the weather was great. Especially in winter when the sun was shining it wasn’t too cold or in summer when it wasn’t too hot. This was where I would tell myself: “better go just a bit further so you can do a bit less later on. Or if there is a day where it is just raining cats and dogs you can stay in because you did these few extra km”. Sometimes my self-talk was as simple as you got this, keep going. Other days I would have a discussion with myself when I was struggling with the run and getting the distance. I would ask my body to get me to the next tree, the next bench or whatever landmark I could see in the distance.
Running my 10km and half marathon race I did have a few negative thoughts as well. A lesson I learned during those runs, especially the half marathon, was that I really needed to work on my self-talk a bit more. Especially when I am pushing myself mentally and physically to my limits when I am exhausted and I still have a long way to go.
I may have failed but I am not a failure
I didn’t quite achieve the running goal I had set myself (which is okay I will try again next year). But I do think, that yes a few physical things played a role as to why I wasn’t able to achieve my goal. But also my mind played a role. Instead of picking up the pace, I started negotiating with myself that it was okay if I didn’t quite make the time. As long as I still got a Personal Best I would be happy. I do feel that those thoughts cost me a few seconds may be even minutes.
It was an important lesson, which I will keep working on for my next race in 2020. I don’t see it as me failing because I didn’t achieve my time just that I made a few mistakes and I will make the adjustments and work on those for the next race.
It is important to learn from your mistakes and reflect on the experience
Lessons Learned
What did 2019 and this goal teach me? That anything is possible if you consistently work at it. Yes, you have ups and downs and there will be times you may doubt yourself but keep working at it. Keep figuring out the answers to why you feel you can’t achieve your running goal or any other goals you set yourself. Keep pushing yourself and you will get there.
Just remember goals are flexible they are not set in stone. Did I reach my limit? Absolutely not! I know there is more in me. Especially looking at the distances I ran each month. Yes, it hurt, and it wasn’t easy. I believe if I had set myself a harder task I would have achieved that as well. If you set your mind on something, and you truly want it, because it is important to you, you will find a way to achieve your goal. It may take a bit longer, or you might achieve it sooner, just don’t give up, don’t quit, especially if it is really important to you. Consistency and Hard Work Paid off!
Actual Kilometers that I did at the end of 2019: 2019.4km