2008 ChiRunning goals

What is it about runners? We start with the simplest of notions -- to lose a few pounds, get healthier, or take on a small challenge. Then we start to run and it's like a switch gets turned on that can't be turned off. In the last month or so, I have seen or read about people going overboard in their training and I know -- but for the grace of God and my lack of severe-pain tolerance -- I could be one of them.

Some guy is going to lose 2 of his toes -- including the big toe on his right foot -- from frostbite he got running in a 64-mile race in 14-below weather according to msnbc.com (hope this link is still active). Then there's Frayed Laces, a fellow blogger, whose pain threshold must be ginormous. She ran the first few miles of a marathon with a fractured pelvis and then broke it 9 miles or so into the race. And yes, she finished the race!!!

But to what end? I worry about these runners. The first runner is losing 2 toes and the doctors are worried about 4 more. And Frayed Laces, while I admire her drive and determination, continues to push the envelope of what her doctor allows her to do, risking more injury.

Honestly, I am no better. I'm just older, and maybe with that age has come a tiny bit of wisdom or at least common sense. I wish I had known at 16 what my body would feel like at 40+, I think I might have made a few different decisions about what I played, when I played, and how hard I played.

I still have a ways to go myself. Sometimes that switch still gets turned on and I do things in the name of fitness and running that are really about feeding my ego. So in the name of working to quiet my "Type A" tendencies, here are my eight running goals for 2008. These will be very different than most runners:

1. Embrace gradual progress.
2. LISTEN, really listen, to my body and do what it wants not want my ego wants.
3. Continue to find the joy in my body moving regardless of speed.
4. Take my ChiRunning form to the next level.
5. Make running a meditation rather than a race.
6. Run injury free all year.
7. Increase my mileage without pain.
8. Feed my body what it needs to perform and eliminate the junk food.

I know my goals don't sound like those of a "real runner." There are no races to run, PRs to be had, total miles to cover, but there they are. They lead to one overarching goal -- enjoying the feeling of painfree running for another year. After my previous life as a runner's Humpty Dumpty (see the post before this one), painfree running is better than any PR.