goals, goals, goals.

Last night, I clocked in almost four miles, which I'm pretty proud of. I pushed myself harder than I have so far and ran more quickly than I have before. It was exhausting and, well, sweaty, but exhilarating at the same time.

I think that it's nice going out and running, especially when things seem crazy and overwhelming in life. There's a point that comes when I'm running, in which all that exists is myself and my running... and my goals. Sure, my biggest goal is to finish my 1000 miles, which is absolutely feasible, though a little overwhelming sometimes. I also want to finish getting into shape and have a more athletic and toned body. I want to be able to run and complete a full marathon. I also want to be able to run further without breaks and I want to be able to run faster, too. Each of this small goals are possible, as long as I keep up with my larger, year long goal. I know that this goal is completely feasible... I know that I will be able to finish it, it's just a matter of following through every day... or at least most days, ha.

There's something about having a goal that can help push people through the toughest times. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but when things seem overwhelming, I can fall back on this and it's relaxing. I think that I am about to think more clearly when I'm out running. I can think about hundreds of things, which helps me to think more clearly after I have run. I think that I'm able to accomplish more things, although I have this extra thing on my to do list that I have to check off. I am starting to really enjoy it. Sometimes, it is tough to actually get up and get myself to run, but mostly, it hasn't been too difficult. Once I actually start run, everything seems to fall pretty well into place and I'm able to push myself to run however miles I need to for the time period.

I think that I want to be ready to run a full marathon in about a year. I believe that I should be able to get to that point without too much stress, because when I set myself to something, I am usually able to complete it pretty well. A year ago right now, I could hardly run one mile and now I've run two half marathons. In a year, I should have the endurace to run a full, I think. The race that I really want to run my first full in occurs in January, so I have about a year and a little over a month in order to be completely ready.

The race that I want to do is in Disney World. In a year, I will be off at grad school- possibly in Florida itself, so the travel won't be too bad... haha. Idealistically, I would be able to have the funds for travel and lodging to run in Disney World. I'm definitely hoping that I will be able to do the race- and I think that it will open up for regustration in 2011 pretty soon, so it's definitely something that I'm going to have to think seriously about. I'd also like to find a race sometime this spring to run, but I'm not sure about that right now. The big Indy mini is on the day of my graduation, so I'm disappointed to say that I won't be able to race. I would definitely be running in it otherwise, but it's just not going to work out. So I'm going to have to try to find another race. I hope that I can find one to run. There's a half during my spring break at Disney World, but financially, I don't think that I'm going to be able to run it. I definitely won't be able to go by myself, and I don't think I will be able to find anybody to go with me.... too bad. So I'm back to the drawing board with that one.

Goal: 1000 miles/365 days
So far: 45.39 miles/17 days
To go: 954.61/348 days