I’m currently still traveling thousands of miles from London to Sydney to spend NYE watching the fireworks over Sydney harbour with friends before heading onwards to Hawkes Bay, New Zealand for a friend’s wedding.
I feel so lucky that I can work anywhere, however this trip will definitely be filled with quite a lot of laptop time, with an essay due in Jan and an exams later on in the month…not to mention the blog! I’ve got some awesome projects coming up in January that I can’t wait to share with you.
But in the meantime, I wanted to post my 2018 running goals and to hear all about your goals for the coming year. I’m not setting resolutions, rather focusing on what I want to achieve or work towards reaching.
Run a marathon PB – my marathon PB from Berlin 2014 of 3.49 still stands and I am determined to break it this Spring, either in Tokyo or in London. Actually, I’m not sure I’ve announced yet that I’m running the Virgin London Marathon 2018! More on this later, but I’m super excited to be running one of my fave marathons again.
Run a BQ – this is still a huge priority for me (although I know some people mentioned to me that by running the Boston marathon in 2017, it might reduce my drive to earn a spot in Hopkinton – this is certainly not the case. Infact, it has made me even more determined to run the race again, and my friend Addie that I made on the bus on our way to the start, and I have made a pact to try to be there in 2019! I know I need to knuckle down to achieve this, complete the key runs, not ignore the strength/conditioning and recovery…and most of all make it a priority in my life. London is the goal race for this, however there’s another couple of marathons in the Summer that I have my eye on incase – including the Freakin Fast Marathon in Idaho at the start of September.
Become a stronger runner – I think this will help me achieve both number 1, 2 and 5 on this list. I’m going to swap one run a week for a gym session (and try to add another in too) My friend Tashi, a super speedy runner, has just qualified as a PT and I’m hoping to convince her to train me for in the lead up to London. Let me know if you’d like us to create some content around this – maybe some regular videos/blog posts?
Continue our running podcast – incase you missed it, my friend Susie and I started a running podcast. We;d love you to give a listen, rate and review it on iTunes and let us know what you want to hear from us. Leave a message in the comments below or send me an email at therunnerbeans@gmail.com. You can listen to Run the World Podcast here.
Run my first ever Ultra – so this is a BIGGIE for me, but I turn 30 this year, and because I’m a weirdo, I’m celebrating by running 30+ miles. Entry to the race I want to enter doesn’t open until mid January… so although I’ve announced it on the podcast (incentive to go and listen lol) I won’t publish it until I’ve got a bib. But it’s a 50K in the PNW…
30 for 30… my friend Vic, the reason I started running, would have been 30 this year too (his birthday is two weeks after mine) and so in memory of him and to celebrate this milestone, I am running 30 races and raising money for MIND. I’ll share my JustGiving Page with a list of the races at the start of January. But in the meantime, are there any must-do races I should add to my list? I’m looking for some London/UK specifically to add to my rather extensive list of International half and full marathons!
What is on your running list for 2018? What are your goals, key races and must-dos for the year?
This is great news. Loved your podcast and would defitely like more! Also would love some running specific strength session info/videos as really need to do some for spring marathon training.
Yay!! Another person doing their first ultra this year (erm that might be giving away my big surprise!). Love the 30 in 30 idea too, I’m sure your friend would be proud x
I’d love to do an ultra one day so I’m excited to follow along with your training and here how it goes! A BQ is definitely on my bucket list but this year I’ll settle for running my first marathon! Good luck with all of your goals, 2018 should be a great year!
Awesome goals Charlie, can see you completing them all. I’m gonna steal your strong runner goal.
This will definitely add some speed to me right away I think!
My other goals:
Run an average of 5 hours a week
Run 1 more marathon (2 if the timing all works)
Add some muscle
Not drink Coke!
Get more efficient in the time before and after training (so much procrastination)
2018! let’s go
Awesome goals Charlie! You have that BQ in you! I checked out the marathon in Idaho and it looks like they are skipping it for 2018. 🙁
Love the shoutout!! Happy New Year to you!!!
An exciting year ahead for you then! Your podcast is great – definitely a gap in the market for a female British one.
My goals for 2018 are PBs in half marathon and marathon. I’m running London for the first time so looking forward to that. After that I think I’ll take it easy for rest of the yr. I really need to start doing proper strength training and interval sessions and I’m hoping I might find a running buddy!
Hey. Have recently come across your account on Instagram and now I’m onto your blog too. Love hearing about your running achievements. Being a keen runner myself they definitely help spur me on! I’d love to listen to your podcast but don’t have an ITunes account. Is there any other way I can listen to it?
I forgot to say the podcast was wicked can’t wait for the next one. Mega about your ultra, you’ll smash it!
My running goals for 2018 are to run strong and happy. I don’t want to set time goals so I don’t have to commit to training if I’m not feeling it or have too much on 🙂
Ohhhhh you must give me a hint about your PNW 50k!!! I live in Tacoma, WA and my big goal for 2018 is to run a 50k!!! I am crossing my fingers and toes to run the Olympus View 50k on August 4 (my birthday!). Permits are still pending for the race, so I’m not sure what Plan B will be.
Just subscribed to your podcast. In a bit of a running funk, started off 2017 with a run365 goal…that only last a few months. Life, kids, scouting, and work and one lazy day ran into a complete fail on that goal. Looking for inspiration and suggestions for improving health and the run.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Freakin Fast Marathon will not be taking place in 2018. The half will still take place in the summer.
If you’re looking for a fast downhill marathon, there are a ton, like St George, Steamtown, Revel, etc.
oh noooooo thanks for letting me know. what a bummer!
My running goals are to get faster really. I want a sub one hour 10k (February) and a 2:30 Half Marathon (March). I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to continue to run marathons. I had a pretty terrible one…again. But my friend is trying to convince me to finally get under 6 hours. I thought I would at least get 5:30 this last marathon, but I mentally shut down and then so did my body with blisters and foot pain. I still want to get a sub 30 minute 5K. I’m very close at 30:54 on one of the non-race type runs.
My goal is to run more trails and improve my pace. My bucket list goal is to run Boston.
Running goals for 2018:
Run a sub 2:15 half marathon in April (my second half)
Run my first marathon, race planned for November.
I have really enjoyed reading your blog. I am a fairly new runner and I went back and read some of your older posts and it is really encouraging to me the improvements you have made. Can’t wait for more podcasts to listen to while I’m running! Keep it up!
Good luck on your goals. I would love to qualify for Boston but that’s not even a goal this year. My goals are to get stronger, make time for yoga, eat more veggies and less red meat and be consistent with my journal.
Good luck 🙂 Just reminded me I need to write down my own goals, else I’ll never complete them!
Late to comment here but Great post, I have been setting my own running goals lately. I am going to run my second marathon and hope to beat my time, to run more races in general this year doing at least one a month (already entered several for next few months) and to continue getting stronger with my weight training and gym sessions. I would also like to do my first ever obstacle race!