New Year, New plan, New Goals.

With 2012 drawing to a close, it's time to think about not only what we did in 2012, but what we plan to do in 2013.  It's time to think about what we can do to get us fired up and do better. Here are a few tips to help plan and improve for the new year:

1) What are your goals for 2013? Write it down, and put it in a place where you have to look at it every day. Put the plan on your phone calendar. Look at it every day. Tell other runners about your plans, so that they know as well. A training plan will not work if it's ignored or not discussed. Also, be realistic about your plans, you should see it as a goal, it shouldn't scare you to death when you look at it.  Your 2013 goals should be a very logical improvement on your 2012 goals. Be realistic. 

Here's my 2013 plans. It's on the fridge. I do have to eat every day.

2) Plan your year right now. Want to run the Chicago Marathon? Great. July is not the time to start thinking about it. Training starts now. Every race is an investment of your time, effort and money, if you don't plan well, it's just going to be just about having a very expensive running shirt, and your disappointment that and you've squandered your investment. Plan you training days and your mileage. Make sure vacations and holidays or work don't interfere with training, and if they do, what adjustments can you make to keep training. Make sure you can train properly for the races you want to excel in. Also, plan your breaks from running as well, allow yourself to rest, saves you from injuries and illnesses.   Many races already have their race dates and schedules already up for 2013. Once again, be realistic. 

3) Fix the issues that screwed you up your 2012.  Didn't run the pace you wanted? Time to invest into speed work. Had injuries? Time to see a doctor, chiropractor or a massage therapist. Lost interest or got distracted?  Time to join a running group. Need Strength work? Work on getting stronger. Improvements will not come if you don't realize there might be an issue.  No runner is perfect, every runner has had an injury or a set back. But the improvements should come now, not in the spring, not when you start racing again. It starts now. This is the time to really work at it. Runners call it building a base. The base is what supports the running that you want to do. Bigger the base, the more that you'll achieve.

There is always something to work at, and the benefits of improvement, make the investment of hard work even more worthwhile. There's no better feeling when it comes together at a race.