Running Goals: Achieved!

by Felix Wong | 01 Jun 2008

By completing the Sulphur Springs 100 last weekend, I fulfilled all the running goals I listed at the bottom of the running race log page set in January 2005 (and are duplicated at the bottom of this page). Phew! Most of them were even achieved “on time,” or close.

Now that those goals are achieved, I am “retiring” from ultra-running—at least for the rest of the year, and perhaps the next several years. This way I can allocate resources (time, energy, and funds) to other pursuits, including things I have not done before, worthy causes and even non-athletic stuff.

Later this year, I may start running again, but it would be for health, fitness and fun (which means running, say, 5-15 miles a week, not >40!) It also would include more track and speed work and a greater focus on short races (e.g., 5k).

There’s also still the long-term goal of running a marathon a year and in each of the 50 states, but ever since qualifying for Boston, my marathon times are no longer important to me so I do not plan on devoting inordinate amounts of training time to this in the near-future. (After all, I did manage to complete my first marathon after doing a long run of just seven miles, and I fully believe I can complete future marathons with even less training that that!)

Of course, even though I won’t be running, that is not to say I will be completely inactive. In fact, I will be participating in a different sort of mega-race very soon.

Recap of the January 2005 Running Goals

The following goals, except for the first one that was conceived in 2001, were set in January 2005.

• Finally beat George W. Bush’s best marathon time of 3:44:52. (Target date: Oct. 31, 2005.) Achieved: Jul. 4, 2005 (3:34:27, Foot Traffic Flat Marathon)
• Run a sub-20-minute 5k. (Target date: Dec. 31, 2005) Achieved: Apr. 24, 2005 (19:30, Great Spear-It 5k)
• Run a 5:30 mile. (Target date: Mar. 31, 2006) Achieved: Aug. 9, 2007 (5:12, Mountain Avenue Mile)
• Run a sub-40-minute 10k. (Target date: Dec. 31, 2006) Achieved: Sep. 30, 2007 (39:40, Trailblazer 10k)
• Run my first 50-miler. (Target date: Dec. 31, 2006) Achieved: May 28, 2006 (52.4 miles, Rocky Mountain Double Marathon)
• Run my first 100-miler. (Target date: Dec. 31, 2007) Achieved: May 25, 2008 (Sulphur Springs 100)
• Qualify for the Boston Marathon with a sub-3:10 time. (Target date: Dec. 31, 2010) Achieved: Oct. 6, 2007 (3:03:24, St. George Marathon)