Spencer’s 2012 Running Goals

I created this site to help me accomplish some of my running goals. I don’t have any ambitious goals of becoming an Olympic champion or anything like that, but I do believe that if I can accomplish my goals I will see a significant impact on my health and overall quality of life. After all, that’s usually what goals are all about right?

At the time of this writing (May 15th, 2012), I have 3 goals that I would like to accomplish that are all tied to running.

1. Lose weight
2. Set Personal Best times
3. Place in my age group

Essentially these are my goals right now, and I will come back and update this page as I accomplish these or have any additional goals. But for now, I wanted to cover these 3 goals in detail to both keep myself accountable and to allow you to follow along. I don’t necessarily expect anyone to be all that interested in my goals, but I DO hope that in some small way to motivate or influence you to set and accomplish your own goals. Perhaps as we interact with each other on this site, we can each help each other achieve new heights, live healthier lives, and perhaps run a little faster!

Goal 1: Lose 30 Pounds by the end of 2012!

This is a big goal for me. My starting weight on March 26th, 2012 was 155lbs. I have to admit that I was flirting with 160 there for a little while, but don’t have a date or official weigh in on that. But 155 is where my weight tends to gravitate to when I’m not working out.

Losing 30 pounds will put me at my high school wrestling weight and would be a trim, healthy weight for me to get to. Let me give you some Body Mass Index information so you can see where I’m trying to get to.

First of all, I’m 5’5″. I also have a stocky, muscular build. So, I’ve always had a bit of a higher BMI because of my body type. No one who saw me at 155lbs would ever say I’m over-weight (I don’t think).

Here’s a few pictures of my fat stage:

So, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services BMI calculator, my BMI at 155lbs. was 25.8! That put me in the overweight category! (A BMI of 25-29.9 is considered overweight, and over 29 is obese).

Now I’ve decided its time to get fit and stay fit. So, I am going to lose 30 pounds primarily through running!

You see, I have been running on and off for a long time (read about me here). I don’t do well with dieting (see the picture with donuts above). But when I’m running I tend to lose weight and enjoy the competition of running as well. So over the years, my weight has yo-yo’ed up and down depending on if I am running or not.

In fact, I’ve been keeping track of my weight for about 4 years, which you can sheet in chart format below.

You will see that my weight has dipped down significantly twice over the past 4 years. You know where my weight has bottomed out both times? Both low points happen to coincide with running a marathon! I have run 2 marathons (at the time of this writing), and the training leading up to both of these races has motivated me to get in shape and lose weight.

So, I think that I can lose the weight – although I have never gotten down to 125lbs. (not since high school anyway). But the idea is to not just get my weight to 125, but to keep it there for a continued healthy lifestyle.

If I do get to 125lbs. that will put my Body Mass Index (BMI) at 20.8. A normal range for BMI is 18.5 to 24.9. This will put me in a nice healthy range. In order for me to be “lightweight”, my weight would have to drop to 111 lbs. Someone please make me stop if I ever get down to 111 lbs. I pretty that’s not possible…as long as there are brownies and donuts in this world.

Goal 2: Set Personal Record Running Times in All Distances

A big part of staying motivated to run for me is seeing improvements in my overall speed. In the past, I have been a very casual runner, basically running on and off when someone talked me into running a race, or when I was feeling extra motivated.

So, I have not been trying particularly hard to set any personal times (PRs) in the past, but I have kept track of all my times. Now as I get more serious about running, I hope to set PRs in all of these distances.

Distance	Date	Time	Mile Pace
1 mile	05/1996	0:05:45	0:05:45
5k	11/28/2013	0:21:20	0:06:52
10k	08/17/2013	0:46:14	0:07:26
10 mile	11/10/2012	1:13:49	0:07:22
13.1 miles	09/02/2013	1:39:43	0:07:36
26.2 miles	10/05/2013	3:32:29	0:08:06

Goal 3: Place in my age group in any distance

Finally, as my 3rd goal, and perhaps a more long term goal, is that I would LOVE to place in the top 3 of my age group in any of the races that I run. I’m certainly no where close to accomplishing this at this point, but I’m going to give it a try.

I typically place somewhere in the middle of the pack overall. However, if the stars align just right and I find a weak field, perhaps there is someway that I can place in the top 3 of my age group in one of these races!

Overall, I look forward to sharing this journey with you as I try to achieve my 3 running goals! Follow along, enjoy the ride, and perhaps you might get a little extra motivated to accomplish your own goals as well.