Goal Setting: How Do You Approach Setting Goals For Yourself?

"No matter how many goals you have achieved, you must set your sights on a higher one." ~ Jessica Savitch 

It's that time of year again. As each year winds down, it's time to assess the goals you had set for the year and to begin goal-setting for the new year ahead.

In running, I firmly believe it's important to have goals set before you to help keep pushing your forward. Without goals, it is easy to become stagnant, stuck in a holding pattern and not really going anywhere. Goals are what drive us.

You will never hit the mark if you don't have anything to aim for.

Yet, knowing all this, I'm at this awkward place. It's rather odd and strange for me, and I'm not quite sure what to do about it.

I'm not sure if or what goals I want to shoot for in 2014.

Who Knew Running Would Take Me So Far?

Cindy, Kelcey, Dave and I at the Golden
Gate Bridge in July of 2010.

Earlier this month, I hit a milestone: 5,000 career running miles.

Since I began running back in April of 2010, I have now logged 5,107 total miles. (Editor's Note: I had planned to blog about this sooner, but life has been getting in the way.) I 'think' I hit the 5,000-mile mark on my 42nd birthday. It was some time around then, but like I said, life's been hectic.

Yet, not too hectic to keep me from running. :)

Truthfully, when I began my running journey, I never imagined I'd become of the runner I have. With the mileage I've racked up, I could've ran to the Golden Gate Bridge and back home - which by the way is one of my favorite places I've run and I ran there very early in my running career.

Jack-O-Lantern Jog: The Family That Runs Together

My two running buddies and I.

October 26 was the day. The day my 9-year-old daughter Haylee was to run her first real race. This was going to be a challenge because it was a 4-miler.

Personally, I would have preferred her start off with a 2-miler or even a 5K. But I think the like the cool looking bling for the AG winners and she wanted one of those. (Plus, instead of a t-shirt, you got a nice hoodie. Not bad for a $17 registration fee, eh?)

Then again, she could just take after her old man. After all, the first race I signed up for and ran when I started running at the ripe age of 38 was a half marathon. They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, you know.

The fact Haylee asked to run this race (and trained with my bride and me) was a bit surprising. A couple years ago, she did the Kids Half Marathon as part of the Secret City Half Marathon. All she had to do was run 12 1-mile increments leading up to race and then run the final 1.1 miles on race day. As soon as she crossed the finish line, she announced, "I'm never doing that again."

Again, sounds eerily similar to someone I know.