My family is in the White Mountains on a ski trip this week and as usual I’ve packed the running gear just in case there’s an opportunity. Today I had the time and ran into downtown North Conway and decided to stop mid-run at Zebs General Store, which is a must for anyone who visits the area.  I grabbed a coffee sample at the front door and headed back to my run, I’ll head back with the family soon.

The last run of the year is always one of reflection and looking forward to the year ahead.

Running continues to be a growing passion for me, helping keep me focused through life’s journey. My goal for 2014 was to run a half marathon and I was thankful to accomplish this while fighting an injury.

My injury and the horrible weather made the Gansett Half a tough run. The process taught me the importance of slow, consistent improvements and to respect the run.

I just looked at my milage and discovered I came close to doubling my milage this year, logging 950 miles compared to 500 in 2013. I’m a bit surprised and thrilled to see progress.

As always, there’s much room for improvment. I’m going to keep my 2015 running goals simple:

• First thing is to focus on consistency and keeping myself injury free.
• I want to run another Half Marathon, injury free this time.
• I also want to begin contemplating a full marathon, which seems so difficult at this moment. I know that if I focus on the first two goals the marathon goal is absolutely possible.
• Lastly, managing my diet better will help improve my run and for me the measurement of success will be having lower body weight than I do now.

These are all manageable running goals, but I also realize it’s easy to lose focus, get injured, and suffer setbacks. Thanks to the support of friends and family, I have confidence that another great year of running is ahead.

Running has been life changing for me. I’m grateful that I found a rewarding passion and that I have such a supportive family that gives me the time to chase my goals.

Wishing everyone a great 2015, whatever your goals might be slow steady progress wins the day every time.

Peace and God Bless