Day 4,274— Happy 2026! November, Cannot Get Here too Soon —

 

I wish I had been able to get up earlier. I keep thinking that next week I will be back to a 4 a.m. start time just to barely get to everything I need to do. I would like to get up a little earlier than that, but it is so difficult when my kids don’t go to sleep until 8:30 most nights. I decided to run to the track at the Webster Middle School. There was a run I did there, either 4 or 5 years ago, on New Year's when I first discovered the track. I had heard people talking about it before, but I had always dismissed it because I couldn’t believe I was so close and just had missed a track for such a long time, but then all of a sudden, there it was, and it was open, and I could run on it. It was cold and dark, but I ran on the track that year with a big smile on my face. Sometimes being wrong is the best thing that could have happened. There were at least 3 other runners on the track today but the streets were empty. I stopped and sat for a few minutes, which is another one of my goals—that I always sit for a few minutes on each run, just find a pretty place and sit down. I tell myself I don’t have the time, but I always find the time for a mile, so I should be able to do this. 

Below, I write about some of my running goals for the year. I will start with a goal of 2,800 miles of running, but my real running goal is to recover and not hurt myself, which will mean losing weight and slowing down. It may not seem like a step forward when you look at my metrics, but it is necessary if I want to continue doing this for the inevitable future. I got at least 40 more years in me.  

The four states I am planning on running in this year are the following (with race name and date): Alabama, Thunder Kiss 100, March 14; Colorado, The Great Divide, June 6; Florida, Vero Beach Octopus Ultra, July 11; and West Virginia, Rim to River 100, Oct 24. I am tempted to add another 100-mile run in December. There were some I was really debating this year, but it just didn’t happen. At the same time, I don’t want to be too ambitious with my goals for 2026. I am worried about getting all my work done for these two classes I am taking this spring, but I am also looking forward to finishing my school counseling work. It seems like I have been in school forever working towards this goal, and this year, I am doing it, and at the same time, I have taken very little solace in completing this program or getting the degree. It is always about the next thing, and this year I did a lot. I need to read what I was writing about at this time last year to see how nervous/apprehensive I was about getting everything done. Maybe that will give me perspective. I am on page 588 on this document. I think moving forward I am going to start a new word document for every year.