Amy Lu's View

Now that 2021 is over, I can officially announce that I did NOT make my goal of running 1400 miles during the year. And I’m mostly okay with that. 

I’m pretty sure that no one else in the world remembers or knows that I had this goal, but I still feel the need to be public about not making it because I share so much about my running via this blog and social media. It’s only honest to share the agony of defeat along with the thrill of victory, right?

Don’t worry, I’m actually not in agony or sadness or anything beyond mild disappointment. I just wanted to evoke a quote I remember from childhood that I thought Howard Cosell said but Google just informed me it was made famous by Jim McKay on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. 

I do think there is value in taking some time to think about the goals we don’t achieve, along with celebrating the ones we do. So is there anything for me to learn in this particular goal I didn’t make?

To put things in context, this was a small goal, or at least a goal I hadn’t invested a lot of emotional energy in. Not only was it a goal that others were unaware of, I didn’t even set it myself until mid November. That’s when I realized that as I was getting close to the end of 2021 I could reasonably make a yearly running total of 1400. I even toyed with setting my sights on 1500 miles but decided that would be pretty ambitious in light of the constraints for me of winter weather running. 

I came pretty close to making my goal–I ran 1,390.2 miles in 2021. Certainly a fair amount of running and more than the 1,304.14 miles I ran in 2020. But slightly less than 10 miles short of my 2021 goal. Not surprisingly, getting so close but not making it is rather frustrating, especially as I was capable of running that additional 10 miles. Capable, but I chose not to risk falling on icy sidewalks or catching Covid at the gym to attain a goal that felt pretty arbitrary.  

I think that’s my key takeaway from not making this goal: It was my choice not to complete it because I didn’t feel it was meaningful enough to be worth the risks and hassle, and I’m proud of myself for making that choice. I’m proud because I realized and accepted that my main motivation was just to have something to brag about on Facebook, and I could let that go. What I really wanted to accomplish by running (at least at this point in the year) was just to get cardio exercise and I could do that safely (if tediously) via our exercise bike. 

Of course there are important and meaningful goals that we can’t achieve because of circumstances beyond our control, and  that can be heartbreaking. But realizing that we can adjust or even let go of a goal that isn’t particularly meaningful or realistic can be freeing and even empowering. 

This life lesson about goals does NOT mean won’t continue to set goals or challenges for myself, especially in this season of resolutions. And I’m sure some of my goals (which I may or may not publicly announce) will continue to be silly and unattainable. I might even set slightly higher goals for myself, now that I’m a little wiser about understanding that not reaching a goal isn’t necessarily a big whoo and that there can be value in the process of pursuing a goal even if it doesn’t end in success.

After all, if goals were too easy they wouldn’t really be goals, would they? Now “easy” is relative and changing, even for the same person, but let’s just say I don’t need to set a goal to spend more time on Facebook. 

But I think a helpful goal for me for 2022 will be to set goals after I’ve spent a little more time and energy reflecting on my priorities and what is meaningful to me and why. 

I haven’t set any 2022 running goals yet (I usually don’t set any yearly running goals until February and they are mostly vague) but I’m pretty wide open–I’m considering everything from running the Twin Cities Marathon in October (it’s the 40th anniversary!) to cutting back on running so I can spend more (any, really) time on strength training. Most likely, I’ll ponder some different alternatives and land in place with goals more or less like the ones I’ve had this year–run as much as I can without going too nuts, and “earn” some more race medals and t-shirts that I have no use for.

Whatever I do, I won’t have to set a goal to blog about it.