I love goals. I need goals. It’s who I am. They give me direction, purpose, motivation, and a sense of accomplishment. When I set a goal with a deadline in mind, I become totally immersed in it; obsessive. It consumes me, but I love it. I’ve had fitness goals, weight goals, travel goals and more. Let me give you a recent example. Back in November 2023, I decided I wanted to run a 10k in April 2024. Let me clarify, I wanted to interval run the 10K. but with more running than walking. There are a few facts that you need to know about me. First, I’m 72 years old and I’ve never been a runner. I tried it several times throughout the years, but decided it wasn’t for me. What did work for me was daily walking and I could walk fast. I even walked 500 miles on the Camino Frances starting in St. Jean Pied de. Port, France to Santiago, Spain. I did it twice; the first time with my husband at age 66 and the 2nd time with my daughter at age 71. I share that with you so that you can see I’m relatively healthy and fit. I wasn’t going from a couch potato to a runner. I was more or less transitioning from walking to running.

I signed up for 10k training at the local YMCA and at the same time registered for the April race. I had two months before the 10 weeks of training started. I wasn’t running those two months, but I was getting mentally prepared. Thus began the obsession and it continued until race day in April. The actual training started the 2nd week in February. It consisted of interval running four days a week with mileage increasing each week. Needless to say, this was way out of my comfort zone and those first four weeks were brutal. Every run brought forth a new ache or pain and I began to question my sanity. Miraculously, by week five, the aches and pains subsided, but the effort was intense. When I wasn’t hitting the pavement, I was at the gym taking strength training and line dancing classes. When I was at home, I was researching older women runners and their training techniques and times. I read books, watched movies and documentaries, and listened to podcasts about running. I started focusing on diet, hydration, and stretching. I enrolled in my first ever yoga class. Are you beginning to see how entrenched I was in the process? It didn’t end there. Because writing has always helped me to sort out my life,I began to write every day or so about my running journey. As race day approached, I spent hours selecting a music playlist with songs that had a 60-70 BPM cadence. Running seemed easier with the upbeat songs playing through my earbuds. Finally, the day of the race arrived. I was as ready as I could be. I joined twenty thousand or more participants and was hoping to place in the top ten of my age group (70-74). I didn’t achieve that goal, but I did cross the finish line placing 14th out of 171 women in my group. I was pleased with my results, but now I have to keep practicing so I am in the top ten next year. For a few weeks after the 10k, I was at loose ends and eager to set a new goal. My thoughts have turned to writing. If I could be as obsessed with writing as I was with running, I could crank out a novel in record breaking time. Are you currently working on a goal and do you find yourself totally consumed by it?