It's March 2022, which means that we should have set goals two months ago. And we sort of did. Let's write about it now.

The Main Goals

My main running goal is to run all 6 Major Marathons. With two in the books (London and Berlin), that leaves four to go (Boston, Chicago, New York, Tokyo).

So the goals this year are:

Goal 1: Run the Boston Marathon

I'm in the Boston Marathon this year, so the "easy" goal is to get to the mid-way mark on the bigger goal to run all six. While some elements (pandemic rules) sit outside of my control, within my control is to run a conservative training block to get myself to the start line healthy and fit.

Goal 2: New York Marathon

With Boston included this year, the question is: what's the next one?

Chicago falls on unfortunate dates (at least, in terms of my attendance) both in 2022 and 2023. Which leaves trying to qualify for New York or Tokyo. New York requires a 3:05 marathon or 1:28 half marathon. Tokyo requires a 2:45 marathon ... and only has 300 such spots.

So the "next one" target is New York. And while the lottery will be entered, my second goal of the year is to qualify for New York. I'm signed up to two spring marathons, so 3:05 is possible there, but given that I'm returning from injury, running two marathons that are close together, and being conservative with my training, it seems doubtful.

In order to keep the volume lower this year, and fully recover from the broken ankle, I'm intending to drop down from the marathon after my spring races, and focus on shorter distances through the rest of 2022 and early parts of 2023.

So goal two will be sub-1:28:00* at the Valencia Half Marathon in October. This will net me a good-for-age spot in New York for 2023, which will become my fourth major marathon.

The Sub-Goals

What does that mean this year? I've got three goal races, and one mileage goal ...

• Boston Marathon - April
  • Goal A: Finish, major marathon number 3
  • Goal B: Personal Best (< 3:17:00)
  • Goal C: NY Qualifier (<3:05:00)
• Edinburgh Marathon - May
  • Goal A: Personal Best (<3:17:00)
  • Goal B: NY Qualifier (<3:05:00)
• Valencia Half-Marathon - October
  • Goal: NY Qualifier (<1:28:00)
• Mileage: 2022 miles for the year

The 2022 miles is a good number. Not only is it the year, but it means significant training mileage, but not a huge number where I might find myself sidelined and injured.

There are two marathon lotteries that could mess this up ... the London and New York marathons.

I entered the London lottery after October's race, without thinking about my actual 2022 goals. And it's such a fantastic race that I'll run it if I'm in it. But it will present a dilemma: go for it, or take it on as a slow long run?

I'm not really planning on a full-on marathon block for the autumn - my current training is difficult, as I'm not fully recovered from last year's injury. With the Edinburgh marathon at the end of May, and London in early October, that leaves four months to recover from back-to-back spring marathons and prepare for autumn marathons.

Not ideal.

If I'm fortunate enough to get a spot, I'll likely take it easy, but this will all depend on how I feel in early June.

Of course, New York IS goal two for the year ... in this case, Valencia will become a prep race before the taper, and I'll happily be racing the streets of the big apple in November ...