From a workout perspective, week 4 was a complete disaster. I only got 1 run in for the week.

Since Candlelight Choir practices have started, making my Tuesday runs has been a challenge. So, I need to find a way to make that happen this week. The trouble last week was fining the energy after work to get out and do what I know needed to be done. It’s like I’ve been so used to doing nothing on Mondays, that having something that occupies my evenings (even something as fun as singing Candlelight music), has altered my whole week. Now, I did make it out on Wednesday for a 4 mile run that went better than expected. However, by Thursday evening, I was drained mentally. To be fair, it was a busier than usual week at work. So, I’m sure that played a role. However, by the time Friday rolled around, I needed to just make this a one week write off.

So, instead of beating myself up, I spent the time finalizing plans for the WDW Marathon Weekend trip. Dining reservations are now set. All I need to do is book spa time and the pre-trip planning will be finished! The countdown to the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend trip now under 100 days!

As I took the time off, I also used time this past weekend to refocus and make the most of my time away from working out. It feels like a lot of September was spent trying to deal with mental burnout. So, this weekend, I wanted to just give myself some time to just be and rethinking how I will approach the remaining weeks until my first full marathon. One thing that I want to do is to make monthly goals for myself to take my training one month at a time. Starting this week, the miles will be getting insane for me. I have a 15 mile run on Saturday and a 17 mile run two weeks later. In between that is a 5K race and the week after my 17 mile run, I have my next half marathon. So, October is going to be a month with a lot of running…more than I’ve done before.

• My running goal for October is 92.2 miles
• My goal is to make all 8 gym workouts
• Finish the Rock N Roll Half Marathon Los Angeles (October 27th) in 2 hours, 50 minutes or quicker

Those are my workout Goals. Here are a couple other goals for the month of October:

• Revamp this blog. I’ve got some ideas that I’m working on. Hopefully, by the end of October, this blog will look a little different.
• Not miss a day of reading in “The Purpose Driven Life.” I’ve gone through this book twice now and each time it has led to some great insights as to what is important in life. When you live in Los Angeles, life moves really fast. I really want to try to slow it down a bit.
• Finish Marty Sklar’s book “Dream it! Do it! : My Half-Century Creating Disney’s Magic Kingdoms.” Part of my desire to slow down life a little bit is to read more. I started this book this month and intend to finish it this month.

In about a month, we’ll see how I did with these goals. As for this week, my goal is simple…finish all 5 workouts that are scheduled as planned and start-up “The Purpose Driven Life.”

How do you deal with goal setting? Do you make monthly goals? Weekly goals? Daily goals? What systems have you put in place to keep your life moving forward?