Goals 2019: State after August

Status 2019 update #8!

Review the original post, January, February, March, April, May, June, and July here.

This August has been more successful regarding my yearly goals compared to the previous few ones. I feel good and think I can keep it up. 

Goal 1: Run one Marathon per Month

✅ Result: 1 marathon and one self-organized insane ultra.

Although I reached 82 kilometers and five and a half thousand meters of elevation gain during said insane ultra, Hamburg Everest 2019, I wouldn’t count that towards the challenge. It wasn’t an official race. I’m not entirely sure which parameters I want to see fulfilled for myself to count a run as a marathon for this challenge, but I don’t think this fits it. 

Anyways, I did run a conventional marathon as well, exactly one week after that insane ultra. Großer Plöner See Marathon has been fun, I ran into Tobi Riedel, founder of the Elbe-Lübeck-Kanal-Ultramarathon, and we chatted for a few kilometers. 3:41 hours was very satisfactory to me and the race went well. So this is a clear check. 

If I chose to count my solo 100k run, which I’m not really, it would bring my total count up to 12 – the set goal of 2019. Kind of done, kind of not. Also, if you thought I would stop here after reaching 12, you don’t know me well. As of today, I have four more coming up: Rauchwart Marathon, Heidelberg Long Distance Trail (50k), Frankfurt Marathon, and UltraSteinhart 666. December is currently free of marathons, but I’m definitely going to sign up for one for that month as well. “One marathon per month” is the name after all.

Goal 2: Run 2,000 Kilometers (166.67 per Month)

✅ Result: 288.70 kilometers

Again, easily outran the goal. 1.852 kilometers total, very close to the 2,000. Still I’d like to keep doing the 166.67 minimum for every remaining month of this year, just as with Goal 1.

Goal 3: Run Every Other Day

 ✅ Result: 17 runs

Finally, I made up for the deficit month of May. This took so long that it has definitely increased the motivation for me to keep running at least every other day. As of the end of this month, August, I’m enjoying a surplus of 0.5 runs with 122 runs total. 60.5 to go, which seems like an easy thing to do.

I have found out that I am only able to achieve this goal if I do many consecutive day runs. There’s always something coming up that prevents me from running exactly every other day, so this new strategy seems to be the way to do it. Also, I have put a higher priority on running for myself recently. It just makes me feel better. A day with a run is a successful day, even if some other things have to fall behind for that to happen. 

Goal 4: Walk 5 Million Steps (13,700 per Day)

✅ Result: 19,264 steps on average

As opposed to the other goals, I wasn’t able to literally fulfil this goal by doing at least 13,700 steps per day. In not a single month, so far. There were so many days on which I had no realistic option to complete them. In total, the 5 million will be easily completed, though. As of end of August I have already breached 4 million with 4 full months to go. I think I won’t repeat this goal for 2020. It doesn’t feel like it gets me anywhere. I prefer the running goals.

Goal 5: Read 12 Books (1 per Month)

✅ Result: 1 book

I finished just one book this month because I chose to read a few ones that are a bit longer than the usual books I read. Currently I’m already almost done with two more books, so September will be completed early. On August 2nd, I finished this one:

The autobiography of the “toughest man on the planet”. It’s remarkable what this man has accomplished in his lifetime. The most interesting part is his willpower to achieve greatness. It’s still enigmatic to me where he got it from. His childhood was horrible and he barely made it into adulthood in one piece. Coping mechanism, maybe, doesn’t matter. Regardless, inspiring. The 40% Rule has made it into my brain and now gets applied whenever I feel physically spent. “When you feel like you’re completely done and exhausted, you’re just at about 40 percent of your body’s capabilities.”

Lasting impact, recommended for everyone.

Now I have moved on to two political books. One is about the political divide that has increased in Germany during the years since the refugee crisis of 2015, the other is about the decline of the importance of diplomacy, in favor of violence, within the US administration since the early Obama years and intensifying during the first years of Trump. Both are completely different from each other and from the books I usually read, but my interest in these topics recently spiked. Funny how that works. 

Again, a full 5/5 month. Also, the number of runs is finally up to the plan, again. Went well. I’m looking for a good December marathon! If you’ve got recommendations, let me know. Thanks!