Running and Aging: Setting a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal)

[Author’s Note: This article is part of an occasional series on the unique opportunities and challenges of growing older as a runner.]

Again on New Yr’s Eve 2023, I had the chance, for the primary time in a few years, to take part in an Arizona Traditional — the Throughout the Years multi-day working occasion. Because it was my first time working shortly, I selected to enroll in the 24-hour run, starting at 9 a.m. on December 31, and ending at 9 a.m. on January 1. I set as my purpose to run 15 miles on the morning of December 31, and one other 15 miles on the morning of January 1.

As is so usually the case for individuals on the finish of a 12 months, I spent nearly all of my working time reflecting on the 12 months behind me and waiting for the one in entrance of me. The previous 12 months, 2023, had been a monumental 12 months for me. Amongst different issues, I had each of my hips changed, and I left my profession in training after greater than 32 years. So, not surprisingly, as I appeared forward to 2024, I did so with each a powerful sense of hope and a good bit of tension.

Runners make their method round Camelback Ranch for the 2021-2022 Throughout the Years race. Picture: Aravaipa Working

Because the final couple of hours of Throughout the Years handed, I zeroed in on one large purpose for 2024 and puzzled if I ought to go for it. I remembered that between 2001 and 2020, I had been capable of run over 3,000 miles in a 12 months 13 totally different instances, however I hadn’t come even near that annual quantity since. Within the predawn gentle of Camelback Ranch, within the closing hours of Throughout the Years, I made a decision to set my large purpose for 2024 to as soon as once more run 3,000 miles in a 12 months. And by the point the occasion was completed, I solely had 2,985 to go!

I awoke on January 2, 2024, with a renewed sense of focus and a want to remain constant and wholesome. By the top of January, I had logged 220 miles, and by the top of the primary quarter of the 12 months, on March thirty first, I had logged a tad over 700. I used to be behind 3,000-mile tempo, however not by a lot. I ran a few races alongside the best way, in addition to some large coaching weekends, and by the midway level within the 12 months, on the shut of enterprise on June thirtieth, my annual tally stood at 1,403 miles. I had an opportunity.

This previous July, I logged over 240 miles. As I write this on August 27, just a few days wanting two-thirds of the best way by the 12 months, my complete mileage for the 12 months is 1,890, and I’m feeling wholesome and motivated. I simply would possibly be capable to get my 14th 3,000-mile 12 months finished in 2024!

AJW clearly having fun with his 500-meter laps on the 2024 Hotfoot Hamster. Picture courtesy of Andy Jones-Wilkins.

I inform this story to not congratulate myself or to share the boring particulars of lengthy, lonely miles plodding by the desert — however relatively to share one thing that I’ve come to appreciate as I’ve gotten older, which is the intrinsic worth of setting a giant, probably hard-to-reach purpose. Striving day after day to attain such a purpose may be one of many true items of rising older.

As I see my numbers inexorably pile up, and my health beneficial properties turn out to be extra noticeable, I discover myself motivated by the straightforward act of getting on the market each day and getting it finished. It actually doesn’t matter to me that I’m working two minutes per mile slower than I did once I final ran 3,000 miles in a 12 months. What issues to me is that I’m on the market working and chasing a purpose that when appeared unattainable, and now appears doable.

Bottoms up!

AJW’s Beer of the Week

This week’s Beer of the Week comes from Holy Metropolis Brewing in North Charleston, South Carolina. Washout Wheat is a basic American-style wheat ale with a crisp end. At 5.3% ABV and a mere 10 IBUs, it is a fantastic late-summer wheat ale to be loved out on the entrance porch or watching the sundown on the seaside.