With 2014 only three days away, it’s a natural time to start thinking about our running goals for the new year. In years past, I’ve always set performance based goals. I’ve wanted to reach a certain time at a certain race. But, after reading this article, I’ve realized that my goals have probably been hindering me, rather than helping me improve.

In 2013, I set two goals for my 10k time and my half-marathon time that I didn’t achieve. I was disappointed with myself, especially because I felt like I was physically capable of reaching them. Although I did run personal bests in both distances and I was happy about that, it was overshadowed by the missing those time goals.

Really, time goals are useless without training goals. You can say you want to run a 10k in 45 minutes, but without developing a plan to get there, you will never achieve it. However, if you set training based goals, focusing on the process of increasing your fitness and health, you are are bound to naturally improve your running times. As a bonus, you will be happy for running your best without the disappointment of not reaching an ambitious time goal.

So, this is what I’m going to do in 2014. I’m going to forget about reaching a certain time. I’m going to concentrate on being more consistent in my training, stop neglecting my long runs and hill workouts, and improve my pacing. I haven’t set my specific goals yet, but they will be based around the process of becoming a stronger runner instead of the end goal.

With this in mind, Jackie and I thought we’d have a giveaway to help you reach your goals in 2014. We’re giving one Runner’s World 2014 Daily Calendar, which is full of training tips for each day of the year!

This giveaway is available to residents of North America and is open until January 1, 2014.

Click here to enter the giveaway!

QUESTION: What is one of your goals for 2014?

-Mandy-