Happy New Year everyone and what a fun year of running in the books! This was an exciting year of running over in Texas. Lots of fun races, fun training days, great runs with Janel, and many runs in between. Time for me to put on my nerdy cap and review my goals and data, woohoo!

I set some pretty ambitious running goals in 2025 and we can break down how those ended up. I figured I may as well have shot for gold and see what the year brought. Let’s look at the 2025 Goals.

2025 Running Goals:

1. Complete the Irving Marathon in March in sub 3 hours in 30 minutes
2. Complete a 12 hour fundraising event over summer time and cover 60 miles
3. Complete an official ultra in the fall
4. Break 4:50 in the mile during a training practice
5. Hit $5,000 for total amount raised for non profits through running career (Over $2,000 this year)

How did it turn out?

1. Irving Marathon Goal: Fail

Oh well. Honestly, I gave this one a couple attempts with an attempt in March and then one in December. Both marathon finishes were around 4:09 and some change which is an interesting little statistic. How did I miss the goal? What were the excuses? At the beginning of the year I had a stress fracture which significantly derailed training for the March race. At end of the year, it was just more laziness. I did increase my mileage throughout the year but work certainly picked up with running a business for the first time. I needed to commit more to the mornings to not miss my runs but my bed sure is cozy before 5 a.m.

2. Complete a 12 hour Fundraising Event over Summer Goal: Fail

0 for 2, uh oh. What happened?? Well, similar to work taking up time and not making a hard event to commit to a summer day to try this. I am looking to complete the height of Mount Everest for a run and thought I could give this a go with little training. After seeing how rough the Irving marathon went (which is only 0.5% of the elevation of Everest), I needed to push the ultra goal back. I wasn’t in shape for a summer ultra and didn’t want to risk injury. Saving the goal for another time!

3. Complete an Official Ultra Goal: Fail…

Not much to add from above. I went for a marathon race at the end of the year to redeem myself from my spring attempt rather than an ultra. I thought with the amount of time left in the year, I could have a better marathon and lower risk of injury than an ultra marathon race. I ironically list this as an ultra running blog and did not do one in 2025. Well, I will next year! Hopefully…

4. Break 4:50 in the Mile Goal: Fail

Honestly, one of the most ambitious goals for the year and there wasn’t a reason that this should occur. My previous mile personal record came from running 70-80 miles a week during college and it happened during a long tempo training day. I broke 6 minutes this year and finished with a 5:55 mile time. I had hoped to do a time trial following the marathon in December but ended the year sick. Fingers crossed to hit it next year!

5. Fundraising Goal: Fail

And that puts us at zero wins for the running related goals for the year, whoops! This specific goal was linked to ultra races and would need to be pushed back to next year. I poured more time into my business for sure which made this goal and a few others challenging.

Year End Data!

Next up, let’s look at the data! This part is always fun no matter what because I am a numbers nerd during and after the work day. Plus, data sure adds to the fun of running.

Total Mileage	1,151 miles
Miles per week (MPW)	22 miles per week
Total Elevation	68,396 feet
Mileage Change from 2024	+264 miles
MPW Change from 2024	+5 miles per week
Elevation Change from 2024	+6,481 feet

That’s some good data! I broke the 1,000 miles mark this year for the first time in over 5 years of recorded data. This was the most miles ran in over five years for a one year period. It’s cool to see the increase of miles per week over 20 with the previous high being 17 miles per week. One surprising data point was my total elevation gain at 68,396 feet. Although it’s an increase from last year, I thought I really added a whole lot more hills to my routine. In 2020, I covered almost 20,000 feet more which was due to living in a mountainous area that year. I ran around 880 miles that year though. It really shows that if your normal easy run includes over 100 feet of elevation each time, it truly adds up. I took the last month of 2025 easier for elevation due to marathon training but I did expect to be closer to my all time record. On to next year to try to beat it!

Other facts and figures include the highest monthly total at 133.3 miles in November and 12,240 feet of elevation gained in September. That 12K month of elevation in September was about 20% of my total elevation for the year so thanks to September for boosting that number. Those miles and feet gained in those two months were my highest in a month ever in a five year span. Progress.

The lowest mileage month was January at 48.8 which was coming off a stress fracture and for elevation, June had the lowest mark at 720 feet gained. That amount in June was due to moving to a flatter area of Texas and my weekly runs no longer included hills unless I drove somewhere or ran at least 5 miles away from home. Fascinating!

I also keep track of my personal records in distance events ranging from the half mile to ultra distance (only marathon this year) and I keep record of elevation too for the year. The elevation data this year highlights the most feet I have ever gained in one single run. Here is how 2025 looked:

1/2 Mile	2:51
1 Mile	5:55
2 Mile	13:14
5k	20:12
10k	44:08
Half Marathon	1:46:00
Marathon	4:07:51
Elevation	2,220 feet

According to the data from 2024, I was faster in the 5k and shorter events. In 2025, I was faster for longer events and managed a higher elevation gain. The 2,220 feet of elevation in one run was my largest ever in my life. Yepp, I grew up in Iowa and that checks out. Since then, I have lived in pretty flat areas around the good old USA outside of a year in a mountainous part of California.

Reflections of 2025

I was proud of myself for the consistency in the second half of the year. I had the majority of months totaling over 100 miles in mileage and I was happy to be more consistent in my elevation too. The races did not go as planned which sometimes happens. No big deal on this blog and we can always look forward to next year for those performances. There were a few injuries during the year so the hope is that in 2026, I can build up mileage smart and slow.

The lessons learned were that running will have to be completed early multiple times a week (around 4:30 a.m.) to balance out my busy work schedule. I also needed to learn how to commit to a long term training plan and not just wing the mileage. I would love to get faster, healthier, and funnier for next year. So, on that thought process, these are the goals for 2026

2026 Running Goals!

1. Complete a Marathon in sub 3 hours in 25 minutes
   • This is faster then the 2025 goal even though I did not break 4 hours this year. May as well believe that I can shoot for the stars! When this marathon will be, I have yet to determine.
2. Complete a Backyard Ultra Marathon
   • I found out about this event and there is one in Texas in the fall. This race consists of running 4.167 miles every hour until you can no longer continue. I would love to shoot for over 50 miles and twelve hours of running. I may just plan to do this event alone but I would follow the same rules of running every hour until I could no longer continue. Technically the race ends when there is only one person left but I’ll wave that rule if I am by myself.
3. Run the Height of Mount Everest Locally
   • It’s been stated! I want to shoot for this challenge in December of 2026. 29,000 feet plus of elevation will happen in one go. I hope. I better start running some serious elevation gain.
4. Break 1:30 in the Half Marathon
   • This will be a partial training goal that may happen on my own or in Irving, Texas. We shall see what happens and it would be my first time getting under 1:30 since college. Can I run that over 10 years later? Who shall know…
5. Complete a 50k or 50 Mile Trail Race
   • I’d love to run a trail race in 2026. Let’s see if that can happen. Time won’t matter, just finishing I think as the primary goal.
6. Break 4:50 in the Mile
   • This is a carryover from last year. Fingers crossed I can rip out a quick one over the summer or fall! It would be an all-time record for sure.
7. Run Over 1,560 Miles for the Year
   • This is an average of 30 miles per week and would be an enormous increase from the year before. I averaged 22 miles per week in 2025 with a total of thirteen weeks over 30 miles per week.
8. Run over 100,000 Feet in Elevation Gain
   • Another huge goal (they pretty much all are looking that way). Training for Mt. Everest locally should put me in a pretty good spot for this. It would be an average of almost 2,000 feet per week and about 8,200 feet per month. It may be possibly, we shall see.
9. Hit $5,000 for total amount raised for non profits through running career (Over $2,000 for a year)
   • Another carryover from last year. I will do the marketing for this on the Everest run and hopefully we smash this goal together.

And that’s a wrap on a year! Fingers crossed that I can accomplish a few of these. I think the trail race is the most likely to be completed with a backyard ultra being the second most likely. The ultra distance of running the height of Mount Everest will certainly be the toughest. I hope Janel is okay with this goals and I promise I’ll make it through in one piece!

I am most excited for running a quality marathon (one without stomach issues or bonking) and an attempt at the Mount Everest height. Only 2026 us will know if it ends up happening!

How about you?

How did the year go for you? Are you setting goals for 2026 or just going for it? Best of luck for the upcoming year and have a wonderful last day of 2025!