A New Goal for 2012

I hadn't set a lot of goals for this year.  One I did establish was to run the Shamrock Half Marathon last March in Virginia Beach.  I wanted to do this as a 10 year cancer survivor, and also as a 60 year old.  Hey, I may be slow, but I bet less than 5% of 60 year olds can do a half marathon.  And I bet the percentage of 60 year old cancer survivors who can run a half marathon is even smaller.  I had another goal of doing a marathon this year, my fourth ever, but the knee pain I experienced in my left knee all through training this past winter and continuing after the Shamrock has convinced me that the goal of being able to walk at the end of the year trumps my goal of doing another marathon anytime soon.  Even so, I felt pangs when I was out walking today and ran into a neighbor who excitedly told me that she had signed on to run the Richmond Marathon in November - her first!

But the other day, I thought of a pretty cool goal for myself, one that I am excited about.  I want to, as a 10 year cancer survivor, hike 10 new trails- or at the least, places I have not been into for at least 10 years - by the end of the year.  To count, it has to be a real hike, not just a walk (like my Pittsburgh trip), and has to be at least five miles long (which rules out my hike in Pocahontas State Park earlier this year).  I'll also consider bike rides in the great outdoors or kayaking - but I have to use my own muscles for it to count.  I don't own a bike at this point, or a kayak, by the way.

I'm off to a good start with four new hikes this year so far:

Beach Church Rock - a wonderful hike Shenandoah National Park, with the bonus of seeing two black bears
St. Mary's Falls - a rugged and scenic hike in the George Washington National Forest
Sky Meadows State Park - beautiful scenery in the Blue Ridge foothills in Northwest Virginia
James River State Park - I didn't see another person on the trails of this park during my nine-miler this past Friday.

So, stay tuned!