Marathon thoughts and the future

I realized that I had posted about the recent Seattle Marathon but had not used all of the sheet of notes from that marathon or commented more than vaguely about where I am going with my marathon running. Without a goal I flounder in virtually everything I do. So, now that I have been doing marathons for many years I need to look at where I am going. Also, the recent publication of Cami's book and her next marathon quest has given me cause to pause and reflect.

I once noted that I wanted to do 25 marathons. That was a totally random number that sounded good and I am actually just over halfway to at this point with my 13th Seattle Marathon. I have also noted for a few years that I would like to do a 2 marathon year. 25 overall and more than one in a year is worth doing but not really enough to grab hold of my attention properly. I have also had some vague notions of New York or Boston.

So, upon recent reflection I have decided to make a more specific set of goals that is roughly attainable before I turn 50 in 2017 ...

Before I turn 50 I will ...

1) run the New York and/or Boston marathon(s) ...
2) complete more than one marathon in a calendar year ...
3) complete a cluster of marathons to qualify for Marathon Maniacs at at least the Bronze Level of "2 Marathons within a 16 day time frame" or "3 Marathons within a 90 day time frame" ...
4) double my current number of marathons to 26 ...

The caveat is that doing all of this by 50 is negotiable as I am giving myself that year and age to set a general timetable for the future, but it is more important that I eventually achieve all of these items than the time frame itself.