I am well off the mark to meet my goal of 3,000 cycling miles for 2013.

I realize 3,000 miles in a year isn’t much for a lot of you, but a goal is a goal and whatever it is the plan is to meet it and maybe even exceed it. At least in January, February, even March it is, now not so much.

For me to get 3,000 miles, I am going to have to average 70 miles each and every week from now until the end of the year.

Doesn’t sound too difficult, but considering I am going to be gone and without a bike some of those weeks means it is not going to be easy.

Know what I am using as my incentive to get it done?

Not making a mileage goal for 2014!

Seriously, always having a mileage goal for something you love can make it feel like work and just something else you have to do.

Plus, I have done other activities like swimming, hiking and running that don’t count towards that cycling goal, but are things I enjoy and want to do so why limit myself with a cycling goal. For instance, this past week we were at the Grand Canyon North Rim, took lots of hikes, but didn’t ride a single mile.

One of the readers here when I posted my goal for this year back in January told me she wasn’t making a cycling goal because she wanted to be free to walk, hike, etc. and not feel that she had to always bike to meet some arbitrary goal. Start woman!

Wish I had done that. I should have, I saw the signs, I didn’t make 2012’s cycling goal either: goal of 3200 miles, completed 2900 and some change.

Really, I am just not as focused in general on training type cycling as I was in years past. I don’t know if it is my age or the fact that I have been doing this so long (23 years) to remain so gung-ho. I guess probably both.

My focus on the type of riding I want to do is shifting too. Although I am still more of a cyclist (spandex-clad) than a bike rider (regular clothes) I am slowly (no pun here) but surely moving more in the direction of bicycling. I imagine I will always do both, but I like using my bike for transportation which has nothing really to do with miles or speed. I also like being fit, strong and fast for a middle-aged woman (true if I live to be over one hundred :), so I will still ride and track speed, heart rate, etc., at times too.

My plan is for my Garmin 510 to have 3,000 miles of cycling on 12/31/13. I wouldn’t feel as good about not having a goal next year if I don’t make this one. I am not even sure why exactly, just one of those quirks that serves me well at times and makes me miserable at times.

I am looking forward to next year and not having a goal, just riding to ride. What about you did you set a goal? Regretting it like me or if you are going to smash it, do tell.