Folks,
I have been running for about 10 months now. After graduating I lost direction for a while until I signed up for the Great North Run. In my opinion I have been progressing well. GNR is a couple of weeks away and I'm thinking about the next target to aim for. I have no ambition to run a full marathon so I'm thinking two or three HM's per year interspersed with 10k's and the occasional 5k, its a bit of a trek to the nearest park run 
I would welcome your thoughts 
All the best
Ray
That sounds like a good plan and is what I've been doing for the past year or so. I chose a variety of 10Ks and HMs rather than always going for easy runs, so I knew I'd not *always* be pushing for a PB. This gave a range of experiences, including a little 'race tourism' where I visited one Scottish island I'd not visited before, a race with a ceilidh in the evening, and races as part of village gala days.
YES!! This is the way to go for me too. A variety of races and experiences. At my age , I don't think there is any need at all to continue looking for PB's over one particular distance. I just came 40,000th out of around 67,000 finishers in a 14K race in 1 hour 45 minutes. It was such a great experience that I may do it again next year ( if I am still standing) I have no interest in beating that PB - and even if I did beat it by 10 minutes -- so what???
I also like the non-standard distances too (like your 14K), because there is less expectation to aim for a certain time, eg a sub-hour 10K , or sub-2hr HM. For example, I have a local 17.46km run I hope to do again this October. This is held at Culloden and commemorates the Battle of Culloden in 1746. I'll be wearing my mini kilt again for this.
Hi Swanscot, I would be interested to know more about the Scottish island run. I have visited a number of the islands in my pre-running days.
I ran the Tiree Half Marathon in May this year. I've blogged about it here: swanscot.wordpress.com/2014...
There is also a challenge called the Heb 3, which challenges you to run 3 out of the 5 Hebridean Half Marathons: Skye, Benbecula, Harris, Stornoway and Barra. I had hoped to do this, but had other commitments on some of the weekends of the races. I'd really like to do the Barra HM, but the places sell out fast - all 250 places went in 10 minutes this years apparently!
What about getting into trail running rather than going for distance/speed. Not sure where you are based but the Lakeland Trail series is excellent. They do different distances and are really friendly, you can be competitive if that is what you want but lots of people do the runs just for the enjoyment.
That sounds good to me. To train for 5 k's I've been following a training plan which involves 3 k runs, which were a revelation to me. I think we tend to run too far if left to our own devices. We think you have to run further when you don't 10 k's are great as they let you really get into your running. The extra distance allows you to settle into the run and find out what the best bits are and at what distance you begin to feel comfy
Once you can do 10 k's then you start looking for the next challenge but you can run a bit further incrementally, safely, going just a bit further each time 11, 12 13 k etc. Then it's 10 miles and then the same thing. Bit more each time til you're at HM
I am going to start training now for HM's. I have no ambition to do marathons either
If you go on holiday or away for work then you could take part in a Parkrun as they are held absolutely everywhere. Alternatively, you could hold your own! They're good practice
Sounds like a great plan. Enough challenges to keep you motivated while still keeping it doable. pretty much perfect, Ray!
thanks everybody for your thoughts. I have to say race tourism does appeal to me. In fact my wife also suggested something similar. I think I will stick to my fledgling plan and look for interesting options like 1746.
Thanks again
Ray
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