Have you thought about your running goals for 2022?  Goals don't have to be about running faster or longer.  They can be about changing your mindset so that you get more out of your running.

One caveat.  It's been proven that if you want to achieve a goal, you're more likely to achieve it if you write it down.  So once you've made your decision, we suggest grabbing a pen and writing it down, together with a loose plan.  With this in mind we also asked some of our running friends about their goals for the year ahead...

Andy Cole (Andy's Running Accountability)

I’m not one for New Year's resolutions, for no other reason than if you think you need to change something, if you think you need a new challenge…why wait…life is too short, if you need to make a change then do it.

That’s what 2021 did for me, I was tired of the same monotonous routes and just going for a run, something needed to change...so I reached out and started working with a run coach…why do I mention this as I look forward to 2022? It’s because the improvements I’ve made under him have meant 2022 is a year of bigger goals.  The focus this coming year is ’shorter’ distances, so many people target the marathons and I admit I definitely have unfinished business with that distance…but 2022 is about 10Ks, 5Ks and consistent improvements.  The key word being consistent, I don’t want to go all out for a sub 39 10k and do it once, I want consistent improvements…if that’s in the time I run 10k then great, if it’s in how I feel and my overall fitness then even better!!  I’ll be throwing in my local Half Marathon in Cardiff for good measure, but hey, life isn’t linear.  Either way 2022 promises a lot, it’s now on me to deliver...

Simon Freeman (Co-founder - Like the Wind magazine)

After moving to the Jura mountains in Switzerland, I have fallen even more in love with running on the trails. It certainly helps when there are hundreds of kilometres of mountain paths right on my doorstep. I was not able to do many races this year (who was?) but the couple I did were amazing challenges.

So my aim for 2022 is to keep pushing myself to get fitter and develop better technique for trail running and enter at least a couple of races. One, that takes place very close to where I live, incorporates the Swiss national trail championships and offers distances from 31km to 111km - so there’s definitely something there, depending on my fitness and confidence levels. What I am really looking forward to is entering a few local races with small fields and some local elements to add interest.

Nick Harris-Fry (Freelance Journalist, Coach, Expert Reviews and Get Sweat Go)

My main goals for 2022 are to run a sub-70 half marathon and set a new marathon PB. I'm also trying  to get out of my long-distance comfort zone with some faster stuff on the track in the first half of the year, so aiming to run my first 1500m race since school and set a new one-mile PB 

Joe Mackie (Deputy Editor - Runner's World)

There's been something liberating about the relative lack of races in my diary for the last two years. With less need to monitor mile splits my running has given me the intrinsic joys that have kept me sane. That said, I really hope to be getting back to the camaraderie and atmosphere of large-scale running events next year. I've missed it all. So I'll be aiming for the start pens of a big city marathon (or two) and a few halves, but it will be much more about savouring the shared experience with others and the buzz of the crowd than the times I run. And equally important is the goal of continuing to enjoy many runs exploring the local woods and trails with my eyes fixed only on the nature around me rather than the data on my wrist.