10 New Year Running Resolutions to Motivate Your Training
Your running goals for the year depend on your level of experience. Are you a fairly new runner? Finishing a 5K race could be a start. Have you participated in multiple marathons? Qualifying for the Boston Marathon could be on your to-do list of running tasks. Setting running goals can be rewarding because getting the job done is measurable. You typically want to drop time or perhaps add more miles over the course of year, which can also help you drop time.
There are other ways to focus on improving your time, like working on your overall strength, or perhaps adding different types of runs or improving your splits.
Below are some running goals that could help frame your progress in 2026.
New Year Running Resolutions: Goals That Actually Stick
There are three types of runners: beginners, intermediate, and advanced. Below are some training goals each group could consider.
Beginners
Start Running: If you haven’t run much, you’ll likely have to start walking briskly a few days a week. Aim for 20 to 30 minutes of walking three times a week. By the third week, you should be able to jog a mile at a slow pace. Eventually, you’ll want to build a three-mile run.
Run a 5K: A 5K race is 3.1 miles long. It’s basically the shortest road race. Even if you must walk part of it, the goal is to get to the finish line with a registered time.
Run Another 5K: The goal for this race is to beat your time for the first 5K race. You should be more comfortable and know what to expect.
Run Consistently: Try to set a goal for how many times a week you want to run and do it for a year. If it’s three times a week, you should get in roughly 150 runs.
Intermediate
Join a Running Club: Running in groups is a great way to improve your pace. Studies have shown that running in groups increases your motivation and benefits your performance.
Up Your Strength Training: Commit to working out at least twice a week on strengthening your core muscles. Write down a specific plan and follow it.
Run: Run a half-marathon if the longest race you’ve done is a 10K, or run a full marathon if your longest race is a 10K.
Experienced
SMART: SMART refers to specific, measurable, accurate, relevant, and time bound. It’s a streamlined approach to training. It’s a system that busy, high achieving people use in all areas of their life. It’s designed to eliminate unnecessary actions and consume the least amount of time possible. Advanced runners can use SMART to focus on their goals.
Run an Ultra Marathon: An ultra marathon is any race longer than 26.1 miles, the length of a marathon. It can be a 50- or even a 100-mile race. It’s the ultimate grind for thrill-seeking runners who want to push their limits.
Participate in a Triathlon: A natural extension of a marathon is a full triathlon or an Ironman, which is typically a 26.1-mile run, an 112-mile bike ride, and a 2.4-mile swim. The great part about a triathlon is that every participant typically has a strong event, and the two off events are very learnable.
Runners should tweak their goals to fit their preferences. For instance, some advanced runners might want to get personal records in specific races while an intermediate runner might be interested in finding different tracks to run on. There’s not just one way to develop your goals. You need to develop your individual blueprint for success.
Sticking with Your Running Resolutions
Whether the goals actually stick is up to you. It takes discipline, mental toughness, and embracing the grind to keep your running habit up.
Building Accountability: If you write your goals down, you’ll likely have a better chance of achieving them. One study found that the level of success for people who wrote their goals down versus those that didn’t was 35% higher. Journaling is another way to stay on track for your goals. Journaling is reflective, and it’s a good way to figure out how you felt on your individual runs and perhaps what worked and what didn’t work.
Being Persistent: Being persistent is mostly about not making excuses for minor injuries or on days when you're tired or not feeling 100 percent. Of course, if you’re sick, it’s important to take a break. But getting through the hard days is particularly gratifying when you look back on your running experiences.
Enjoying the Process: It can be difficult to enjoy running sometimes, depending on how you feel on a given day but having gratitude for getting the opportunity to run is a conscious decision that can lift your energy. Most people feel so much better after they’ve finished a run, and they often feel guilty or sluggish if they skip a planned run. Once your brain gets acclimated to a running routine, it needs to be nourished with its daily run.
Tips for Long Term Success
You need to have a plan to keep moving forward during the good and bad days. Some runs are extremely hard. Weather, your physical and mental condition, and the track can all affect the degree of difficulty of a run. Those are the days when you need to employ specific strategies to get to the finish line.
Celebrate the Wins: If you have a particularly good run, treat yourself to an extra brownie or sleep an hour later on the weekend. Giving yourself a reward for a job well done is a way to keep your running routine fresh.
Take a Day Off: Treat yourself to an unexpected day off. The best time for a rest is when you feel beat up physically. The extra time often makes your next run much better.
Don’t be Hard on Yourself: It’s easy to fall into the trap of being overly critical about your performance if you fail to meet a certain time on a race or your training starts to drop. Being too negative can sap your focus and hurt you in the long run. Follow the 24-hour rule. Forget about what happened, good or bad, by the next day and move on.
Build Up the Miles: Make sure you have a plan for how much you’ll run leading up to a race. You should gradually add miles and perhaps different types of runs over the course of a defined training plan. If you run too many miles too early, you can burn yourself out.
Creating a yearlong map for your goals can be fun and exciting. It’s a great way to get energized about what lies ahead.