It’s always nice to achieve long-term goals.

In March, I ran a half-marathon in Washington, D.C., in a time of 1:49:45. That was 15 seconds better than my goal, and I was happy.

I planned to focus on shorter distances for the summer, try to set a new 5K personal best, and see if I could make a run at a 1:45 half-marathon in November.

The 5K record fell in my first attempt in June, followed by a blazing new 4-miler record in July.

I woke up on Sunday in rainy, windy Raleigh thinking I might be able to get close to 1:45, but would at least beat my time from March. I ran with my sister-in-law, Bethany, for the first seven miles (we had the same goal time). Through 7, we were about 25 seconds behind that pace.

As the rain fell even harder, I broke away, finishing with miles of 7:46, 7:44, 7:51, 7:42, 7:18(!) and 7:40. Add that all up (plus the 34 seconds to cover the final .1 miles) and I came in at 1:43:08.

Needless to say, I was pretty happy with that outcome as evidenced by one of the photos here. Note that I look somewhat miserable during the others, and one is clearly not me.

Of course I need to give credit where it’s due — to my awesome orange shoes. So far this year they have been on my feet for four races, all of which were new personal records.

Next up, a Turkey Trot 5K on November 21. Can the orange shoes go 5-for-5 in 2009?