I've had time to think about what I want and reflect on how things went on a fitness and personal level last year. I've come up with 12 goals related to my health and fitness that I would like to achieve this year. (Note: These goals are subject to change without notification.)
- Run a 5k personal best. This means beating my time of 23:39 at the Guelph Lake 5k in 2010.
- Run a sub 50 minute 10k. This goal scares me a bit. There is something overwhelming at the thought of this. To produce a time like this, I need to run a sub 5 minute per km pace for 10k - duh! But knowing it and actually doing it are two very different things. These first two goals go hand in hand actually. I need to focus on speed and speed alone - not distance.
- Continue with my yoga practise. I started doing yoga regularly a year ago and have gradually increased my practise from one to three times a week. I really enjoy the mental and physical benefits of practising yoga. I have also noticed an improvement in my running which I feel is related to yoga.
- Complete my certification for a personal trainer and get my group fitness instructor training. I completed the in class portion of my personal trainer course before Christmas and have my theory exam booked. I want to complete that process and go on the get my fitness instructor specialization.... and then do something with those certifications.
- Get strong - the one thing I have learned from taking my personal trainer course is that my upper body strength is non-existent. I want to improve in that area and be able to do 30 full push ups!
- Chill out - or maybe more appropriately develop patience with others and myself. Sometimes things take time whether its your child getting ready for bed, the guy driving to work in front of you or your ability to finish a training run. I want to cut everyone a break and not stress myself out because my daughter, the traffic or my physical progress isn't where I think it should be that day.
- Run a 5k race with my kids. I don't care how long it takes as long as we all have fun!
- Go somewhere brand new. I do realize I just got back from Greece a couple of months ago, but I love to travel. It doesn't have to be in another country or I don't need to get there in a plane, but I want to see something new... an of course I'll run there. This year's somewhere new could even be camping in a different part of the province. For the past three years we have camped in Killarney and Mac Gregor Point and as much as I love those campgrounds, its time for something new.
- Improve my blog. There are some great blogs out there which have inspired me to change the layout of mine. I am going to learn as much as I can about improving the search capabilities of my recipes and my picture quality which should make the Crazy Mother Runner page look a little more polished.
- Take care of my body. I love going for massages and feel that regular visits have helped my body recover faster from my distance training. This year I also started seeing a naturopath to give me advice about nutrition. Recently I visited an osteopath as well to help with an ongoing issue I've had related to running. (I'll post about this visit later). I've learned its important to pay attention to the aches that last a little longer than muscle soreness and treat them before they turn into something major that ends up sidelining us as runners for weeks. I am going to do my best to listen to my body.
- As a follow up to the above goal - stretch regularly. I have a terrible habit of getting back from a run and standing around talking to my friends while they stretch and not doing it myself. Then a few days later saying "Wow - do my calves ever feel tight. I better go for a massage." I'm sure my massage therapist loves it. Or she could also wonder why I'm not listening to her when she tells be about the benefits of stretching. Therefore I am going to remember to stretch for at least 3 minutes after every workout.
- Lastly - eat vegan twice a week. I often eat vegan meals, but I love cheese, eggs and butter... oh and cappuccinos made with milk not soy milk. Before I became vegetarian, I would eat vegetarian for a few weeks at a time and then have the odd meal with meat in it. I'm not committing to changing my diet completely vegan, but I think committing to two days a week is achievable.
I know 12 goals or resolutions seems like a lot or maybe not, but I don't think any of these goals are major habits to break and a lot of them are related to each other. I'll review them as the year progresses and see how my attitude and path changes. Last year I wrote out my resolutions - when I looked back, one of them was to run a destination race. I completely forgot about writing that out until I was reviewing my list on New Year day this year. Who knows where this will lead me this year..
"Sow a thought and you reap an action;
sow an act and you reap a habit;
sow a habit and you reap a character;
sow a character and you reap a destiny"
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