Monday, January 2, 2012

A New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful new year!  I'm actually feeling really good this year!  2012 is going to be my year! 

Do you all make new year's resolutions?  I normally don't.  I don't understand why people do and just break them.  It really doesn't ever seem to mean much.

This year, however, I did make a few resolutions.  My resolutions are more like "goals" or things to do to improve me and my fitness, things that will make me feel better and will improve my training for the marathons I have planned this year.

2012 Goals
1. Make at least 1 recipe a week.  I live alone and cooking isn't always the first thing on my list.

2. Do my daily stretching and knee strengthening exercises.  Since my doctor visit, I have become lazy and haven't been doing his prescribed exercises to help my knees, hips, IT band and hamstrings.

3. Take my vitamins daily.  I have not taken my multi-vitamin since the marathon!  I also need to take iron pills (since I'm borderline anemic). Right now, I should be taking vitamin C also.

4. Stop drinking pop.  My stomach feels much better when I'm not drinking any pop, especially diet coke!  Also, drinking pop ends up interfering with the amount of water I drink (see #5).

5. Drink a minimum of 6 glasses of water a day.  I've really been slacking on my water!  I used to be one that drank water all day long!  Now it's hard for me to get in the min. 6 glasses every day!  Especially since running the marathon, I think I got burned out on drinking water!

6. Track all the miles I run this year.  I started using dailymile.com and I'm really excited about this for some reason!

7. Get a PR for my half marathon in July.  My old PR was 2:13+.  Right now, I'm just going to shoot for under 2:10.  Due to training for my marathons, I don't want to injure myself with pushing too hard with going for a half marathon PR that's too tough.  Any PR will be acceptable for this!  Ultimate goal PR for a half is to get under 2 hours!  Maybe I'll shoot for that next year (although it's really hard not to try for it this year!).

8. Get a PR for a 5k.  My quickest 5k time was 27:55 (Nov 2010).

9. Get a PR for a marathon.  I'm planning on doing the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon in April and also the Chicago Marathon again in October.  I'd love to PR for both but especially for the Chicago Marathon since that was the first one I did last year!  My goal is to get as close to 4:30 as possible.  Ultimate goal is to break the 4:30 mark.

6. Another goal which shall remain nameless....this is for me only...I know, it's like a cliff hanger!

When I decided on these resolutions, I didn't realize how many of my goals are daily goals!  It makes it a little tough to remember everything that I have to do daily right now (vitamin, stretching, water, pop, etc.).  It's also really hard not to drink pop because I'm so dependent on it for caffeine since I don't drink coffee.  But I know it takes a little bit of time and all these things to become habit.  And I know my running will improve too.

In other news, when I was thinking about goals after last years marathon for this year, one of them was doing a triathlon.  Triathlons scare me!  When someone tells me they are a triathlete, I get a look of awe on my face!  The biking scares me and the transitions scare me.  I should be good with the swimming and running.

But when faced with the idea of running two marathons and trying to do a triathlon, it got a little daunting.  It seemed like too much.  Until I was talking to my hair stylist last time.  She mentioned an indoor triathlon that is just based on time, not distance.  And it's small, so it will be easier to complete.  This seemed like a great idea, not only because it was small but because she wanted to do it too, so I didn't have to do it alone.

Registration finally opened and we are signed up!  I'm doing this triathlon on Feb 25!  Yes it's small but I think it's a perfect opportunity for me to get a "feel" for doing a triathlon.  I also think it's perfect that it's based on time.  You see how far you can go with 10 mins of swimming, 20 mins of biking and 15 mins of running.  This makes it seem more manageable.  I won't be the last one out of the pool or the last one on the bike!  I'm really excited for this!

Did you make any resolutions or goals?  Share some with me!

4 comments:

  1. I love your goals! I know 2012 will rock for you!! A lot of mine are very similar to yours!! I hope your secret one goes well for you... All my goals are posted on my blog post from Saturday if you want to check them out!

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  2. I have heard of those timed triathlons! That sounds like a perfect way to get in to the sport.

    Making one new recipe a week is such a good goal. I should try that. We make the same things over and over and over!

    And you will have so much fun tracking your mileage and watching it go up and up!

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  3. Anonymous1/02/2012

    Happy New Year! I love your goals, and although I haven't made resolutions in years, I was compelled to set intentions for this year. Like you, I feel as though it's going to be "my" year. :-)

    I've tagged you! Should you wish to participate, just follow the link: http://www.flab-to-fab.com/2012/01/ive-been-tagged.html

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  4. Thanks for the comments guys!
    Ellen, thanks! I'll check it out.
    Btw, my nameless resolution is nothing exciting. It's something I got in the habit of doing that is pointless and I'm not doing anymore.

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