Tuesday, December 29, 2009

2010: A Year to Look Forward To!

If you missed it, yesterday I posted my 2009 Year in Review...

Today, I would love to post a list of numerous races and events that I hope to participate in and accomplish in 2010, but I am thinking I need to try something different this year. After struggling with knee issues a couple times in 2009, I have a new perspective on running, racing, and everything else.

So, with that in mind here's a few ideas I have for 2010:

Personal Goals:

  • Travel more. I have a good friend that lives in MT and need to make it a priority of mine to get out there and visit her this year. It was a goal of mine to do so in 2009, and that didn't happen. This year, will be the year. Asside from that, I would love to do some camping and hiking this coming summer, as well as a trip to a place I haven't been before, either in the states or abroad.
  • Spend time with family and friends. I do this pretty well already, but want to note how important this is to me. I am very close with my immediate family as well as some extended family and look forward to the time spent together - everything from a short weekend to trips together.
  • Do more painting. This is something I truly enjoy and find to be quite relaxing. I have a couple projects in mind and hope to share it with you in the next month or so!
  • Read more! I absolutely LOVE to read, but have not done enough this year. It's rediculous! I probably have a dozen books on my bookshelf that haven't been read and am itching to do so.

Health Goals:

  • Find a healthy balance between work, training, rest, and nutrition. This was a goal of mine last year, and I think I have come a long way with my nutrition, especially. However, I still have more to learn and additional changes need to be made. Balancing these things is probably the hardest thing for me and I need to realize that a missed workout here and there due to long days at work or not enough sleep is better than piling on the junk miles.
  • Try new recipes. I want to get better about exploring better and healthier recipes. 'nuff said.
  • Keep up with the vitamins/supplements. I have done pretty well with taking my daily vitamins and supplements and hope to be a bit more consistent with this in 2010! I am currently taking a women's multi-vitamin, glucosamine, fish oil, and have recently added Vitamin D.

Fitness:

  • Enjoy running. This past year has been hard in regards to running, with the least amount of miles in 4 years. But, I have come to realize that it is important for me to be grateful for every painful-free mile ran, whether it was a 10 minute mile or 12 minute mile.
  • Include more Core/Strength/Stretch. This includes getting back into doing my TriPower routine on a regular basis as well as participating in yoga, pilates, and bodypump classes often.
  • Participate in races/events. This is pretty broad, I know. However, instead of listing off thousands races that I would like to do, I need to wait and see how the knee is going to hold up. I have a pretty good base built since my injury, so if I play things smart, I should be able to continue training and build some long runs. If that's the case, I have some longer distances in mind, in addition to different races/events from years past!
  • Get out on the bike more. Unfortunately, this past spring/summer/fall I didn't get on my bike as much as I would have liked. Between the months of May and October, it was very wet and colder than usual.
  • Join swim team, again. In June, I joined the Adult Gators swim team and met twice a week for 1 hour swim practice. It was the best thing I did and I look forward to doing it again.

BUT, if I were to list a handful of races, this is kind of what it would look like:

  • Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon - I have done one of these already, but my sister has started training for a triathlon and would like to do one of these this winter!
  • Fargo Marathon - No, I am not talking about doing the full marathon, but the GoFar Challenge - which will consist of running the 5K Friday night and then the Half Marathon Saturday morning. It would not only be fun, but I would get a medal for each race, plus an additional medal for doing the challenge! If I struggle with getting my half marathon training done due to my knee, I will lay low and try to do the 10K since that has been recently added to the list of races that weekend! I am still part of the Youth run committee for this and it should be pretty fun!
  • Detroit Lakes Younglife Olympic Triathlon - I did the Sprint distance of this race this past August and loved it. I am hoping I will be able to do the Olympic distance this time around!
  • Ride the Wind 2010 - This is a two day ride for MS that I have wanted to participate in since I heard about it 2 years ago, but haven't been able to train for it. I think it's a 100 mile ride across two days, but it could be 150 miles. I haven't figured that much out yet. However, I will need to raise at least $200 to participate.

What does your 2010 look like? Do you have any specific goals/races in mind?

25 comments:

Jess said...

Sound like awesome plans for 2010! I like the races you picked out and I hope your knee cooperates enough that you will be able to do them! I think the GoFar challenge sounds like so much fun!

Wes said...

There are many things in there that I would like to get done meself. You are going to have a fab 2010, and I'm gonna be here to cheer you on :-)

RunToTheFinish said...

super great goals!! I think it's too easy not to travel, so that has been a priority for me for awhile..I have to just make it happen and it's so worth it.

Mike Russell said...

Do the GoFar Challenge -- it will be a great test of your training and will make for some fantastic stories!

Jess said...

Those are all great goals for 2010! I am seriously considering the Fargo HM myself. I think we will be traveling to Mn around that time, and I may just need to sneak that race in somehow. Did you see it rated as one of the best races by RW?

Carolina John said...

the challenge looks interesting! don't rule out a full marathon anyway. if you can run halfs, you can man up and tackle a full.

i can't wait to see you accomplish these goals over the next year!

Ms. V. said...

I like ALL of your goals...May steal the idea that goals are more than just running...thnx~~

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

Those are some GREAT goals and I have some similar ones...maybe we can help eachother find new GOOD healthy recipes??

Anytime I hear the word Fargo I miiediatly say it with an accent and it makes me smile. Yes I am random.

Cheers to Fun running and a new year to work toward new goals and adventures.

Big Tall Mom Hugs!

Aka Alice said...

Great goals girl! Here's hopin' that you have get to meet all your goals, and that you don't have to deal with that pesky knee this year!

Marlene said...

Great goals for the new year. I like that you are keeping an open mind and willing to play it by ear with your knee - here's hoping it allows you to achieve all of these goals and then some!

P.S. Love the new blog layout!

Kelly said...

I'm glad you are able to think about running seriously again- I am not there yet, but I've decided one of my goals for this year is to stop obsessing about not being able to run and just do other stuff. Those indoor triathlons sound really cool!

Badgergirl said...

Sounds like great goals for 2010! And the GoFar Challenge sounds really cool.

MCM Mama said...

Those are some great goals. I hope to get up to ND for a race in the next couple of years. I've heard such good things about the Fargo races, but I lived on the Grand Forks Air Force Base for 6 years, so I feel like I should run a race in GF LOL.

Have a great 2010!

Mike said...

Great goals for 2010. Long time since I've actually looked at your blog page (usually read on google reader) and I like the layout! Looks very professional.

Holly said...

Wonderful goals for 2010!

Anonymous said...

I love that you paint! It's really the best. I'm not all that good at it, but I had to take a painting class in college and really got into it. It's a great way to relax and it's so rewarding!
Love your goals, hope you have a great new year!

Shannon said...

Looks like 2010 is going to be quite a year! I'll be reading :)

Tricia said...

Great goals.

My first goal is a 1/2 marathon in Feb (my first ever!)

Happy New Year!

J said...

The GOFar Challenge sounds fun! Happy New year! Heres to a healthy and happy 2010!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you've got some fun races in the works for 2010. I'm looking forward to reading about them.

Anonymous said...

great goals. And, the races sound like fun.

Tony said...

I love the goals. You helped me out while making mine for this year. Thanks and Good luck

Anne said...

Those are admirable goals, especially given many benefit your friends and family. I'm keeping it simple this year, which should up the odds of actually succeeding.

Aron said...

very awesome goals!!! happy 2010 :)

Runner Leana said...

Those all sound like terrific goals! I like that you really want to focus on overall life important goals. Those are really important too!