Sunday, January 1, 2017

The Worst Is Finally Over...

I'm not a fan of New Years Eve. I can't remember the exact moment/year when I started feeling this way, but there was a moment... a point when it changed from being a time of celebration to being a time of profound sadness...

And, let me just take a moment to explain that being sad has nothing to do with being ungrateful. 2016 was a great year for my running goals (and other life goals as well). One of the biggest things I wanted to focus on in 2016 was to remain injury free and I was able to do that all year. Granted, my pace slowed significantly, but that had more to do with me being lazy and the unique position of where I live and how that impacted my training...

So while I am happy and grateful for all I've accomplished in life and all the things I'm blessed with (running-wise and otherwise), for some reason New Years Eve, and all that's associated with it, brings an overwhelming sense of sadness for me. 

This has been true for me every year for as long as I can remember. So I'm glad that 2017 has started and there are no more countdowns or ball drops or fireworks. The worst is finally over and I can look ahead to all that 2017 has to offer.

I have a ton of goals for 2017. I was thinking about them when I was doing my 1 mile up Mt. Spring today with my twin sister and sister-in-law. We decided to start the new year with some incline training...

And as we talked about what we were hoping for in 2017, I started to reflect on the things that make me truly happy and how that translated into measurable goals. So this is what I came up with so far (without all the complicated specifics on how I'll measure them):

Running/Fitness:
1. Have another injury free year in 2017
2. Increase my baseline fitness level (including general and core-specific strength)
3. Decrease my average running pace
4. Obtain a half marathon PR
5. Obtain a full marathon PR
6. Run a race every month
7. Run a race in a different country (Berlin & Canada here I come!)
8. Run a race in a different state (based on where my ZOOMA Ambassadorship will take me)
9. Improve my swimming performance
10. Improve my overall nutrition

Professional/Financial:
1. Increase my earning potential (career development)
2. Improve my financial independence (based on #1)
3. Pay off at least one of my student loans (only two remaining)
4. Invest in stocks (probably Starbucks since I single-handedly keep them in business)
5. Increase savings account balance to 90 day coverage of expenses (currently at 60 day coverage)

Personal/Faith:
1. Figure out what I want (relationship-wise)
2. Accept that others won't be on the same page (based on the things I know I don't want)
3. Be at peace with #2 
4. Find a new church home
5. Go to #4 more regularly.

I only included the top 10 running and fitness goals (many of them have sub-sections 😉), but that's the general list. And all the other goals have in-depth "fine print" but that's way beyond the scope of this blog. Throughout the next few weeks I'll go into a bit more detail with my running & fitness goals. But I wanted to start off the new year with a quick post, and a declaration that (in addition to all the goals/hopes/dreams listed above) I intend to complete a 2017 Running streak (run at least a mile every day this year) AND a 2017 Blogging streak (write a blog post every day this year)

So day one is done 😊.

What are your goals for 2017?

Do you divide your goals into different categories?

How do you like to celebrate (or avoid) New Years Eve?

2 comments:

  1. I might have you beat on upholding Starbucks financially LOL.

    I was just thinking this year that New Years might be my new favorite holiday (instead of Christmas). I'm sorry it's sad for you! That's sort of how I have felt about Christmas lately. Weird.

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad you had a good New Years! I hope Christmas gets better for you (and New Years gets better for me) this year :)

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