HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Welcome to 2016. Hope you had a wonderful New Year’s Eve, Tom and I ended up staying in and enjoying steak and Champagne at his new flat in Cardiff. He was working at 6.30am this morning – brutal.
Anyway, on to resolutions.
I don’t remember making any New Year’s Resolutions for 2015, which either means I didn’t or they were completely forgettable.
Well, either way that won’t be happening this year.
Often we start January with such good intentions, and New Year’s Resolutions for a ‘New Year, New Me’, only to fall flat on our faces a few weeks later. We can get ourselves into this situation by setting ourselves unrealistic goals – to lose 2 stone, to give up all junk food, to go to the gym 6 times a week, to complete an ironman. And then when the changes become too much all at once, we give up.
So my advice for those making New Year’s Resolutions this year:
- Make sure you really want it
- Make sure it’s realistic
- Make sure it’s manageable
I’d then break them down into small, achievable chunks and work how you’re going to tackle these goals.
With that in mind, here are my resolutions for 2016 (and beyond)..
RUN, RUN, RUN – run for fun, run for speed, run a 5K, run a half marathon (and attempt a new PB), but mostly just run when I want to run. It became all about Chicago and that BQ attempt in 2015, that I lost sight of the enjoyment of running. I’m going to get that back in 2016, and run my little socks off!!
Tackle another triathlon – so I’ve realised that I really truly want to take on an Ironman 70.3 at some point. So the first/second step on the ladder is to take on a few more triathlons this year, building up in distance. I’ve got my eye on the London Tri, Crystal Palace and Blenheim Tris!
Swim – As part of my triathlon plans, I need to become a stronger more efficient swimmer. My plan is to take some swimming lessons, swim regularly and sign up for at least one outdoor swim event!
Fix my knee – My knee has been dodgy since my very first marathon, and this year I want to do everything I can to ‘fix’ it. I’m starting some weekly physio and rehab sessions that combine pool sessions and strengthening classes.
Be more organised – Bringing my packed lunch and snacks to uni, tidying my flat, being more prepared with my uni work, having blogs ready to go, organising workouts well in advance… this covers a multitude of sins and areas of my life.
Grow this blog & freelance work – I’m not sure if this counts as a resolution or goal, but I’d love to continue to grow and develop The Runner Beans and my freelance writing!
Be a good friend/daughter – I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to be a bridesmaid in three friend’s weddings this summer and I want to do a good job! I’d really love to make more time for my friends and Mum in 2016, and laugh, love and support them in whatever they do.
What are your 2016 resolutions?
Best of luc, that’s a long list. Mine are to lose 10kg (sadly that is a very realistic goal) and to run/swim twice a week. Entered a half marathon in March so guess that is a target rather than a resolution.
Happy New Year Charlie.
I’m more one for goals rather than resolutions. Right now they are: to get my rehab right and recover well from the stress fracture in my foot; to properly work on learning to do the front crawl (I’ve signed up for an event to give me the motivation to do it!) and, like you, to be more organised in various aspects of my life. I also want to work on finding a bit more switched off, quiet time to read without being distracted. Let’s see how it goes…
Happy new year Charlie. Some great resolutions here, I wish you every success with them. I haven’t made resolutions as such but so have some personal and professional goals I am aiming for. I hear you on the being organised side of things – I spent most of yesterday tidying as my house had become quite the dumping ground. Moving more is probably my biggest one, it saddens me how generally lazy I’ve become. Here goes…
Happy New Year. Good luck with your resolutions. G.
Happy New Year! Good luck with all that! I don’t really believe in resolutions for pretty much the reasons you mention above but prefer to set strong goals instead. Last year I discovered a much more efficient way to run (and faster!) so my goal is improving the way I move on a daily basis so that my body is ready to run faster than I’ve ever run before in the Paris Marathon in April 🙂
I’ve decided to set quarterly goals this year. I have an overall plan (my husband’s doing an ironman in July so that will shape the year) but because my 2015 resolutions were a general fail, I’ve decided to set goals every 3 months. Jan – March will be focussing on a 5k PR, on finding some abs under my blubber and on running a 25k trail race with my girls in Oklahoma – plus a few non-running ones. I’m really excited about this new approach and my Q1 goals so hopefully it’ll work for me better!!
Happy New Year Charlie! And best of luck with your goals and resolutions for 2016 🙂 I like to set monthly goals to break it down to manageable chunks as you say!
Happy new year! Good luck with the resolutions, got some exciting ones in there to look forward to for 2016.