Ah, the new year... a time for reflecting back on the past year and looking forward to the new year. We all dream of the many things we are going to accomplish this year, as opposed to the same many things that we said we'd accomplish last year, yet didn't. Why is that, that we seldom do the things we say we will around new years?? In my mind, it's because it's a time when are forced by society to take measure of our lives and hope for a change for the better. The key word in there is hope. How can we possibly achieve something that we only hope for? I think that it takes a lot more than just hope to accomplish our new year's resolutions. This is the last year that we can wear those 2000-something glasses that have the zero's where our eyes are. Maybe next year they will put the one over the bridge of our nose and have the two zero's on either side for our eyes. Who knows? Some kid trying to make his/her big break in NYC will come up with something clever for Ryan Seacrest and Dave Clark to wear.
In truest fashion, here is my reflection on the last year and the hopes of this new year, of course there are always my twists... This past year was my first total year to be a working, tax-paying citizen. Who knew that I'd actually work a solid year and get paid to do it? There is always a first for everything. The other big thing was to start this blog and start training for a triathlon. Obviously, I did good on the blog thing till Oct 21, but I did even better with the running, which I am still doing today. Well, maybe not actually today because it is raining and feels like 36 degrees outside. I maybe crazy but not that crazy. I have my limits. Since my last writing on here, I have continued with my boot camp 3 mornings a week and have even added in a run or bike ride on some of the off days. I even got a picture of the last mountain biking trip we did down near Charleston when it was under water. Next time I'm going to take my snorkel. It might do me more good than my bike. The whole 13 miles I kept saying, "Are we there yet?" and "How in the world did you talk me into this?" I wasn't even worried about the roots under the 3-4 ft of water as much as I worried about the possibility of actually seeing some wildlife. Thank goodness the snakes were more afraid of me that day than I was of them. And so ends my days of that trail, at least until drier days and I can see the roots. 2008 ended with the end of a year long bet with my mom and my aunt, as to see who could lose the most weight from one Christmas to the next. Without going into the details, let's just say that I won, thanks to all of those early mornings and maybe a little to the swamp swim/bike rides.
This brings us to the part where I am supposed to resolve to do some great and new thing to change me for the better... aka, I'm supposed to hope that something great happens to me this year. So, instead of making a new year's resolution and hope for the best, I am going to make new goals for the new year. Goals are totally different from resolutions because one can actually meet and/or surpass a goal, where as people typically fail at their resolutions after the first three months. Resolutions are too big usually in nature, hence the high probability of quitting before you even start. Goals can be small in nature, and can be met much more easily. So, here are my goals for the next few months...
Goal #1: (This is the lofty one) - Stay healthy.
Goal #2: Go to boot camp 3 days a week, rain or shine, hot or cold.
Goal #3: Finish the Myrtle Beach half marathon on Feb. 14, 2009.
My other perceived difference between resolutions and goals is that there is a plan behind a goal, and that there may not be a plan behind a resolution. It is the difference between planning and hoping for the best. Here is my plan...
Goal #1 - Stay healthy
Since this is the lofty goal, the plan is a bit broad, but do-able. The first part of becoming more healthy is to watch what I eat. I am not using the d-word or following any crazy eating scheme. My plan is to just watch, and I mean watch, what I eat. By really looking at how much of some things I eat (pure volume of food) and how little I eat of other things (like vegis), I can start to make changes for a healthier lifestyle. Another part of staying healthy is the mental health of my psyche, aka my happiness. This part is naturally like a rollercoaster in that I have good days and bad days. The key for me is to have the good days way out-number the not-so-good days. Currently, this is good for me. The last part of my stay healthy goal is to exercise, and that is accomplished by goal #2.
Goal #2 - Go to boot camp
Aside from the physical difficulties of boot camp, the hardest thing is getting up between 4:15 and 4:30 AM to go exercise. For those of y'all who really know me, you know that I love my sleep and don't really function all that well without it. To accomplish this goal, I need to get my sleep so that the early hours really don't seem that early. My plan is get my 8 hours of sleep. This will really help my mental-ness as well. Also, by going to boot camp at least three mornings a week, I will be working towards my goal of being healthy by exercising.
Goal #3 - Finish the half marathon
By working towards the first two goals, I will be training for this day. I have roughly a month left until the marathon. I consider this half marathon a stepping stone to the triathlon that I want to do later this spring... the original goal of all of this.
So there it all is for all those who have been asking for the updated blog. Maybe it'll inspire me to keep up-to-date on this and continue as I originally planned. A week ago, we "re-started" boot camp, made goals, and weighed in. My goals were the same there as they are here. Yesterday we ran ~4 miles and then did weights concentrating on the chest area, lots of push-ups, bench presses, and military presses. As I said earlier, no running today due to the weather. Tomorrow we are the football field for a fun filled, very cold morning. I hear the wind chill is 27, but I'll be there... hot or cold.
May the new year bring success to all of our goals.
No comments:
Post a Comment