I am never sure what the cut off is for wishing people a happy new year. I guess it must be some point after January 11th as I just did it, so apologies if your cut off is before this and I have offended.
Titchy and I had such a relaxing and happy Christmas and New Year break that I simply didn’t get around to writing when I intended, so apologies if anyone was eagerly awaiting an update (a total of zero people I suspect are covered by that apology).
At the start of 2017 I set myself a target or running 200km in the year. That’s an average of 3.8km per week and so not a huge target, but I set it low so that I had no excuses for failure.
My first run of the year wasn’t until 22nd January and that was just 2.8k in the roasting afternoon heat of Costa Rica. The idea that the challenge would keep me running through the year wasn’t working as I only managed one other run in January and just one 5k in February. March was totally static but I panicked into life in April as I had the North Tyneside 10k run to get through.
I ran 35k in total with two park runs and two 10k runs getting me back into it. The odd 5k run per month for the rest of the year didn’t really help me get anywhere close to where I needed to be. I was focusing on playing football and coaching kids football and moving house. I just ran out of time or, to be more accurate, I ran out of motivation to get off my backside.
September to mid-November were pretty much write off’s as I had a foot injury that stopped me from walking never mind running. That left me with 60km to do it 6 weeks, double my target weekly rate, or interest on my laziness for the rest of the year.
Now, the point of this blog post is the impact of setting that target at the beginning of the year. Without that target I would have possibly done one, maybe two runs over the course of the winter months, as my previous history had proved.
But I had set a challenge. I was being measured and I had made it known to a load of different people, quite deliberately, that I had set the target. This was to create my own pressure, the fear of looking like I had failed. With that target in place, I got out of the house and worked out a plan.
You might not be a runner, it might bore you stupid or you might not be able to run. But for the new year I wold urge everyone to set themselves a target. Something do-able and something achievable. Make it know and put yourself under pressure to do something amazing, even if it just amazing to you. It will help you to focus and work towards a target and, should you achieve it, you will feel like a million dollars.
So, with that in mind, what are my targets for 2018?
I have set myself a target of running 350 KM in 2018. This is 6.7k per week but I intend to run longer on each run as I prepare for half marathons. I have committed to running a half marathon in Vegas in November and the North Tyneside 10k run at Easter. I have also entered the ballot for the great north run. I need to train and, this year, I have double the motivation
From a travel point of view, I have a family wedding in Australia in 2019 and so that will be my big trip to plan and save for. I have a trip to Vegas for the half marathon that I have mentioned and so have two trips I need to nail down;
- A trip to Shap to look at rocks. I used to love Geology at school and always said I would stay at the Shap Wells Hotel when I was there on a field trip.
- A family holiday with Titchy and the kids…..that will take some organising but I fancy Greece or maybe Italy!
Have a great 2018 and let me know your targets!
Itchy Feet and Titchy Feet 