Well, it is nearly the time to say goodbye to 2013, and welcome in a new year.  I still can’t believe how quickly this year has gone. Or how many times I’ve said that.  Nevertheless, time waits for no man (or woman), so I thought I’d better get a shift on and decide what I wanted to do next year.  I’ve already got my ‘A’ race all planned – the Big Sur Marathon – and I have some weight loss goals too (more about that in a second), but I thought it would be fun to try one new thing every month.  Well, maybe not something brand new, but something that will be a challenge for me.  So I’ve made a little list (it is at the end).  The only problem is, I can’t think of anything to do for December, so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know and I’ll pick the best idea!!!

January is always the time for resolutions, which probably means that February is the time for binning them because a) you forgot what you’d resolved to do, b) you remembered but just couldn’t be arsed.  I’m no stranger to such annual failures, but at the same time I still love the whole ‘fresh start’ feeling that a new year brings.  To be honest, if New Year’s Day was on a Monday, that would be even better, but you can’t have everything.  I’m always a bit reticent to put forth some resolutions, because of the pressure of sticking to often unrealistic expectations.  But you know what?  I’m sick of keeping my goals small on the premise that by not trying, you can’t fail at it.

So in 2014 I’m going for glory.  I’ve had a good year in 2013, and it has seen the start of more consistent behaviour to tackle my biggest issues – weight loss and regular exercise.  I can do better though.  I’ll be perfectly honest and say that virtually every year of my life I think “this is the year I’ll lose loads of weight”, though there is always the voice at the back of my head shouting “yeah right…”.  So I don’t ever really believe I can do it.  I feel differently now though.  I’m not sure why, but I’m tired of repeatedly failing.  To take the positives from failure, however, I’ve done it so many times at least I have a good idea of where I’ve gone wrong, so I’m using this to spur me on to greatness next year.  Sooooooo, having waffled enough, here are my three main goals for next year:

1. Lose 4 stone.  This really only equates to 1lb per week which is achievable.  I’m tired of waiting to reach my goal, so I’m going for it next year.  Writing down means no backing out either!!!
2. Run the Big Sur Marathon in 5:30 or less. To be honest, this is the goal that scares me most, and I even hate typing it for fear of jinxing my training and pre-empting a broken leg on my next long run.  However, if I’m going to challenge myself, I might as well go for gold.  Now I know for many of you, 5:30 is reeeeeeally slow, but it is speedy for me, so that’ll do!  It would be a massive PB too, mortifyingly!
3. Successfully dead lift 100kg. Currently I can lift 62.5kg, but I reckon I can get to 100kg.

So there we have it.  Next year I’m going for it.  As I mentioned earlier though, I’ve also set myself little monthly challenges, some of which are related to the three goals above, but mostly just things I know will be a bit of a challenge.  Some are targets I’ve set before and not met, and a couple are just for the hell of it.  I still need a December challenge, so ideas on a postcard, or I’ll aim for something random!!

So all that remains is to wish everyone a very happy New Year when it comes, and best of luck with any challenges you set for yourself 🙂

See you in 2014, ready and raring to go 😀