Let’s catch up on a few things. . . .
First off, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and the start of your new year has been a good one! I definitely enjoyed the holiday season, but I’m also not sad that the craziness has died down a bit.
On New Year’s Eve, Craig and I ran the Northern Lights Resolution Run. I ran easy with Craig, so I didn’t hurt my hamstring more. Plus, racing in the winter here in Alaska really isn’t a thing in my mind since it is too hard to run your best when the temperatures are so low and the roads are always covered in snow and/or ice.
It was slow-going at this year’s NYE race. The temperature was perfect (upper 30s), but that also meant the snow was sand-like and very difficult to run through. It was still pretty fun, but it did remind me that I do prefer to race a race!
To make new year’s resolutions or not to make new year’s resolutions. . . some people need a little extra motivation to accomplish a goal(s) for themselves and the start of a new year seems like a fitting time to do so. While others have no desire to. Maybe because it almost seems trendy not to set any new year’s resolutions?? I’m sure people feel like they will fail (or have failed in the past), so they figure what’s the point. Or maybe people are trying to be different and go against the flow.
Either way, I personally love the start of a new year for a fresh start at changing bad habits or working to create better new habits. But I also love the start of a new week and a new day to do the same.
I am constantly (all year long) setting new goals for myself whether it is with running, working to be a better wife and mother, make more homemade snacks, tidying up the house before bed, or improving my coaching technique–to name a few things I’ve worked on before.
Sometimes these goals fall at the start of a new year because I get excited to set new goals for myself since others are doing the same. Sometimes these goals fall during the month of April or August as I reevaluate my life and the things I want to accomplish.
The one thing I want to work on this year (or even for the next few months if that’s all it ends up being) is working to help Cullen learn to write his letters and say the sound(s) for each letter. I’ve been trying to spend 10-15 minutes a day working with him on holding the pencil correctly, having him connect the dots I drew to make each of the letters, and also saying the sound for each letter. So far he’s really enjoying it, and I want to keep these sessions short so he continues to like them.
I don’t have any new running-specific goals–other than to get my right leg just as strong as my left leg, which was a goal that I started working on last month. I have been diligent about going to to the gym at least twice a week to work on single-leg exercises. I have also been going to yoga once a week, where we do balance poses that will help me gain more strength in my right leg.
As always, my other running goals include trying to get as fast as possible and set a new PR at every distance. (I don’t think that’s too much to ask for–ha!) But honestly, even just the pursuit of trying to get faster is fun, so I’ll keep at it for a while!
So whether you have a new year’s resolution or not, you know what’s best for you, and I wish you the best for a successful and happy 2019!
I love to set goals throughout the year as well, so I set big goals for resolutions and set smaller goals to reach them every few months. I’m trying to get back into running, so right now my goal is to run outside when it’s warm enough for me and go to the gym when it’s too cold out at least 4x a week. Once I get into that habit I’ll start setting distance and time goals.