Everyone needs a goal or a target. Whether it’s work related, sport specific or just something personal, it’s always good to have something to work towards.
Now that 2016 is coming to an end, the goals for 2017 are being set. I’ve had an incredible year and to be honest, I’m not quite sure how I can top it but I need to keep focused and the best way to do that is to set new targets. And then plan to absolutely annihilate them. I’ll leave the 2016 review for another post, but I still struggle to get my head round what a magical year it was. I get a real shiver down my spine when I think about what has been accomplished and I wish I could go back and do it all over again!
Winter training is something I struggle with. I hate dark mornings, I hate it when it gets dark really early in the evening and I’m pretty much walking to and from work in the dark. I hate getting home and then having to scrape myself off the couch to get back out for a run when it’s freezing/raining/windy/dark. I finish work early on a Friday and I throw myself into my training when I still have sunlight and then fit in a long run and/or a hill run at the weekend, but the rest of the week is a slog.
However, I do it because once I’m out I love it. The “I can’t” or “I don’t want to” is all mental and to be able to reach your goals, these need to be pushed aside. I’ve decided to give the Marcothon another go this year; a personal challenge where you run for at least 3 miles or 25 minutes every day in December and 9 days in, so far so good. December is a hard to month to really commit to training, what with nights out, it being the end of the season and most big races are out the way and also (of course!) Christmas. I’ve failed twice before, the first year I was loaded with the cold and had the sense to stop and the following year was the year of my appendix fiasco. So fingers crossed for the rest of this month!
The new year brings a new training programme and new races to try and of course, new countries to travel to, but I’ll leave that for another post! I haven’t booked in for many races yet as my big goal of 2017 is to complete a triathlon in the latter part of the year, but the start of the year will hopefully include the mud fest that is the Devilla 15k, the Glentress marathon, the Alloa Half marathon, the Cateran 55 mile ultra and the Great Glen Ultra in July. And by then I hope to be a lot better at not falling off my bike and have got over my fear of open water swimming. Both things that are pretty essential to being able to complete my first triathlon!
And so the year comes to an end. I’m not sure how 2017 can top this year but I’m sure it’ll be just as epic! Good luck with your winter training 🙂