Friday, January 2, 2015

New Year's post - my (realistic) goals for the year



I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. They've always seemed like a ridiculous way to make changes in your life, but I get that what works or doesn’t for me is not the same for other people, so if you make resolutions and it works for you, more power to you. I do set goals for myself, and New Years is as good a transition as any to set some goals. So here are my goals for 2015.

Eat more vegetables and especially fruits. I am really good at eating whole grains, lean meats, and other sources of protein (although likely not enough meat, as I am often low on iron). And I like veggies, but am not a big fruit eater. When I am working out a lot, I naturally crave fruit, so as long as I’m really active, my eating is easy. But I am always less active in Nov-Jan for work reasons mostly, and so I really need to be more aware of my eating. 

Drink more water. Same as the last one. When I’m working out a lot, this one’s easy. But when I’m sitting staring at my computer all day and beyond, I’m not so good with the water. I live on coffee pretty much, with some tea thrown in for good measure. (And wine, at least when we’re having a nice dinner, which doesn’t happen as often as it used to, due to the kidlet.)

Be more social, at least a little. I am an introvert. I am not someone who enjoys getting to know strangers. But I also know that in order to get to the point where my life isn’t just full of strangers, I need to go through that awkward chit chat phase. I may join up with a run group. We’ll see. I have lived here for 4 years now and have no really close friends here. (I had some, but they moved away.) I am OK because I have my husband, and close friends who live elsewhere, and do have some friends here, but it would be nice to have a few close friends here.  I’m in an odd demographic that makes this hard. I’m in my mid 40s, with a young child, and an intense professional career that can make people a bit stand-offish. So I’m really short on time, and the people like me are also really short on time. This is a goal without any specific plans, and frankly, won’t be solved in one year, although I can take steps to get started.

Enjoy my racing, and my training. I'm diversifying my racing a bit to facilitate this. I know that doing other races will likely detract from my training, but getting bored will detract from it even more. So I'm doing what I need to do. And more importantly, what I want to do. After all, I'm not in this to win anything, just to have fun and be healthy.

Be present in my son’s life. I’m not saying that I’m not, but it can be easy to get caught up in things and forget to enjoy them while they’re small. I miss the toddler, but at the same time, wouldn’t trade my kindergartener for the toddler, because this stage is so great too. But I need to be present to see that.

Keep my marriage as a priority. Arrange date nights, support my husband’s cycling, don’t let the kidlet become the de facto priority. Both of the men in my life are important, and need to feel important.  My now husband and I have been together for 23 years, and have had a lot of ups and downs. But we love each other, and have made the choice to be together more than once: for career reasons, we lived apart for more than 8 years, so we’ve really had to want to be a couple to be one. As the kid is getting older it gets easier to do things that are just for me and my husband, but it’s also get harder, because it’s been a long time since we’ve had much pure us-time. This is something that is important to me, and to him, but like health, doesn’t just take care of itself. 


And some specific race plans:

  • Do 2 olympic distance triathlons. One is easy, I’ll be doing what used to be the Vancouver Subaru again, but fitting in the second one is a little more difficult. But I’ll figure it out. And a few sprints thrown in for good measure.

  • Do a trail run.  I’m thinking of the 5 Peaks Cypress run. Time-wise it’s a good one for me.

  • Do 2 half marathons, one early and one late in the season. Should be registered for the first one soon, and I’ll wait on the second one to see where we’ll be for Thanksgiving.


A few other specifics:

  • I will perfect at least 2 energy bar recipes, preferably 3. By perfect I mean, get them to a point I could sell them.

  • Perfect 2-3 hand pies for DH’s cycling. He’s getting sick of eating gels and goos while riding, and wants a bit of easy to handle/carry real food. I bought Feed Zone Portables by Thomas & Lim and plan to use their recipes as a base.

  • Get 4 new papers submitted. I think that 2 are well on their way, but the 3rd and 4th are going to be hard. (In truth, I’d like to do 5-6, but that means that my more realistic goal is 3-4.)  I have 3-4 grant proposals I have to do too (3 by March), so it’s a lot of writing.

All in all, a pretty doable list. And one that will make for a good year even if I don't get all of it done. 

4 comments:

  1. Great goals! Eat and drink healthy and find balance for family, work and leisure priorities. Good luck with your training goals and ... I'm looking forward to hearing how your triathlons... and bars turn out! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! When you put it that way it seems impossible, fix everything...But really, it's about balance, and that's doable.

      Delete
  2. I think those are some great goals. I think you'll do well and I can't wait to read about it!

    I tried to work on the socializing thing last year as I'm an introvert as well. It went alright. I don't seem to fit in with other moms my age and those few folks I did hit it off with have lifestyles so different from my own, so it makes it hard to get out to see them as the boys keep me pretty busy/tired.

    Facebook/Twitter make it easier for me to keep in touch and I know in a few years I won't be as exhausted/drained. That should make socializing a more pleasurable experience :)

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's one of the reasons I like on-line communities so much. You can get to know people slowly, and commit as much or a little as you are comfortable with/can. And you get to know people who you wouldn't otherwise because they live somewhere else. I got to know a really great group of women on-line when I was pregnant and I've actually met a few of them in person over the years. The ones who really connected keep in touch, and our kids are all 5.5 now. I really do think of them as friends, even though they're mostly just in my computer. At least they're not just in my head ;)

      Delete

Comments are moderated, so it might take a little while for your comment to show up.