this is the first year in ages that i haven’t entered with a ridiculous (in retrospect) list of resolutions: new me here, new me there. which is great: i just want to carry on as i have been. maybe it’s something i’ve learned from running. slow but steady progress will get you there eventually. i seem to be shedding the all-or-nothing mindset and developing confidence that i will achieve my goals, even if it takes a bit longer than planned. and that’s something to be proud of in itself.
1) run a 10k for amnesty international
yes! on the last day of the year, with a wonderful team and in great conditions. have just calculated that my km pace was only marginally (8 secs) slower for the 10k including hills than it was for the 9k on the flat, which seems to indicate that i’ve progressed in the last 2 months.
i can’t get over how happy i am to have discovered running in the last 15 months or so. and how proud of myself i am. was filing away my finishing certificate this morning—already have a little collection.
and, as a direct result, i have achieved one of my 2007 BYY goals, which was to get my BMI down to 24 or below. and i’ve got muscles—these huge hard things in my thighs that have come from nowhere. (there’s probably something to be learned here about product vs. process goals.)
now just have to do a bit more work on collecting sponsor money!
2) cycle a century
nearly, we did 135km around waren in september. that’s about 84 miles. physically, we could have done the whole century, but we left it too late in the year—it was already dark and starting to rain as we finished the 135km day. i’m really glad we discovered the mecklenburgische seenplatte as an ace place for cycling (oooh, and the hotel was fab!). i’m going to carry this goal over to next year. and definitely plan a cycling holiday for 2009, too!
3) buy a flat!
hmm, i’ve done nothing on this. and i don’t know if i really want to. maybe it’s just something i think i should be doing. then again, it’s surely better to have somewhere you can live when you’re old than to put your money in crappy investment funds and see it disappear (i speak from experience)... i really do need to get my blimming finances sorted.
4) take control of my home
hmmm. i don’t know. i think i’ve made incremental progress, but nothing spectacular to report.
5) become a gardening goddess
same as above, really. alb is definitely the constant gardener around here. but i would like to keep working on it.
6) nurture relationships with friends and family
yes, has gone generally well. i didn’t do any catching up with long losts, but have had lots of great times with friends and family. and that’s the most important thing in life, innit?
7) unleash my creativity
bought a new sewing machine and made a good start, but haven’t done much since. was discussing courses with Deb, should look into that again.
8) make my website somewhere people want to visit again and again
hmm, not really. i seem to have lost interest. i’m just about managing to keep the site updated, but am always reacting and making short-term changes rather than looking at the big picture. a relauch is needed, but i have neither the skills nor the energy. maybe i’ll feel a bit more motivated after our January meeting. need to read some of those books i’ve bought too.
9) knowledge/courses/books/museums goal
ha, this was a good one. have read loads of books, continued going to museums quite frequently, completed the short OU writing course, and am now working on the longer one (actually, i should be working on the longer one at this moment).
so i’d put 2008 down as a great year overall, especially the last day! as i said above, in many respects i’d like to just carry on making steady progress in 2009. at the same time, i’m noticing how important and satisfying it is to have specific goals to work towards that take you to new places and teach you new things (running a 10k!). so i’m going to have a think about my 2009 goals. some will carry on from the above list, but i’d also like to have something new, challenging and exciting. hmmmmm…