This really has been the most amazing year. It’s not been a
straightforward one. There have been sad, difficult and painful times but a lot
of joy, fun, surprises and flat out incredible moments. I’m not exactly where I
thought I’d be, I reckon I overshot the mark there and I certainly achieved
more than I thought possible, in so many ways.
I find it useful to take stock at the end of each year, to
think about the events, what I’m thankful for and to get a feel for the coming 12
months and this year I’d like to say a few things publicly.
Thanks
Firstly, a few thank you's. Thank you to all of you for
reading my blog, for interacting here, on facebook or twitter and stopping me
from just typing into the void. You guys make this a whole lot more fun.
Thank you to everyone who sponsored me early in the year and
helped me to support the Scleroderma Society. Together we made a huge
difference to a small charity.
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| Me and my Aunt, who inspired my charity choice |
Thank you to all of my friends who have stuck by me. You’ve
helped me through house moves, crazy training and race schedules, put up with
me talking incessantly about said crazy training and race schedules and even
encouraged me and pushed me to achieve some of the amazing things I’ve done
this year. Without Anita-the-Crazy I certainly wouldn’t have done Tough Mudder,
for instance.
Most of all thank you to my family, in particular my mum,
dad, aunt and godparents. You mean the world to me and have done SO much for me
this year.
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| Dad-hug post-marathon |
Gratitude
I’m grateful for the opportunities this blog and the health
and fitness community have afforded me. I wouldn’t have met @amerbob for some
of the most fun runs I’ve done this year, I wouldn’t have gone to the Run MummyRun social and made new friends there, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to
write for The Protein Works or go to the Write This Run conference and I
wouldn’t have been able to write blogs or articles for other sites either.
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| @amerbob, Anna and me - who knew marathon running could be so fun |
I’m grateful for the life change in February that meant I
threw myself into my training as a coping mechanism. Silver linings…
I’m grateful for my health, especially now I’m not 100%, and
for the fact I managed to get through the year injury-free.
Achievements
This year I’ve taken part in 21 races: 2 marathons, 3 half
marathons, 7 x 10k’s, 2 x 5ks, 3 triathlons, an open water swim and 5 others
that don’t fall into a category. I’ve gotten through 2 pairs of trainers,
logged 634 running miles on the Garmin, swum 10,200 meters and cycled around 143 miles. I’ve set 8 new PBs in the process. I also had my first microadventure, started my Advanced Diploma in Personal Training and
became a qualified Gym Instructor.
Plans
I have lots of exciting plans for next year. I aim to be a
qualified Personal Trainer by the end of June and will hopefully finish the
entire qualification by the end of the year. I would love to start working as a
PT and to continue writing for and working with the brands I’ve connected with
this year. My studies are going to take quite a bit of time so I won’t be
racing as much but I do want to work on my speed and hope to set new PBs of
sub-25 for 5k, sub 55 for 10k and sub 2 hour half marathon. I am registered for
the following races already:
And I intend to do my first ultra and/or 24 hour event (as
part of a team). I’m considering these other events:
It would be great to know if you’re taking part in any of
them too. Perhaps we can say hi to each other. I’d love to hear about your plans for next year and how you
feel about 2013. Did you have goals? Did you meet them? Did you surprise
yourself? Feel free to write a few words or pop a link to your blog post in the
comments below.
In any case, I hope this point in the year finds you happy
and healthy and that 2014 is full of adventures for you.
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