It was a year ago that I decided to start to write a blog about running and losing weight. The time has come to review how I did with the goals that I set.
On the weight front, I only lost half the weight. This was a step in the right direction but I still am not where I want to be. On the running front, I did finish a Half Marathon. I wish I would have run the race better but at least I finished the race running across the finish line. I guess I accomplished about 75% of my goals.
If I didn’t set these goals last year, I would be lucky to be running 5Ks now and still not fitting into those jeans. The thing about goals is that they give you something to strive for. If you don’t have a destination to reach, you just go in circles or worst yet, backwards. Just because my year has ended doesn’t mean that my goals end. It is time to re-evaluate my previous goals and set new ones.
Let’s start with the weight goal. My new goal is to get by body into great shape. I want my body to be strong. I don’t care what number is on the scale as long as I feel comfortable with my body. This means more weight and strength training exercises. Food is also going to play a factor with this goal. Right now I am very conscious about what food I put in my body but I still have more slip ups than I should. I also realized that to focus on this goal I need to minimize any other elements that could derail this goal. Last year, I ended a relationship, I moved to a new residence and I got my son ready for college on the East Coast. With all those life changing events going on in my life, it was difficult to focus on my goals.
Running has opened up a whole other world to me. Besides getting better at running, I met some great people in my pace group when training for the Half Marathon. This sport had given me so much joy and has been a great outlet to help me deal with all the changes in my life. Just last year, I struggled to run for a minute without needing an oxygen tank. Now I can run for over 2 hours. I have learned that your body can do things you never thought would be possible. You just need to keep pushing yourself a little more each day.
So what is next for me? In a couple of weeks, I will be running in another Half Marathon and then I have a 5K in October and a 15K in November. There might even be some other races I might run in this year. Signing up for races gives me the motivation to keep running on a regular basis. As for my racing goals, I am going to stretch myself even more and train for a Marathon next year. There, I said it. I have put the stake in the ground. This year I am volunteering again at the Chicago Marathon and hopefully next year I will be running the race instead of volunteering.
Last August I set out to write a blog for a year since I haven’t had the best discipline starting something and finishing it. Now that the year has ended, I have decided to continue writing my Fat Girl Learns to Run blog but now focusing on my new goals. I tried to write every day during the last year but that is too much pressure for me so I will only write a few times a week for the next year. So now I am taking some time off from writing in my blog because I am taking my son off to college this weekend. Just as my son begins his new life in Boston attending college, I too will begin my new life.