Kristen’s Goals for 2013: Smarter and Stronger
I’ve already got a start on doing a little more yoga, with a little help from my favorite downward dog, Rudi.
This week, as part of New Year New Rear Week, each FBG is sharing her healthy goals and resolutions for 2013 and recapping how 2012’s goals went down. So let’s get to it!
I love goals. I really, really do. I love setting them, I love working toward them, and, of course, I really love reaching them.
Truthfully, though? I also love knowing that I worked toward them, even if I can’t check them off my list. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, goals change, so a goal that seems really important and life changing when I make it might end up falling to the wayside, not necessarily because I can’t reach it, but because something else has taken its place. Know what I mean? (You know what I mean.)
With that in mind, I’m giving some thought to what served me well in 2012. What things did I (or could I) change for the better, and how can I continue down that path in 2013?
Kristen’s Healthy Goals for 2013
1. Keep pushing my boundaries. I’ve got a head start on this, if I’m being honest. I’ve got another swim meet on the books for February, and it looks like I might be trying the 100 IM, which, well. A year ago, I couldn’t have even finished, let along signed up for it. After my disastrous Miami half marathon almost a year ago, I never thought I’d try that distance again. Lo and behold, I’m signed up for another half marathon, this time, with hills. Big ones. It’s seriously outside my comfort zone, but I’m so excited to give it a try. And, while I haven’t officially registered yet, I have committed to doing my longest tri ever: The Leadman Tri. Am I a little terrified? You’d better believe it. It’s kind of great.
2. Train smarter. With these big races in the first half of the year, I’ve got some serious training to do. Fortunately, Jared got me the perfect Christmas gift—a Garmin Forerunner 910 with a heart rate monitor attachment, so I’m already learning about how to use my heart rate zones in my training. Consider yourselves warned: You’re going to hear a lot about this in the coming months, I’m afraid. (And if you have HR training tips, let me hear ’em in the comments!)
3. Keep getting up early. I was so pleased with myself this summer for getting up early to get in my workouts. I haven’t been doing it as much in the winter (partly because it’s cooler and I don’t mind running in the evenings now), but I want to get back to it. I really loved getting a solid workout in early in the day, and I really, really loved not losing my level of fitness during the hottest part of the summer. Yeah, let’s do that again this year.
4. Get back in the kitchen. I’ve gotten in a bad habit of ordering food or eating out a little too often. I still try to make smart choices (well, most of the time, anyway), but I could make much, much smarter choices if my options were limited to good food in my own house. I don’t know that I want to set a specific limit to the number of meals I can eat out, but I do want to cut back.
5. Make more time for cross training. So, I’ve got two big endurance events that are going to require a pretty major commitment to training, but if I’m carving out so many hours a week to swim, bike and run, I think I also need to carve out a couple of hours to do yoga, strength work and maybe a little dancing. I wanted to mix it up more in 2012, and that goal is going to carry over to this year.
I like this list. I feel like it’s all totally attainable, but each one is still a challenge. And isn’t that what a good goal should be?
Do you have any goals along these lines? Or suggestions for me? —Kristen