I’ve never cared much for New Year’s Resolutions- I’ve always thought that if you wanted to quit smoking or lose weight you would have done it already. A good friend also pointed out that New Year’s Day, aka National Hangover Day, isn’t really the best time to be making life-changing decisions. What I do like, however, are goals. Goals just seem more concrete.
So without further ado, here are my 2016 fitness goals.
1. Hit the trail
Over Christmas I spent a week exploring the countryside around my parents’ house, and I fell in love with it completely. Now that I’m back in London I’m struggling to get up motivation- it’s pretty grey and dreary here at the moment! Thankfully I have some trips planned to explore the forests just outside of London- thanks to my wonderful running club. It’s a sociable affair, with pints and brownies afterwards 🙂
2. Keep working on my relationship with food.
It hasn’t been great, but I managed to boss Christmas without any major mishaps. Now I just need to get on with building a normal relationship with eating.
3. Remain injury free
I’m incredibly lazy when it comes to stability and strengthening exercises, but I resolve to find a way to incorporate them into my routine. I also need to keep listening to my body, checking in with my physio, and getting regular sports massages.
4. Finish a marathon.
To be honest, this is a huge if on my list. My feet are recovering but not at the speed I’d hoped. Ideally I would be 3 weeks into a training plan by now, but that isn’t the case. Running pain-free is the main aim of the game right now. I’ll meet with my physio in a week, and see what he says. Worst case scenario is that I’ll postpone, and do an Autumn marathon.
5. Run a decent half marathon
Pretty explanatory really. 10k has been my preferred race distance, but I’d like to work up to 13.1 – I just need to find a goal race. I’d like to hit sub-2 on my first attempt- nothing too ambitious!
6. Hit a sub-45 10k
This was one of my aims for the end of 2015, but alas, injury interfered and I wasn’t allowed to race at all, let alone trying to smash a PB by 3 minutes. If I can’t run my marathon in spring, I’ll work on the 10k distance and try to gradually bring my time down.
7. Work on a 5k PB
I’ve never really raced a 5k- I do participate in Parkrun, but my local course is hilly and really quite tough, so I have no idea what kind of time I could hit on the flat. I’d like to go to a few different Parkruns and races, just to see how I fare. Not going to lie though, I think the 10k will always be my distance of choice!
8. Complete a sprint triathlon
I’ll hopefully be competing in my first triathlon in June 2016. I’m very excited by the idea of becoming a triathlete, but not overly keen on the cost of it all-I’m terrified I’ll invest a lot in the sport only to realise it isn’t for me. But I suppose you have to give these things a whirl!
9. Volunteer at Parkrun at least once a month
It can be hard to drag myself out of bed for Parkrun when it’s cold outside, but I really do love being involved in the community. So I’ll participate more often (injury-willing) and volunteer at least once per month.
10. Travel more!
OK, this isn’t strictly fitness related, but I think it could be. My running club does plenty of away-trips and destination races, so I’m really keen to be more involved in those, and use my running as a way to travel the world with some great people!
What are your goals for 2016?
Lots of love,
Pippa x
Pip in Motion 
I’m still working on my goals for this year but similar – running, good food and volunteering at runs as well.
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I just posted on this very same subject yesterday…definitely with you on setting goals, preferably quantifiable…best of luck!
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My first marathon this year as well. I figured go big, so I’m off to Paris in the springtime. I’m a week into the Hanson Marathon method serious bits and my legs ache….it’s going to be a long spring!
Triathlons are fantastic fun, there’s something really liberating about an open water swim!
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And I should add…..Good Luck!
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sub 2 hour half marathon on your first try no big deal…girl i have been trying for a sub 2 for a long time and am just now getting close. i seriously hope you hit your goal, but will hate you a little for making it look so easy 😉 love these goals, plus if you strength train more you might get swole lol.
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My goal is to be as lazy as possible.
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Great goals. I hope you are able to achieve them.
I set myself some fitness goals (recover from injury, cycle more, work on my swimming) and some non-fitness goals (be more organised and read more books). Fingers crossed!
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Great goals! you can totally do it!!!
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Great goals! You are certainly putting a lot on your plate – make sure to focus on 1 or 2 things at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed or burn out 🙂
I ran a sub-2 half on my first try; if you stick with your training, it’s definitely doable! A sub-45 10K is an insane level of fast in my book, though. I think it will be years before I can pull that off…but I’ve always been better at longer distances than short ones.
Good luck!! Fingers crossed for you that you get to cross that marathon finish line!
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wow a lot of our goals for this year line up!!!! I want to complete my first marathon and my first tri sprint!
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Lots of great goals there and all doable. If you’re currently going sub 2 regularly enough on a half, and plan for sub 45 on a 10, then you must be close to 20+ on the 5k if you can find the right track. That mid-distance speed and endurance mix would stand you really well in the marathon (as long as you didn’t go out too fast!). The later-in-the-year marathon idea is a good one; build up to it and avoid injuries (if possible). And no need to spend big on a triathlon. My wife and I got into them recently and you can do one for very small money if you pick up a second-hand swimming wetsuit and borrow a bike. For a sprint, you are already fit enough. Just book one now, in the summer. Plenty of time. And you won’t have to bother with point number 3: your extra swim and bike training will be enough to give you an overall body workout. Then if you really love the triathlon (I suspect you might!), you can decide if you want to spend a few more quid. Though again, you really don’t need all that fancy gear. Despite what the expensive magazines tell ya.
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