Happy New Year and Welcome to 2011!!

Can you believe it? Its 2011 already!! The older you get, the quicker the years seem to fly by. I for one am glad for the new year! Looking back at the year 2010, it was definitely not the easiest year I’ve had. I did complete my first Half Marathon and ventured into the world of trail running and while I battled injuries, the sense of accomplishment I got from all my races makes me proud! Even better are the wonderful new friends I’ve made and the moments shared with old friends that are priceless!

On a non-running related front, hubby’s lay-off in May sent us into a tailspin and we had to really re-evaluate how we did things. We made some major changes that while it is tough as hell to stick to will only serve us better in the long run and as we move into 2011…we hope to continue moving towards the future we want for ourselves. While it certainly caused some sleepless nights and hard to hear words for both of us, it has made us stronger than ever together! We are looking forward to some good things for us in 2011!

While I’m not one for doing the whole new year resolution thing, I do take it some time to take stock of where life is at, where I would like it to be and how might do things in the new year to help me get there. Daunting task I know…and while I’m not ready to share some of my personal goals on in the blogosphere as yet, I will jot down my main running goals for the upcoming year.

Running Goals

• Goal #1 - Primary goal is to stay injury free!!!
  I know this is not very specific, but everything below will fail if I can’t do this! So listening to my body, cross training and resting adequately after key workouts and races will be key to achieving this.
• Goal #2 - Complete a Marathon Distance
  I’ve picked the Free State Trail Marathon on 4/23 to achieve this goal. Why pick a Trail Marathon as my first? Well..since Summer 2010 most of my races have been trail races and I’ve come to really enjoy the atmosphere and camaraderie that comes with a Trail race when compared with a road race. Also, I figured if I can finish a trail marathon a road one should not be an issue at all. I’m obviously not going for a time goal, but just to complete this one would be HUGE!
• Goal #3 – Complete a 50k Distance
  I was not even thinking about this one and didn’t want to put it down, but I figured if I can stay injury free and complete a Marathon, a 50k should not be a stretch. I have not picked a race as yet, as this goal relies on ensuring #1 and #2 are completed successfully!!
  

So that’s what I have for this brand spanking new year which is only 3 days old!! My hope is that is holds more promise, more love, more laughter, more opportunity, more success and more miles for us all!!