Sunday, January 02, 2011

New Year Resolutions

This is the first year in a real long time I didn't have any resolutions going into the new year.  I know there are a lot of things I can improve on, but these holidays seemed to have snuck up on me without really thinking about resolutions.  I blame it on the trip to San Francisco during Christmas time.  So as I am writing this blog, I will think up some resolutions for 2011.  I want to make them realistic, so if they don't seem like a stretch, sorry! I want to meet my goals, low expectations baby!

  1. Blog more regularly.  I am totally stealing this from Abby (Mrs. Tummy's Blog).  So by definition if I blog twice a month, than I have fulfilled this resolution :)
  2. Be a better example. Ok, this one is quite vague.  I have always been in the mindset that no one is looking at me.  When I was younger I always used the excuse that someone else should be doing the work, because I am don't know enough myself because, hey...I was young.  With nieces and nephews and godchildren running around, I want to become a better person for them.  So when they are ready to ask me a difficult question, I can answer them, and not just defer to someone else
  3. Actually lose weight this year.  You would think training for a marathon would help you lose weight.  Yeah, not so much.  My body composition probably changed a good amount in 2010, but man I was a very very hungry man in 2010.  Especially on Saturday afternoons after our long runs.  mmm..Five Guys
  4. Run a 1/2 marathon in 2:30 ~ 11:30/mi.  After my horrific marathon debut last year in the Chicago Marathon 10.10.10, I want to really improve my chances of running another marathon someday.  If I continue running like I run now, I don't see myself ever really wanting to run a marathon.  If I can get my 1/2 marathon time down, I'll feel more comfortable tackling a marathon again.  Last year I had no idea what I was getting myself into, when
  5. Read a book each month.  Now this is probably one of my more aggressive resolutions.  I know, I know...reading one book a month shouldn't really be THAT big of a deal, but seriously, I never read.  I really want to change that
  6. Take a photography class.  I missed out on a Groupon for 2 photography classes, so if that comes around again, I am totally taking it! I love pictures they can tell such good stories.  I may never be as good as Mike (unscene media) or Chris (chris and oliver cinema), but I just want to be better.
  7. Learn more about Chicago.  In the marathon last year I was thinking it would be much more interesting if I knew more history around the spots I was running past.  I admittedly have never been great with directions, and I had only heard about most of the neighborhoods of Chicago I ran through.  I've lived in the suburbs of Chicago for so long, it feels like I should know more about the city

So how/where do I start off?

I liked my picture of the week idea I had last year.  I need to bring that back.  But if I take better pictures (from taking a class), I'll want to blog more about them! Two birds.

I started a book on running last year, that I just never got around to finish.  Now it's been so long, so I'll have to start over.  I told Jaz about wanting to read more and she said we should take 1 hour a day to read.  That means one less hour on the internet...is that possible?

I've started doing some speed work this winter hopefully increasing my speed in the long run (haha, pun not intended).  I got into the NY 1/2 marathon in March, so I think that will be a good indicator on whether or not my speed work actually works.

At work we have a health program called Virgin Healthmiles.  It is basically a rewards program for activities logged to their site.  You can log steps using a proprietary pedometer and you can also log workouts using a Polar Heart Rate Monitor.  When you hit certain levels in health miles, than you get a reward, and each level up you get more money.  For instance, Level 2 you get $50, Level 3 you get $75, etc.  Well my company is issuing a challenge to its employees.  Whoever can lose the most weight or weight %, will win additional prizes up $150.  It's  a 3 month challenge, so I will definitely hit the ground running.  Not only will it be healthy, it will be wealthy (yikes that was bad).

I think that's a good start, don't you?

So what are your resolutions for 2011?

 

3 comments:

MrsTummy said...

How about you add #8 - maybe finally make good on your guys' promise to have baby #1 when we all were working on Baby 2? Eli's 5 months, and Aiden's 1 year....time's a tickin'! ;) I'm not sayin, I'm just sayin....

deekin said...

Hahah, I know I know :) You guys work way faster than I thought you would!

Sue said...

A great list and a great start! Look forward to running some races with you in 2011.