I feel like Dwight Schrute. Nothing is on my horizon except everything. Everything is on my horizon.
I'm not a big New Year guy. It's just another day, but I do appreciate that it gives a reason to reflect on what you've been through, positive and negative. And while I'm not staying up till midnight drinking champagne any more, I like the idea of it serving as a jumping off point for where you want to go next.
I don't know if these are resolutions or just things I want to do but here are a few things I'm looking forward to in 2018.
Focus more on experiences rather than stuff.
Enjoy the process - across the board in everything I do.
Plan more adventure runs
Write more
Read more
Use my GoPro more!
One of the things I did think of when reflecting back on the last year was memories. After we lost my mom, I spent a lot of time thinking about all the experiences and memories that I had growing up. I never want to lose sight of that because that's something that I want Amanda and I and eventually our family to have to look back on.
With that in mind, I am trying to plan a trip or short adventure for every month. Of course, we can't afford to be flying all over the country, but there is nothing stopping us from jumping in the Jeep and doing some day trips. We already have a trip home planned for February. After that, we'll probably go to Chattanooga for River Gorge in March and then we've got Tuck Fest in April. Other than those few trips we don't have anything concrete planned, but I'm thinking a longer trip to the Smokies, maybe a weekend in Asheville or a ski trip to North Carolina. There are some good spots within a few hours drive of Atlanta, so I am hoping to do more day trips this year.
I am a creature of habit. To be honest, that's probably an understatement. I very much like having a routine. It makes everything seem easier. You don't have to think about doing certain things. You just do them. Automatically. This is great for my running. I get up every day and get my miles in. It keeps me consistent and I very rarely have to worry about missing out on a run because I got home late or I'm not feeling it or any of the other million different excuses we've all come up with in the past.
While that keeps me rolling day to day and week to week it can make some runs feel like a chore. I hate that. I enjoy running. I don't want it to feel like a chore. We all have our days where we just aren't feeling it, or we are just going through the motions. That's fine. That's going to happen no matter what you are talking about. Some days you're just not into it. This is where the adventure runs come in. These come in all different shapes and distances. It could be a grand adventure where I drive two hours to new trails or as simple as getting up a few minutes early and hitting one of the local trail systems before work. I want to do more of both. I need more new runs but just as important is breaking the monotony of a Tuesday morning.
Having said that, I do want to be more mindful in 2018. Sometimes it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture and forget that every run has a purpose. You are building towards something. Whether it's a goal race that's a few weeks away or a few months away. Each run serves a purpose in getting you to that finish line. What does that mean in practice? Mentally remind yourself what you are working towards. Hopefully, that will reduce those days that you're not into it.
I've really enjoyed what Tracksmith has done with their No Days Off campaign over the last couple of years. Starting on New Years Day, they push the NDO mantra. Now, that might sound a little Belichickian and unrealistic for many, but that's what I like about the campaign. It's not about running 365 straight days. It's about doing something every day that makes you a better runner. That could be anything from taking a day off from running if you need it to spending time in the gym or eating well. At least that's how I take it. Do something every day that makes you a better runner.
That's some good copywriting. They are trying to sell gear, but I've said it before. I like some good content marketing.
I think I say this in something like 75 percent of the things I post, but I'm going to say it again. Write more! I read somewhere or heard somewhere, I can't for the life of me remember where that a good tip for working on your writing is to write every day. Now, I have failed at that thus far in 2018, but it's something that I am trying to work on. Even if it's just a few sentences. I think that would really help me with consistency. I enjoy writing but a lot of times I struggle with what exactly I want to write. The tip or trick that I read was to if you write every day it'll spark ideas. It hasn't been a success thus far, but I am working on it.
Along with writing more, I need to read more. Again, it's something I really enjoy but for whatever reason, I don't feel like I do enough of it. Maybe that's because I spend the majority of my day reading 140 character takes or trying to figure out ways to put a positive spin on something that's not so rosy. Either way, I'd like to do more reading. Books, magazines, online, it doesn't really matter. If it looks interesting and it's longer than a few paragraphs I'm in.
Another thing I really want to do more of in 2018 is to use my GoPro, or GoPros to be more accurate. Some of that goes with taking trips and doing adventure runs, well actually it pretty much all goes with that. Along with writing, I also enjoy editing. I'm not going to be making any highlight reel videos anytime soon, but it's something that I enjoyed when I was in college and thanks to working with some really good editors, it's something that I got back into over the last few years. It's a skill that I enjoy working to improve and I'd like to do a little more of that. Naturally, making some running or biking edits would be a good way to do that.
From a running standpoint, my goals are pretty similar to what they've been the last few years. As much as I want to win races or at least finish on the podium, this is where I want to focus more on enjoying the experience. I think I've done a better job of this over the last year (see my Tuck Fest blog), but I still have my moments. Running can't just be about results. Eventually, that's going to lead to frustration. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to win my age group for XTERRA again this year - even though I've missed a few races already due to work travel - and podium at River Gorge, I want those races to be about more than just what place I finished.
I'm still in the process of figuring out my race schedule for 2018 but it will likely feature some or all of the following...in no particular order...
XTERRA Georgia
Dirty Spokes
One Winter Wild race back home - Looking at the Ascutney night race with Ferenc
Southern Cross Gravel Bike Race - That's a big ole maybe. It looks cool though.
River Gorge
Tuck Fest
Loon - I think I've said I wanted to do Loon for like the past decade.
Half marathon(s)
Maybe a Marathon???
I realize that we're nearly three weeks into 2018 but I'm still trying to figure some of this stuff out. My work schedule ends so abruptly sometimes it can take a week to just process everything that happened. That's where I am right now. I'm moving past processing and into planning mode. I'm definitely looking forward to what we've got coming up. The first race on the calendar would be Dirty Spokes at Heritage Park but I'm thinking we'll have some kind of day trip in the works before then.
This has been all over the place but I think it actually helped to put some of this stuff down. I didn't put down any concrete goals for 2018, so here are a few. One is a little silly, but the other really takes a lot of what I've just written into account.
Goal number 1 - Get into a regular rhythm of posting content and launch a new version of this blog. That's something I've been thinking about for a while, but I don't want to spend the money on a domain and all that without committing to regular posts. I've thought about a number of different ways to do this and I'm hoping to get myself to a point where I can post at least two things per month. That's a pretty modest goal. It's definitely something that I can accomplish. At least I think it is. We'll see.
Goal number 2 - Make this the year I finally buy a Cannondale Slate. It would work real nice for Southern Cross.
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