We've heard it all (and probably tried it all) before. Every time the Christmas holidays roll around, we encounter the same resolutions: work out more, eat healthier food, sleep eight hours a night, and take more time for ourselves. While those are all great things to incorporate into our lives, these broad goals rarely stick in the long run.
A great New Year's resolution is to set yourself a goal or a challenge. 2019 was a year that saw me push myself out of my comfort zone. I signed up to complete the London Triathlon. This entailed a detailed training schedule https://rgactive.com/that required me to swim in open water and ride a bike. The former I had never done and the later I’d only really done as a little girl on a bike with streamers and stabilisers! A racing road bike was not what I had in mind.
Having a go-to routine that triggered me to mentally and physically to focus was the catalyst for a change in my fitness routine. By setting new goals every three months according to my training schedule, it ensured that I didn’t plateau and kept growing and improving myself. I considered myself a runner but not really a cyclist or open water swimmer.
I also took myself back to the classroom to learn some tips on triathlon training. I managed to get myself talked into entering a novice triathlon at the Hercules Festival of Sport https://herculesevents.com/ . First time I’d used my bike competitively and I only went and came first in my age category, third women overall and seventh competitor alongside the men. I couldn’t believe it- I'd won a cup! Crikey- never, ever won anything every for sport at school or since. Even my horizontal teenage sons were vaguely impressed, and my husband declared it he’d known I was going to win something he’d have come to watch!
I continued to go onto the London Triathlon then finished the season in the blistering heat of the hottest day of the year at the Olympic Eton Dorney series finale https://humanrace.co.uk/event/season-finale-triathlon/ . I thoroughly enjoyed all of them- even with the dodgy wetsuit and tri-suit tan lines that I have acquired.
The summer holidays then saw me do some pretty crazy activities on holiday. Seriously out of my comfort zone including parascending in the Alpes, wild water swimming in Lake Coniston and some stunning if a little muddy trail running in the Lake District.
My goals for next year are to work on my triathlon times and I’ve also registered for Chillswim 2020 https://chillswim.com/ . But in the meantime I have to get back to my tin of Quality Street then deliver some personal training leaflets to kick start the 2020 fitness of my local ladies!