Happy Friday! Can you believe it’s the last Friday in 2016?! I’m going to be honest – I’m more than ready to ring in the new year. 2016 was difficult and I have dubbed it the year of the #dumpsterfire (with the presidential election being the cherry on the top of the crap pile). I will be welcoming 2017 with open arms this weekend!
Today I’m linking up for Friday Five 2.0 with Rachel from Running on Happy and Lacey and Meranda from Fairytales and Fitness.
There is no set topic for today, so I thought I would discuss my five goals for 2017.
First, let’s review my 2016 goals!
Meet as many social media friends as possible
Nailed it! I completed four Rock ‘n’ Roll races this year which gave me an opportunity to connect with numerous running buddies from the #WeRunSocial crew. Although I may not be traveling as much in 2017, I am still making a point to stay connected with all of my new friends. Running has really placed some amazing, awesome and fantastic people in my life and for that I am very thankful!
Just a few photos from this year!
Start and Finish the New York City Marathon
Nailed it! Although I didn’t get the time that I trained for, I still started and finished the New York City Marathon! Completing my first marathon this year was the overall highlight of my year.
Shave 5 minutes off my half marathon PR
Failed so hard! Due to my numerous injuries and marathon training, I didn’t focus on speed at all this year. Therefore I didn’t get a new half marathon PR, but I’m okay with that!
Complete the NYRR Five-Borough Series
Nailed it! I ran ALL five boroughs this year – NYC Half Marathon, Brooklyn Half Marathon, Queens 10K, Bronx 10 Mile and the Staten Island Half Marathon. Although I didn’t enjoy all of the races, it was still a huge accomplishment for me.
Commit to strength training and PT exercises 3x a week
So-So. I really had no motivation in the beginning of the year so I didn’t keep up with my normal exercise routine. After March, I got more back into a routine that I liked but I only ended up doing strength training 2 days a week instead of 3 days. On the flip side, I was very diligent about my PT exercises, especially from July onward.
…and now for my 2017 goals!
Add 2 more states to my 25 State Challenge
Last year I decided to set up a mini-challenge for myself. I am in awe of the runners that take on the fifty state challenge because it’s a HUGE undertaking. To be honest, I know that I don’t have the funds to travel to all fifty states, and to be honest, there are just some states I don’t care to visit. That’s why I decided on doing a 25 state challenge. Last year I added California and Nevada to my map. This year I’m hoping to add at least 2 more states, preferably Washington (RnR Seattle) and another state.
Eat More Plant Based Meals
I’m not a huge meat eater – I don’t eat a lot of red meat, but I do eat a lot of chicken. I’m not looking to become vegan or vegetarian, but I do want to incorporate more plant based meals in my diet. To ease into this, I’m planning on participating in Meatless Mondays and I’ll build from there. To help me with this, I’ll be cooking recipes from a few cookbooks – The Runner’s World Cookbook, Meals on the Run, Run Fast Eat Slow and Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook.
Run Another Marathon
Last week I received the magical email that I was accepted for the 2017 Chicago Marathon in October. I LOVE Chicago and I’ve done the Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago races twice. I have always enjoyed running in that city and I’m looking forward to a 26.2 journey through the streets of Chicago.
In addition, I also qualified (through the 9+1 program) for the 2017 NYC Marathon in November. Now I don’t think I’m going to do the NYC Marathon, but I’ll see if I can defer it to 2018. I REALLY want to tackle that course again!
Set A PR
2016 was definitely NOT the year of the PR, and that’s okay! In 2017 I would love to set a PR in any distance. I think that I have the best chance of setting a PR in either the 5K or Marathon distance. I am especially hoping that I can add some speed work into my marathon training next year, if my IT band will cooperate.
Yoga Once A Week
Okay, so this is the year I actually commit to doing this! For the past two years I always say “I need to do more Yoga”. I even purchased the Yoga for Runners DVD this year.
Although I used the DVD, I didn’t use it enough at all. If I was lucky I would do Yoga twice a month. This HAS to change in 2017 and it WILL change! If 2016 taught me anything, it’s that I’m prone to injuries. Yoga may be a good way to combat this, while also increasing my flexibility, which is currently horrible!
That’s it! I’m confident that I can hit all 5 of my goals next year and I’m excited to get this party started!
I wish you all a very safe and happy New Year this weekend. I’ll be doing my normal routine of ordering pizza, drinking champagne and hanging out on the couch! 🙂
What are your goals for 2017?
What a fantastic 2016! Can’t wait to see you crush all of your 2017 goals 🙂 My big goals for 2017: complete a 70.3 and more yoga to keep injuries away. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Stacey! That’s so awesome that you are going to complete 70.3 next year!
great goals! i’ve always wanted to run the NYRR Five-Borough Series… the closest i’ve come in 2 of them… oops! maybe this year ill do it… also i love the plant based eating goial 😉
Thanks Josephine! The five-borough series was an awesome experience. I’m glad I did it once to check it off my bucket list.
You can PR at the Chicago Marathon. Remember, it is a FLAT course with one small include before the finish line. So far my only goals are to PR in a few distances (5k and 10k).
I’m hoping that Chicago will be a good PR course for me – I just have to stay injury free which is always the hard part, lol.
Awesome goals!! Like you, I also need to do more yoga (and stretching and foam rolling). I’m hoping to start a daily early morning routine…15 minutes (or so?) of yoga/stretching/rolling first thing, right out of bed. We shall see 😉
I think a 15 minute stretch routine is an awesome goal. I’m hoping that Yoga will help me work up to that goal.
Yay for completing the NYC marathon this year and all the other good stuff that happen. I love that you made your own 25 state challenge. Quite frankly there are some states that I have no desire to visit either! Will you be running any of the NY halves in 2017?
Thanks so much! I am planning on running the Brooklyn Half again in May, but not sure about any other NY races yet!
I too really hope that your IT band cooperates and we can do some speed work for Chicago. I hope the same thing for myself too – that we will both be healthy enough to nail a marathon cycle including lots of good speed work.
I also have the same two Runner’s World DVDs and similar goals with them. I am hoping to do the yoga once a week because I know how badly I need it being an injury prone runner myself, but I am not a huge yoga fan so I need to force myself to do it somehow.
I hope hat we are both able to really enjoying running in 2017. We both had a pretty crazy 2016!
I’m in the same boat. I really don’t LOVE Yoga but I know that I need it badly!