Resolutions

Resolutions

Happy New Year to all of you. We hope everyone had a great 2016 and had a wonderful holiday. 2016 was a great year for Carolyn and myself. We had our first Grandchild, Hazel, our daughter was married, and we went on an incredible vacation biking through the Florida Keys. Not to mention a slew of other great things that happened throughout the year.

Due to multiple injuries over the past year, I’ve missed out on some great races, and fell short on a few resolutions in 2016. I’m really excited about my goal races this year. I plan to do the DTR Endurance Challenge (http://www.downtorun.com/events-item/dtr-endurance-challenge-spring/) at Jonathan Dickenson State Park. This will be my first trail race and I’m very excited about it. The Gate River 15K in March, (http://www.1stplacesports.com/grr_index.html) in Jacksonville. We plan on doing that one with our son, his wife and baby Hazel in her stroller, which should be a lot of fun. And the Marathon of the Treasure Coast (http://treasurecoastmarathon.com/) half marathon in March. I also want to do my first ultra-marathon this year, which I haven’t picked out yet but will, but these are the 3 big races on my list for the year. When I find an ultra, I’ll add that in. I’m sure I will pepper in a few other races throughout the year.

Resolutions are really about finding, doing and accomplishing things that ultimately make us happy and make us feel good. Happiness is one of the most searched words on Google. So most, everyone (hopefully) would like to be happy.  This is the time of year that people set weight loss goals and physical goals. The assumption is, if they drop the weight or whatever the goal is, they will be happy and life will be good. The reality is, it’s the movement, the doing, the activity, being around positive like- minded people, that’s where the happiness is. Once you start to move and put yourself in the right environment, the stars begin to align.

With our beginner No Boundaries 5K (http://www.fleetfeetstuart.com/training) training programs, it’s very interesting to see the transformation that people make. We see people that have never walked or run a day in their lives, or used to, and some who are withdrawn and shy. Then one day they just emerge and become great athletes. Individuals who could never imagine themselves running or walking a 5K, 10K, or doing a half or full marathon or an Ironman triathlon. And now they are healthy, fit, happy and socially engaged and making great friends.

Some runners (this would be me) become injured and then struggle to get back to where we were previously. My previous PR’s are out of reach at the moment. I can’t run with the same groups as I did before, simply because I’m not as fast nor can I run the same distances. So the natural thing to do is run alone which I did for a big part of 2016. Just because it was easier to get out of bed and hit the road as opposed to driving to meet up with groups. Thinking I would just put in the miles and things would change, but not much changed with my training, it got a little stale and boring.  Several weeks ago I started running with some other groups again and I remembered why it’s nice to run with others. That’s where so much of the happiness is at! The social interaction, reminding myself that no one cares how fast I am or how many miles I run. I’m not holding anyone back and they push me a little harder than I would myself. I thought I needed to get fast again or get my mileage back up so I could enjoy the company of other runners again. But the opposite was true. I needed to be running with others, enjoying the company of like-minded people who would push me to do a little more.

If you’re trying to reach certain goals, if it’s running more, getting faster, happier, losing weight making new friends, getting more involved, try to get with groups that are trying to accomplish the same goals. Make that your first mission and the rest will start to come together. Join a running/walking group at Fleet Feet Sports. Check out a yoga class (http://www.fleetfeetstuart.com/training), Fit X-Training, No Boundaries beginner 5K running or walking program. Or just simply show up and start running or walking from Fleet Feet. The vibe, the clubhouse feel and all the positive energy will reinvigorate you again. It will kick start those New Year’s resolutions and get you on and keep you on track.

We hope you have a fantastic 2017, meet all or most of your resolutions and we look forward to seeing you out there.