Saturday, January 02, 2010

Obligatory Goals for 2010 Post

Triathlon is a very goal-driven sport and it's the start of the new year, traditionally a time for goal setting (and reflection), so as a triathlete blogger I believe I am morally obliged or somehow required to be posting more than photos.

That said, this year I don't have a lot of aggressive tri related goals. I love the sport but I don't have a race I'm psyched for or a huge goal I want to drive towards. I'm debating Ironman in 2011, but I have eight months to make up my mind on that one so it's not a big driver right now.

I had a chat with the coach in early December and he suggested a change of pace - do some bike races, such as the Tuesday night crit series or the new Vancouver to Whistler ride, and maybe some masters swim meets. The idea of doing crits and swim meets scares socks off me (at least I won't need them for swimming) but I think they'd be a fun challenge and a good way to push myself in the individual sports.

I'll probably do the Calgary 70.3 again as it's a fun way to combine a race and a family visit, but I'm not sure about other races right now.

Non-tri related goals:

  • get my debt dealt with. I paid off my line of credit today so I'm pretty darned close!
  • the photo-a-day challenge. This has a strong chance of going the way of most resolutions, but I have two other co-challengers (Amy and Claire) to keep me going.
  • cultivate more positivity in my life. Wow, that sounds pretty new-age-flakey! A while ago I read "A Complaint Free World" after hearing about it on Oprah (did I just admit to buying an Oprah book? Don't tell my mother!). It's actually pretty badly written but the gist is a great idea and very simple - try not to complain for 21 days. Sounds easy but you'd be amazed at the amount of negative crud that can come out of your mouth! There's a bit more to it than that, but I won't go into it right now other than to say that the words you speak can and do affect how you feel and how you perceive the world. I tried this a couple of years ago and even though I never managed more than two days in a row I was a way, way happier person.

Not a huge list but once these are out of the way I can move on to others.

So those are mine, what are your goals for coming year?

4 comments:

Kathryn said...

new age-flakey might be just what the doctor ordered! not complaining for 21 days...that would be SO difficult for me I admit it now. might have to read that book myself...then pass it to my co-workers ; )

Alison said...

After not complaining, the hardest part was putting up with how much everyone around me complains (and I mean EVERYBODY). Once you start paying attention to how much you complain you suddenly notice how much other people gripe.

Unfortunately pointing out to someone that they're complaining counts as complaining!

Unknown said...

Cool goals. When you're through not complaining, try not gossiping for a week. That means that if someone is not taking part in the conversation, don't talk about them. Good, bad or indifferent; no talking behind their back. If nothing else, it makes you very aware of how big a role this activity plays in our daily life.

Bloody difficult, it is. (that was an assessment, not a complaint).

Alison said...

No gossip? I'd have nothing to talk about with my friends in the club!

Luckily it may take a long, long time for me to go 21 days without a complaint so I won't have to worry about it for a while!