My four fitness goals to keep things interesting in 2017.
I’ve already shared my resolutions for 2017, but goals are a whole different beast. I actually think I prefer goals because they tend to be more concrete, making them easier to achieve and helps to keep me accountable.
I’ve been a fitness fanatic for as long as I can remember and with that, comes highs and lows, periods of extreme motivation and a lack there of. It’s important to take a look at your fitness routine, make sure you’re doing workouts you actually enjoy, and if you like to challenge yourself, setting up attainable, yet hard-to-achieve goals that take real work. By setting those goals, you’ll better yourself and heighten your fitness levels. This year I’m setting four fitness goals to keep things fresh and to keep me on track, continuing to challenge myself.
Try Trail Running
I happen to live in a city that has the most gorgeous trails nearby and I can’t take that for granted. We’ve gone on a few hikes and while I struggled up the trail, runners passed me by. As a road runner who happens to live in a totally flat part of San Francisco, I know running up a mountain is not going to be easy, but I have to give it a go. I love using running as a means to explore beautiful new-to-me places, so trail running sounds like a given. Trail running wasn’t too popular in NYC, but here we’ve got a car and endless beautiful running trails a few short miles away. I already got outfitted with trail running gear from New Balance, so I have no excuse to not make this goal a reality. Readers: are any of you trail runners? If so, I’d love tips, please share some in the comments!
Take on a Big Race
A “big race” means different things to different people and for me it leans towards triathlon, Ironman and marathon. I’ve done so many half marathons that I struggle to place this in the “big” category, but if I trained and fought for a PR, a half would definitely be considered big. In past years I’ve been known to sign up for too many races, make training plans, and then not train. This year, I want to sign up for a couple of carefully selected races that I’m excited to compete in, and do my best to train and enjoy the training process. I have my eye on an Ironman 70.3 and a couple of half marathons. Once I confirm my entries I’ll share more on this.
Embrace Slower Workouts
I’ve played around with barre, yoga and pilates, but in the long term don’t tend to stick with these types of workouts. While I love a good HIIT session, I’ve more recently come to appreciate the workouts that slow our bodies down, while still making them work. There’s a Core Power Yoga opening underneath my apartment building later this month I am SO excited for super convenient yoga. I also plan to make it to more barre, megaformer and pilates classes.
Listen to my body
Legs feeling dead and like I should take a rest day? If that’s the case, I’m going to actually take that race day. I can get into a go-go-go rhythm, taking few or no rest days for weeks at a time. I know rest days are a necessary for a healthy fitness routine and I also know that when I give my body proper rest, my workouts the rest of the week are that much stronger. It seems silly to admit that NOT working out is hard for me, but it’s the truth. As I start to train for races, I’m going to make my training plans something that I will truly be able to stick to and will include those much-needed rest days.
