I thought I’d write a quick update, given that it’s the very start of a new year and given that it was the middle of December when I wrote my last piece. No proper resolutions as such, but some hopes for the next 359 days added to a few thoughts about last year.
The new year started in what I’d call typical fashion…for me. I was poorly for starters, still shaking off the last of a flu bug that I’d picked up in the middle of last month, which meant that I wasn’t really at my best. However, I needed to up my game a bit come New Year’s Eve. It was my daughter’s first ever New Year where she went out rather than stayed in with the family, so as well as worrying about her, I was worried that New Year’s Eve would be a bit of a let down for the rest of the family.
I’m informed by my wife that I’m usually ill on New Year’s Eve and as a result am no fun whatsoever. Apparently, it’s my daughter that brings the fun. It’s also not a time of year that I enjoy though. I never have. So this year, I had to find my fun side. The problem being that it’s usually kept very well hidden!
We don’t get roaring drunk on New Year and we tired of going out on this particular date many years ago. Time was we would go to Edinburgh most years and have an absolute ball. Then we had a spell of spending it with close friends and we had some brilliant nights. Having children changed all that though. So for the last however many years it’s been a case of a big party tea, games, some music, some drinks and then watching the new year come in on the telly.
This year was no different, but I had to really concentrate on being super enthusiastic! Suffice to say, New Year’s Eve was a bit of a challenge. I won’t bore you with the details, but I think I just about succeeded! I even joined in with some games on our long lost Wii as well as playing charades for the second time of the festive period!
I’ve vowed that I’m going to get a lot fitter this year. According to Strava I ran 306 miles last year. I don’t know whether that’s a lot – I don’t think it is really – but I mean to increase it significantly this year. Towards the end of the year I was feeling good when out on runs and my times were within seconds of those from 2021 and 2022 when I set a lot of my personal bests. Obviously, since those years I’ve been very ill and had a pacemaker fitted, so my fitness dropped a lot! But last year I was getting closer and closer to those previous levels until that aforementioned flu bug.
I’ve already entered 3 races and will be entering more as the year progresses. I’m also hoping to do more yoga and add some strength training to my plans. I’m sure I’ll be able to keep you updated on how it’s all going.
Alongside my fitness plans I’m also going to try really hard to improve my diet, primarily by eating more fruit and vegetables. I’ve already started eating blueberries, but I’m aware that it’s no good starting if you don’t keep it up! I eat far too much chocolate and have a real weakness for crisps, so I’ll be cutting down there. I’ve also got a real taste for pasta since I’ve started cooking more and I’m aware that too much of those lovely sauces aren’t that good for me. So, I’ll need to start looking for some more healthy recipes, I think.
So, I’m going for the health and fitness cliches in 2025 then! I’ll keep you updated about them both! I’m also determined to get out and meet more people this year too. Or maybe just get out more with friends as a start off as I’m actually very shy. And the other thing that I’ll devote more time to will be looking into my pension and retirement plans. It doesn’t seem 5 minutes since I left university, but here we are; early fifties and thinking about retirement!
I went for my first run of the year on 3rd January. It had been exactly a month since my last one due to illness and I still wasn’t feeling 100%. I was adamant that I wasn’t too bothered by time or distance and yet I still managed to set off far too quickly! That in turn meant that my next mile was pretty poor and my legs were like jelly on some of the hills. However, I was delighted to drag myself round just over 5k in the end, even though I was pretty slow!
That wasn’t the end of things though! I’ve always seemed to have a problem with dogs and sometimes dog walkers when out running. I think dogs have knocked me over on at least 5 occasions and I’ve also had ‘words’ with a few owners who just seem oblivious to their dogs. It had been a while though and I thought my dog trouble might be a thing of the past. That was until when running through a group of dog walkers and their dogs I was almost blindsided by a lurcher! I heard a shout, looked over just in time and managed to pirouette myself out of the way of this sprinting hound. It caught me on the knee as it went past, but taking evasive action saved me. If it had hit me full on it would definitely have knocked me off my feet! Instead I survived to fight and run another day!
My final new year news is that we got a snow day today. I was sure that my school would be open after the snow fell on Saturday might and little more was added on Sunday. I got up for work this morning, was fully dressed apart from my tie and shoes and halfway through my breakfast when I was alerted to the fact that we were closed. Now I know that us teachers get more holidays than most – not enough mind you – and I know that I’ve just had two weeks off too, but I still cannot describe the sheer joy of getting a snow day! And although some of it has been spent out in the cold, walking my daughter to work and shovelling snow away, it’s still been absolutely fantastic!
Until the next time – Happy New Year!
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