Only 22 days left of this age group before my birthday. I’ve got some mixed feelings about this birthday. I think the older I get, the more mixed feelings come up.
As I look back on how I’ve spent my 20s and 30s, I can’t say I have very many regrets. All of the bad decisions I’ve made and the unfortunate things that have happened have led me to where I am today. I have been determined to learn from those things to lead me on a better path forward, and that is where I suppose this next phase of life will take me.
I know I am very much a goal-oriented person, but I’ve found it hard to assemble a list of things I want to do. Perhaps that is what comes with age…some semblance of wisdom. Anywho, here are some things I want to keep in mind in the upcoming decade:
Knowing when to push myself and when to back off.
There’s a difference between cutting myself some slack and slacking off. I need to get better at discerning between the two, and knowing when to apply gentle pressure to get things done. This mostly is about strength training and running, less so about work. When in doubt, train to the best of my ability. If it’s too much at that time, I can always back off. However, if I stay in that comfort zone I may never improve.
I don’t have to do every race I see (unless I genuinely want to).
I know that I am a very goal oriented person, and having races on the calendar are akin to quizzes and exams for myself. Wiping my race calendar blank wouldn’t be very enjoyable, but I shouldn’t pressure myself into lots of races. I should just do the ones I truly want to do, and put some effort into training for those. Each race should have a goal — whether that is testing out a new pacing strategy, enjoying a run costume, or seeing a new city.
It’s okay to leave some things undone.
I know that I’ve had a few triathlons left on my “list”, like Ironman and Escape from Alcatraz. A lot of training is required. It also requires a lot of money. It doesn’t bother me to leave these goals behind if they aren’t the right time. These longer distances are so demanding. If I truly loved the sport of triathlon, I’ll come back to it and perhaps stick to some more manageable distances, like the sprint (0.25 mile swim + 13 mile bike + 3.1 mile run) or international (0.5 mile swim + 26 mile bike ride + 6.2 mile run) distance. Now that I type them out, it actually sounds pretty fun. Just gotta get back into open water swimming…
It’s okay to have unconventional goals.
So that might mean starting a family after turning 40, or getting a personal best in NAPPING during a race. Unconventional is fine. I am not a very conventional person anyway.
Preventative maintenance will keep me around longer.
I want to look at real data and metrics that will keep me healthy for the long haul. There is more to health than my weight. For example, I am gifting myself a Dexa bone density scan for my 40th birthday. I should continue to monitor my blood sugar, sleep hours, blood pressure etc.
I don’t doubt that I will still assemble a list of more concrete goals. Being in a new age group opens up some possibilities for me when it comes to running. I know that this is the decade where a lot of women shine, so I look forward to getting some of that juju!
Amara in Training 