2023 progress after 6 months

Ever since my achievements in May, I've been looking forward to this post. So let's get straight into it:

  • Attend 30 parkruns: on target... just 😮
    I've done 15 so far in 6 months and a day. (Which was actually day 182 of the year, so just under halfway.) That means I'll just scrape 30 by the end of the year. But... I tend to get streaks of non-attendance that risk hobbling this goal. Perhaps the most avoidable of those non-attendances are caused by injury, accounting for 4 missed parkruns this year. If I can cut that out, this goal should be fairly comfortable. I'd love to get well ahead of target by the time 9 months comes around. 
  • Attend 5 new parkrun locations: ahead of schedule 😀
    Windy Nook, Druridge Bay, Chopwell Wood and Riverside are all ticked off. 80% done after just 40% of the year gone. With Penrhyn lined up for August, this one's pretty much in the bag, right? Plus, there's the new Denton Dene parkrun that I'm itching to attend, and the fact I want to visit my brother for the Blackhill event.
  • Achieve a time under 26 minutes: done! ✅
    In the 3-month progress report, I said I was "miles away" from getting a time under 26 minutes. But just over a month later, I smashed it, getting a 25:39 at Whitley Bay. Then I smashed it again with a ridiculous 25:04 at Riverside. Dead chuffed with that.
  • Achieve a time under 25 minutes: so close! 😬
    If I keep on applying myself and getting two midweek runs done each week, as well as a parkrun, I'm hopeful I can do this. It was the goal I felt was "aspirational rather than realistic" back at the start of the year, but I got soooo close that I'm hopeful of ticking this off.
  • Do a 10K event: done! ✅ 
    Back in April, I signed up for the Great North 10K and then promptly put in a 10K training run. While I didn't do another 10K until the event itself, I did manage it. And in a pretty decent time of 55:07 too.
  • Take the daughter on Race for Life 3K: not yet, but very soon 🙂
    We're signed up, so this is definitely happening. Next weekend, in fact. The only potential spanner in the works is that she's a bit ill at the moment and it doesn't seem to be in any hurry to fix itself. GWS, Popplet. 🤞
So, two down and four to go. In a week's time, that should be three down. Or potentially even four down, if I choose to do Denton Dene. The final two goals could easily take a good while longer to tick off, especially the 30 parkruns one, which could go down to the wire. But if I do notch up four of six goals in the coming weeks, I may start looking for new ones to add. That would be mint, but I'm not sure what they'd be. Thinking time... 🤔

The girls made me a commemorative mug for doing the Great North 10K, bless 'em!

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