2023 progress after 9 months

Whoops, I completely missed the fact I'd ticked over 9 months. I'm overdue a goals update.

  • Attend 30 parkruns: on target... just 😮
    July was a fantastic month for my parkrunning habit as I attended all 5 events, getting myself up to a projected 33 runs for the year. And then holidays happened. Not a single parkrun in August. By the time I made it to my next one on 2nd September, I was back down to a projected 30 for the year. I got that back up to 32 in September, but as I type this, I've slumped back to 30 again. It's gonna be tight!
  • Attend 5 new parkrun locations: done! ✅
    While I'm still gutted that Penrhyn didn't happen, Denton Dene was my 5th new location in the end. And I followed that up with Sedgefield and Ashington, so I'm up to 7. The stretch goal of 10 for the year is now looking a bit tough, as I'll need to put in some half-hour-plus driving for the next ones. 😬
  • Achieve a time under 26 minutes: done! ✅
    Yeah, I'd done already for the 6 month report.
  • Achieve a time under 25 minutes: done! ✅
    In the days leading up to Blyth Links, I had a good feeling about it. Confidence flowed and I just bloomin' well went for it. My reward was a time of 24:27, which I now look on as unassailable. Which is daft, because I know I can keep on improving. I just remember how painful it was getting that time! 😂
  • Do a 10K event: done! ✅
    This is also old news now. Recently, I've been wanting to put another 10K in. I've increased the amount of 7.5K+ runs that I'm doing and I'm itching for the North Tyneside 10K to open entries for next year. But even before that, I want more red marks on my running calendar.
  • Take the daughter on the Race for Life 3K: done! ✅
    On the day, she'd actually been unwell in the previous few days and was still a bit under the weather, but she excelled and nearly ran the whole thing. Super proud of her. 😍
So that's all of the original goals. What about the stretch goals?
  • Attend 10 new parkrun locations: slightly behind 😬
    I'm 70% there, but we're over 75% of the way through the year. I need to get myself to some new venues pronto!
  • Run 3 times per week on average: behind! 😞
    I'm somewhat regretting this stretch goal. The motivation was fine, as I do need consistency, but one or two bad weeks and it's really hard to pull it back. As I'm finding, following our holidays.
  • 7.5K run fortnightly: well ahead! 😁
    At least I'm bossing this one. In the past 4 weeks (or 2 fortnights), I've done 5 runs over 7.5km, not just 2. Granted, I only did 2 in the first 6 weeks of the goal (which started in August), but I've more than made up for it.
It's a pity so many of the remaining goals effectively need to wait until the end of the year before I can tick them off. I'd like to see a few more green ticks appear. For now, the only one I can really chase for a quick finish is the tourism stretch goal. And that's not even really a performance goal. Never mind; I'll try to choose my goals more wisely in 2024.

For 2023, however, my focus should be on the 3 times a week goal if I want some motivation. I really need to get in some weeks with at least 4 runs. It won't be easy, but I must... NEVER GIVE UP.





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