Goals: Old and New

I love goals.  They give me something to strive for, and something to measure.  Last year, my fitness goal was 2 miles per day on my treadmill (730 miles/year).  I worked ahead at times and caught up at others.  But more or less, I was on my treadmill most days of the week.  By the end of 2010, I accomplished and beat my goal by trekking 750 miles!  It felt great to meet and beat such a reasonable goal!  In fact, I lost about 20# in the process (both through exercise and eating right)!  I feel great, have a ton of energy, and look really good too (in my opinion, LOL).

For the new year, I set the lofty goal of 1000 miles a day....just because it seemed like a great goal (not to lose more weight).  Minimally speaking this is 2.75 miles per day, which on face-value doesn't seem all that different from last year.  And, knowing how last year went (sometimes, it was a struggle with my job and frequent traveling), I set out to 'work ahead' for the first few months of the year.

However, I am beginning to think my new goal is somewhat unreasonable.  What is my overall goal?  To be healthy and stay in shape....and to have FUN.  I am very fond of my treadmill, but I can see that the overachiever in me is at work...and making it more of a JOB than FUN.  In fact, numerically speaking, to achieve the 1000 miles and to work ahead, I need to do 3-4 miles a day which is hard for me to do physically.  And, I can feel it in my legs...not really pain, just achy-ness.  I don't think I can do this for a whole month, let alone a whole year.  Last year, I beat my goal at 103%, now I am trying for 137%??  Hmmm.... I need to incorporate more rest days.

I am hereby reducing my fitness goal to...just doing what I feel like on my treadmill.  I will track it for the year and see what happens.  I will do some running and a lot of walking, because that is what I want to do.  But, the other part of my goal is to do more cross training on my Gazelle and an 'aerobic pedal exerciser' I just bought off Ebay (both will be better for my knees).  Also, I just bought my first pair of snowshoes, and here in Fargo, I will have plenty of snow to trek in.  I am really excited about that!  I do also have a goal to do more body weight exercises, like push-ups and lunges etc. (yes, I have a tracking sheet for that too).  But, I am just picking different things to do everyday for that.  I am enjoying it, and it is relatively easy to fit it in.  Oh, I also bought a shiatsu heat massager for my back (that fits into a chair, to be sat on).  One more thing I love about goals...they can be changed if they are not working!  Happy New Year!!