Zorbing with OZBalls Source: http://www.ozball.com.au/Image_Gallery.aspx
I’ve decided if I’m every going to get this list done, I need a plan – to save the money, but also to DO the things I’ve listed. Two on going task (bible reading and half marathon running) are both currently in practice. As for the other 10, I’ll list them in chronological order. Sadly one goal has been deleted, but it’s for the best reason!
You can see the grand total has omitted the funeral prepaying – it’s just such a large chunk… so I have to have $2k raised over 21 months, that’s only $95 a month. I can surely find that! I’ll now sling any ‘extra’ cash at the end of the week into an ‘adventures’ fund (remember, I put a set amount away every week towards my $20k goal to refinance my mortgage at the end of this year). Here’s to getting fun stuff onto the agenda, but still meeting my savings targets!
My planned 7km Bridge Run, as part of Sydney Running Festival Source: http://www.sydneyrunningfestival.com.au/
In my 12 in 2 list, I have some pretty ambitious goals – like running a half marathon. Thankfully the idea of 12 in 2 is to achieve 12 different goals in two years, so the half marathon isn’t something that’s likely to happen soon, but I have to start somewhere, right? (I have an upcoming post about how I plan to get around to all my 12 in the 2 years, complete with a plan for the $).
I’ve always been a walker – I walk when it’s the easiest option. Given I don’t have a car, that’s all the time! But upping the ante to running? Well that’s another story! So I discovered that Runkeeper has programs, so I signed up to a 5km program – that trains you slowly to get to up to running 5km. Once I master that, I can start on a half marathon program. I started looking at the half marathon programs, and they already expected I could run 5km, so… makes sense to start smaller!
I started small, but I’ve ‘ramped’ it up of late:
Week of 17 Feb – 1.5km
Week of 24 Deb – 2.4km
Week of 3 Mar – 10.3km
Week of 10 Mar – 13.8km
Week of 17 Mar – 19.7km (includes 100% walking (~4.4km) & run/walk combos)
Running progress – towards a half marathon
Evidently, the first weeks were pretty lame. My running partner was out of town for a funeral, so I made that an excuse not to do my workout every second day. But, now I’ve mastered the Runkeeper ‘reminder’ system, and powered on alone. Our first ‘team’ run is a 3.2km jog, which marks the 13th workout of 28. Based on the training schedule I’ll be reading for a race on 19 April! I’ve found a 7km run in Sept which is over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, so I’ll do that – by that time I should easily be able to manage a 7km race.
Let me assure you, it’s not been easy. My Saturday 3.2km run was HARD WORK (after a few drinks on Friday night). But I persevered, and I was happy to be finished at 20 min 20 seconds! It was hard, even though earlier in the week, I ran 3.85km in a set 25 minute run target. Then on Monday, I was tasked with a 45 min walk/jog, and shocked myself with a number of personal bests – getting a distance of 6.1kms in 50 mins (that’s about 7.32kms/h – I ‘walk’ a bit faster on the treadmill, but that’s ‘easy’ in comparison to real life)! However, back to a hard day on Wednesday, when I couldn’t for the life of me jog at a snail’s pace for the full 3.2kms outside in the real world – instead, there was a lot of walking (and therefore more kms achieved). Interestingly, Runkeeper tracks elevation, and there’s some 40m ‘spikes’) so that might explain some of the difficulty.
So, I’m on track to get to 5km, a mini goal to getting to a half marathon. Thanks to a blog, I feel somewhat accountable. However, just yesterday, I started getting twinges of shin splints. So I’ll ice them, stretch more. I’ll only do it every second day (and try to cut out incidental walking, esp in the WRONG shoes!). Or I might just take things a little easier for the time being… tough call.
How do you find reaching your fitness targets? What ambitious goals have you set yourself?
First time here? This list started in Feb 2013, and has been a work in progress since – adding items as often as completing items.
This was updated in Jan 2014, to include more details 🙂 I periodically update this, most recently late March 2016! Feb 2017, where I’d done 26 from 65 listed… though a good 10 or so were recently added.
Thanks to Danny Dover, I have a longer bucket list! I won’t set a deadline though! And the list isn’t in a priority order either.
Travel
1. Visit every continent (Completed: Australia, Asia, Europe, Middle East – need South America & Antarctica)
2. See Machu Picchu (to think my brother just did this Jan 2014!)
3. See Aurora Borealis (maybe in an igloo?)
4. Visit tulip fields in The Netherlands
5. Go to the super bowl
6. See Carnival in Rio de Janeiro (could do it with the bro in 2014, but alas, I realise I don’t love crowds and big parties, so maybe another time)
7. Go to Burning Man, Black Rock desert, Nevada USA
8. Go to (the original) Mardi Gras in New Orleans
9. Visit The Maldives
10. Visit Russia – see the St. Basil’s Cathedral in Red Square, the Bronze horseman, the summer and winter palace Aug 2016
11. Visit Serbia/Croatia/Bosnia/Romania – sail in Croatia, see where Romanian gymnasts train, visit Sarajevo, Split, Dubrovnik, Belgrade Aug 2016
12. Visit Mauritius
13. Visit Ethiopia – the birthplace of my cousin/god daughter
14. Visit Oradour-sur-Glane, France – a town annihilated by Germans by torching – May 2017
15. Spend Christmas or Thanksgiving in the US
16. Visit Vietnam/Cambodia Oct 2013
17. Visit Scandinavia (no more exact than that yet!) – likely Norway to see friends, definitely go to Iceland (2016 addition)
18. Fly FIRST class – maybe Emirates where I can shower?
19. Stay in Igloo Village – and see the Northern lights
20. Stay in a tree house
21. Live in NYC
22. Ride the bullet train in JapanJul 2014
23. Visit San Francisco – see the Golden Gate BridgeJan 2015
Activities (that aren’t location specific)
24. Go zorbing (all the blue things are on my 12 in 2 list!) Apr 2015
25. Get hypnotised (ideally to solve a bad habit!) done 2015/16
26. Ride a segwayplanned Aug 2016
27. Drive on a race track
28. Go on a ‘big boat’ style cruise (maybe in retirement)
29. Fly on a trapezeJune 2015
30. Swim with dolphins in NATURE (not in Dubai…:s)
31. Watch a movie at a drive in (if they still exist!) 32.Go jet skiing (on the 12 in 2 list) Dec 2013 and I saw dolphins
33. Get my palm read/fortune told 34. Make a gingerbread houseDec 2013
35. Get body painted for an event
36. Go cave diving <- went canyoning and walked in caves in March 2016
37. Be part of a flash mob (thanks Moonwave for the tip!) 38. Complete a half marathonJuly 2014
39. Learn the name and location of all the countries in Africa
40. Own a cello for purely decorative purposes (though I do know how to play, as does my bf..)
41. Own a luxury European vehicle (BMW, Audi or Mercedes) 42. Write my will 43. Prepay and plan my funeral 44. Learn to surf Jan 2015 wouldn’t say I ‘learnt’ but ‘tried’
45. Build a bonfire and make S’mores
46. Pay for someone else’s groceries (I LOVE this one, thanks www.lifed.com) Jun 2013 47. Go to a silent retreat
48. Go white water rafting – real rapids, not the ones we built in Sydney for the Olympics
49. Join the MHC
50. Get married (before the children)
51. Have children (thinking 3, BF thinks 2, so compromise is 2 unless 2 the same gender, or twins) 52.Climb Sydney Harbour BridgeJune 2014
Newer items (Jan 2014)
52. Visit Portland, Oregon – 2015 go to the donut place, eat at places mentioned here, shop and eat here.
53. Go zipling – 2015 did it in Phuket
54. Go stand up paddle boarding
55. Pay off my mortgage
56. Fully fund my retirement
57. A home with a passionfruit vine, a frangipani tree, a magnolia grandiflora… and a vegie patch.
58. Reiki massage 2015
