so, what's next?

That's the question!

As far as running is concerned I already know what the next challenge will be: Round the Bays 2011. Round the Bays is a 8km fun run that takes place every year in March here in Auckland. You run from the city centre along the water front all the way to St Heliers.
Now you probably think, 8km???? Wait a second, didn't she just do 21km? How can 8km be the next Challenge?
Well, the challenge will be to run the complete 8km. Because, even though I can do a half marathon, I still can't actually RUN more then 2-3 km before I have to walk for a bit. So the next goal is to run more and walk less. And in March I want to run 8km without walking along the way. I know, it's not a huge challenge like a half marathon but I think it is perfect. It means I keep challenging myself to get better but at the same time to training will be less time intensive than training for the half. And given that summer is right around the corner it might actually be nice to have time for some other stuff.

The other challenge for 2011 will be to reach goal weight. I'm still about 15kg way from what I've set as my personal goal so I definitely want to reach that in 2011. I know from many others who have been through the weight loss experience that the last 5-10kg are often the hardest and take a bit longer. So I will try to be patient and set my expectations right but I should definitely be able to get rid of those 15kg sometime during 2011.

The title of this blog is "It's all about the (half marathon) challenge". And there is a reason why 'half marathon' is in brackets. This was never meant to be just a blog about running or exercising , let along weight loss. It was simply about challenging myself and writing about it. Right now I kind of enjoy the feeling of just having successfully complete the half marathon challenge and I feel like I'm taking a well deserved little break from challenging myself. But sooner or later I'm gonna pick a new challenge. And that could really be anything. Maybe it will be another physical challenge, but it could also be something completely different like learning another language. I have a few ideas but kind of need to sort that out with myself before I blog about it.

Right now the challenge is to make it through the next 5 weeks ;-) Everything has been so busy lately and I'm tired and exhausted. I'm really in desperate need of a good break. Just to get away from everything (work mainly) and just relax for a little bit. Luckily I will have exactly that in 5 weeks. Today in 5 weeks I'm flying to Germany so spend Christmas with my family. I so cannot wait, I'm counting the days! It's gonna be a very short trip this time, only 12 days in Germany ;-( But it's better than nothing.

Whatever I end up doing in the end, I'm pretty sure I will keep blogging about it. Maybe not quite as much as in the last months though. It really depends on how much I feel like I have to say, so I guess will just have to wait and see ;-)