I flew out to nearby Thailand for a long weekend of R&R which ended up featuring various things that I like to count as cross-training (amidst lots of rest and a few medicinal beers and G&Ts, of course) including boxing, jujitsu, and yoga fly / aerial yoga. Nothing like trying things for the first time in a beautiful setting to get those exercise endorphins flowing! These sessions were all lots of fun, and a lot harder than my usual running, cycling, interval training or bodypump. I think I’ll be feeling this (particularly in my back, arms and core) for days to come yet...
I visited the most beautiful Tree Roots Retreat (http://www.treerootsretreat.com/) for the above mentioned action. Such a peaceful, serene place with an extremely impressive book collection too, not to mention superb coffee. It’s run by a truly inspirational bloke and lovely person, who teaches his unique Crazy Monkey style of martial arts there, and also runs various mindfulness retreats/sessions. I am itching to go back soon, and I highly recommend it. It’s not too far from Bangkok (km wise - takes about 3 hours to drive) but it is a whole world away.... I really should have taken a lot more photos while there: blogger fail I suppose. Watch this space for my next visit! Photos galore I promise...
The marathon is creeping up on me fast. Time to get a few more long-long runs in (need to up them to 30km, then 32km, then 35km ish). This is all around Christmas and New Year’s celebrations of course. I’m sure I will get it all done though. I have the most amazing, understanding and incredibly fun and beautiful soul of Kim joining me for Christmas in Hanoi before we fly for New Year’s in Tokyo (getting an authentic cold festive feel in) and I’m sure she won’t object to me sneaking off for a few runs. Just one more sleep and she’ll be here!! Amazing.
It’s about this time of year that I start thinking of and planning my next year’s goals and dreams. Ahh, ok, who am I kidding: I started a long time ago, with various plans and lists etc. But about this time of year, some of these get crafted in a suitably titled: Goals for 2017 list. As this is a predominantly running blog, I’ll stick with the running related goals that I have so far.
These include: The LDR half marathon on 8th January here in Hanoi, the Bangkok Marathon on 5th February, Ultratrail Australia (doing the 50km!) in May, the Gold Coast Marathon in July, hmmm, not sure about races after that, but I know I want to return to more trail running and ultra events, so again: watch this space.
I would love to crack my pb of 1:34 in a half marathon, and I’m going to be extremely bold here and say I would like to get a sub 3:20 time for the full marathon.
I am also going to run my ‘Eat to Win’ nutrition program for runners again, so if you missed this the first time, fear not, there will hopefully be two programs run in 2017, and I will be offering it as an in-person group option too (for those who are local and work better that way). Again: watch this space!
What about YOU? Any running / fitness / otherwise goals for 2017?