2015 – A Look Back

Tags

racing, running, year in review

So here it is. The first Monday of 2016 and I am trying, once more, to be an honest to goodness blogger. I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion that writing things out helps me to stay organized, focus better and keep track of goals.

Like pretty much everyone else who has a fitness/running/lifestyle type blog – I’m going to go the easy route and start off the year by looking back at last year. I didn’t really keep the blog up to date on the year as it progressed – instead I stuck mainly to the social media standbys of Facebook and Twitter.

I’m not going to do a month by month account, but rather highlight certain things, lessons I’ve learned and just give myself and hopefully any readers out there an idea of the big picture. Make sense? Probably not. Andiamo!

 

Races

I’m not even exactly sure of the number of races I did last year, as not all had medals, etc – but it was definitely a less race filled year than 2014. My third Hypo Half, the Lorneville Loop, Not Since Moses and possibly one or two more happened, as well as the highlights below.

I raced my first 10k in forever at the Fredericton Marathon weekend – didn’t die and actually kinda enjoyed it.

Placed second overall at Run St. Andrew’s 5k – for which I won a really nice print by a local artist.

Won the Fredericton Wine Run 5k.

Set a half PB at Johnny Miles (1:42.28) and then again at the Cobequid Trail Half (1:39.11)

Most importantly, crushed my marathon PB by 21 minutes and achieved my pie in the sky goal of being sub 3:30 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfrom Marathon (3:28.23) – due in no small part to the masterful pacing of my friend, Peter Lawless.

 

Training

My “Garmin mileage” was over 2200 km for the year, including my first month of over 300 km. Including treadmill and runs without my Garmin I feel like I was likely very close to, if not over, 2400km total for the year. In preparation for Toronto, the vast majority of my running was done on paved roads.

Last winter marked the first winter in which I actually made some effort to cross train, having invested in a TacX mag trainer. I didn’t log as many hours as I should, but I feel as though it was beneficial to my overall results. Yoga was also integral to my physical fitness and maintenance for the first half of 2015. It lagged once the summer arrived but I really enjoyed it and felt it was a big part of me staying injury free through the winter.

 

Still running, but not quite training

A new aspect I took on in 2015 was leading some local running clinics in my hometown of Sackville, NB. I had no expectations when I offered to do a 5k clinic in the spring, but demand was so high that the town had to offer two clinics.

The clinics definitely helped me maintain fitness through some periods of low motivation and the people I met were very inspiring to me. Many of the have kept running, some of them completing as much as a half marathon since. Some of them signed up for a fall 10k clinic I led as well, and the results were just as positive.

 

Not actual running, but still running related

Doing fewer races meant seeing a lot less of the friends I have made throughout Atlantic Canada. The trip to Toronto was a boon for actually meeting some of my social media friends in person for the first time as well as reconnecting with many of the amazing folks I met during my 2014 visit. Too many folks to mention, but a couple of pictures will give an idea.

The @RunAtCan twitter chat has continued to grow and I actually maintained the commitment of moderating the chats almost every Sunday night of 2015. The connections I’ve made and seen others make via the chat and meet ups has continued to be a huge positive for me.

The Bluenose Marathon actually had myself and a few other people from the twitter chat lead a panel discussion about the influence of social media on the running community. It was pretty well attended and definitely a different experience.

Life in General

In 2015, my older son Caleb entered high school and my younger, Tolkien, started what I would call junior high (in the olden days – yes, I said it). Stacey has entered her third and final year of law school and only has one semester before graduation and then she begins her articling year.

In April, I started work (part time) as the Executive Director of Triathlon New Brunswick which led to a whirlwind summer of (re) learning the ins and outs of multi-sport events. The learning curve has been sharp but my experience being around so many running events in the past couple of years as well as having been in involved with triathlons when I lived in Corner Brook, NL definitely helped.

I’ve been doing some other social media things locally as well, but being a full time dad with a wife away at school has kept me pretty busy. Overall, 2015 has been a challenging year but I feel as though I’ve learned a lot about myself.

Comments? Questions? Love to hear from you – comment below!

Bluenose Johnson 5km Recap – Small Redemption

Tags

Bluenose Marathon, Energy Bits, Fredericton Marathon, Johnson 5km, ProCompression, racing, running

Warmer weather and longer days definitely has a positive effect on most people. For runners, it causes a condition I’ve previously discussed here – “race fever”. Less than a week after finishing my second full marathon in Fredericton, I was on the road once more with my family, this time to the wonderful city of Halifax to check out the Bluenose Marathon.

I’m not actually foolish enough (yet) to consider running marathons over back to back weekends, but I did figure I could sign up for a 5 km event and even if my legs were still aching from the marathon, I could get through it. I had also heard a lot of positive things about the event itself. Factor in the 5 km race being moved to a very convenient (for me) 3 pm on Saturday afternoon and I couldn’t resist!

I’m still in the process of figuring out my complete racing schedule for the summer, so I knew at least a couple days of rest were in order after Fredericton. I didn’t run at all during the week, but did get to the gym to do a few miles on the stationary bike and some elliptical. Those workouts seemed to really help as by Thursday, my legs were feeling pretty recovered. I could tell they were still tired, but the soreness was gone which was excellent.

Diet wise, the week was just absolute chaos. I allowed myself a fair amount of junk and even had fast food a couple of times, including on Friday – barely 24 hours ahead of the 5 km. To top it off on Friday night we had a delicious, but not so race friendly sausage bake. Lots of fat, lots of flavour. I think I ate some veggies, but it was mainly a blur of yummy, yummy grease. Ugh.

We had actually planned a light and responsible lunch for Saturday, packing the cooler with healthy stuff (I swear!!) to munch on pre-race. Even that got sidelined, however, as it was such an ordeal getting in and out of the parking garage. (It dawns on me how much the previous sentence identifies me as a small town fella). We decided to forego trying to make lunch and just ate out…again. This time it was Boston Pizza. I was semi-sensible and had some soup but I was still curious about how it was all going to pan out.

I made sure to stay well hydrated throughout the day as I knew I wouldn’t take any fluids during the race itself. The sun was out and I made sure to remember the sunscreen this time. I did take some Energy Bits about twenty minutes before the start of the race and did my usual warm up run and stretching/loosening up. With the mass of pink race shirts, I think the fact that I tried to get close to the front of the crowd to start combined with my bright orange BibRave singlet and ProCompression socks made me a little easier to spot.

I really had no idea how I would feel once the race started, but I figured I should just see how things went. Once the gun went off (fired by a Citadel guard in full regalia), I didn’t have time to think – it was time to giv’er!

As is often the case, especially in shorter races, adrenaline is hard to fight at the start. I knew less than a kilometer in that I was likely going to hard, but figured I should just go with it and see how I held up. When I hit the first km marker, I was under 4 minutes which was well under any 5 km pace I’ve had since I returned to running. It helped that the start was a slight downhill and that I wasn’t pinned in by the throngs of people as well. By two kilometres, I was at 8 minutes, meaning I was slowing but this came as no shock at all.

The rest of the race consisted of a low grade uphill, followed by a steeper pitch, a downhill and then the final stretch which was also uphill (so many races have a hill at the end!!). By my Garmin, the course measured at just under 5.2 km but I still finished with my best 5km since I resumed running – a time of 22:30 – for a pace of 4:30/km on the button. By my watch, I hit 5 km at 21:49 – but I’m happy either way.

Taking part in the Bluenose Weekend was definitely worthwhile and the organizers should be proud of themselves. Combine an excellent expo with a fun course and piles of amazing athletes and volunteers and I’m already trying to figure out which distance to sign up for next year!

Happy running!

Race Fever!!

Tags

Bay of Fundy Marathon, Bluenose Marathon, Cross Border Challenge, Fredericton Marathon, Johnny Miles, marathon, racing, running

 

So, here’s my dilemma today – I want to do more races. How many races, you ask? All the races. Maybe it’s the change in the weather or maybe it’s just the fact that there are soooooo many awesome races in Atlantic Canada but I kind of want to do them all. It’s not that I need more t-shirts (I assure you, I don’t) and it’s not that I need all the medals (but pretty bling is a sweet bonus). I think the biggest reason I want to race more is that races are always a great experience. And not just the race itself, but the whole atmosphere that goes along with the race. Chatting with other runners before and after the race, doing the warm up or visualizations that are part of your pre-race routine, even pinning the race bib on my clothes – I love it all!

I’m currently wrestling with a strong desire to register for the Bluenose Marathon 5 km race. As it’s only 6 days after the Fredericton Marathon, it may not be the smartest thing to do, but I just keep hearing so many good things about the race – and I love, love, love Halifax. Best of all, it’s taking place at 3 in the afternoon, so I wouldn’t even need to worry about a hotel, as we could drive down in the morning and just make a day trip of it. I literally think I’m talking myself into this happening as I type it.

June is also filled with tough choices. There is an international marathon (The Bay of Fundy Marathon) that takes places between Maine and New Brunswick – although the travel costs rule that out this year realistically. There is also Johnny Miles happening in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia which is one of the more affordable races and also quite popular amongst the racers in this area. Add in the fantastic Cross Border Challenge that has you run over the NB/NS border and is organized by a fantastic group of people in Amherst, NS and once again picking and choosing gets VERY difficult! And those are just the ones off the top of my head!!!

It’s hard to balance the discipline required for consistent improvement with enjoying one of the best parts of the running community, the races themselves. There are various schools of thoughts on this but I really do think it’s a matter of personal preference and listening to your body. There is always the danger of overdoing it – going out too hard, too often – and causing injury. That being said, treating some races just as training runs, can be a way to keep things fresh and remind you of how many amazing people there are in the running community. To use a running analogy, life is a marathon, not a sprint. Ultimately, you must remember that there will always be other races and other years. Learn from the past, plan for the future but always live in and enjoy the present!

Happy running!!

Lucky 13

Tags

BibRave, compression socks, Fredericton Marathon, fueling, marathon taper, marathon training, ProCompression, racing, running, tapering, training

Here we are – just thirteen days away from the Fredericton Marathon. I get more excited by the day, especially now that the extended forecast includes race day. For some reason, that makes it seem more real. Of course, with the way the weather has been behaving this spring so far, a long range forecast is a crap shoot at best. This past week alone I was able to run in a t-shirt and shorts, got a run in before a couple of inches of snow fell and was forced to do 20 km on the treadmill due to low temperatures and a torrential rainfall. Atlantic Canada – if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes!

Week one of my three week taper went pretty well as I got all of my runs in without much issue. Ironically, one of my shortest runs of the week, which was supposed to be 6 km I cut off at 5 km because my legs just were not happy. I had a lot of general achiness and as it was the day after my 20 km on treadmill, I stopped and walked home. A few months ago, I would never had had the patience or wherewithal to stop a run. When I was younger and certainly since I returned to running, that is likely the cause of most of my injuries – stubbornly finishing a run when I didn’t feel right and not listening to my body.  Even though the run itself sucked, I felt great about my decisions and the rest of my training this week went awesome which was great positive reinforcement.

Even though I am tapering, I am still tinkering with a couple of things in preparation for race day. I am concerned with fueling/water as I expect that the conditions for Fredericton are going to be warmer than October. Although, who knows really? I’ve switched from Powerade to Nuun and water for my hydration belt. The carbonation took a bit to get used to, but I find it less sweet than the bottled sports drinks which is always better for me as the run gets longer. On Sunday’s long run I also tried the Clif Bar Shot Bloks for the first time. They were really yummy, but I’m not sure about chewing something that has the texture of jujubes while running a marathon. Maybe if I practice with them a little more, but I will likely stick with GU for now (no pun intended).

I also finally have my first really pair of compression socks (thanks, BibRave!). I will be doing a more thorough review of them shortly, but this week I did three runs of various length in my new ProCompression socks (and they are orange – I freakin’ LOVE orange) and I also wore them after my long treadmill workout. So far, I’ve been impressed and they are certainly comfortable to run in – so you if you’re in Fredericton on the 11^th, look for the dude in the orange knee highs – that’s me!

There are a lot of other fun, behind the scenes things happening in my running world as well, which I excited to share over the coming days and weeks. Racing season is getting in full gear and it’s shaping up to be an amazing few months. Stay tuned for some fun announcements coming soon and thanks for reading.

 

Happy Running!!

So, You’re a BibRave Pro…

Tags

Ambassador, BibRave, Fall Classic, Hypo Half, Legs for Literacy, marathon, race reviews, racing, running

April has started off with some interesting things in my running life. For the first time this entire training cycle, I have been forced by bad weather – and snow/ice of all things, to do back to back treadmill runs. Although, I would rather run on the treadmill then not run at all. Most excitingly, I found out last night that I had been chosen as one of the initial BibRave Pros! 

This doesn’t mean that I’m a professional runner (farrrrrr from it) but what it means is that I have partnered with BibRave to help promote their site and spread the word to as many runners as possible. BibRave is a FREE race review site that relies on people such as you or I to report on their race experiences for specific events – the good, the bad and the ugly. It is open to anyone and anywhere in the world and the more reviews that get added, the more valuable a resource it becomes.

After you sign up you can add your own reviews, upvote reviews you found useful yourself and even follow other reviewers to get their take on races. It is also useful when trying to decide if a race is worth doing and knowing what problems or challenges you may face on course or even with such things as parking and organization.   

The site is searchable as well and more reviews are added regularly – so it really helps to spread the word! I have already posted race reviews for Legs for Literacy, the Hypothermic Half, the Fredericton Fall Classic and the SMILE 5km/10km. It would be really great to get more reviews of these events as well as reviews for other races in Atlantic Canada. I will be adding reviews of the awesome races I did last year as part of the Cross Border Challenge in the next couple of days – let’s spread the word on how awesome the running community in this area is to runners all over the world!

Happy running!!

The Quarter Poll

Tags

Bib Rave, Chuck Dixon, Fredericton Marathon, marathon, racing, running, TNFECS, training, ultra marathon

Tomorrow is April 1^st and besides being April Fools’ Day it also means that twenty-five percent of 2014 is also in the history books. Apparently in some parts of the world, spring has started but as previously noted in this space, we have not been so lucky.Even so, I would have to say that 2014 has gone better than I could have imagined and if things keep going the way they have it will definitely be a year to remember in terms of running and running accomplishments.

To date I have run over 600 kilometres this year, with 245 of them in March. I can say with a great degree of confidence that I have never run that many kilometres in a month. This is something that I’m proud of for several different reasons. First, at 38 years old, I am in better shape than I ever have been before which is great for me and something I am glad to model to my sons. Secondly, I have increased my mileage significantly from a year ago and I have stayed injury and pain free. Lastly, even with terrible weather I have gotten in most of my runs.

I have only raced twice so far this year, setting a PB in the half-marathon by almost 5 minutes in February and racing 5 km in under 23 minutes for the first time since I returned to running. I was extremely happy with both results given that I have been focused on my second marathon, the Fredericton Marathon, which is May 11^th (www.frederictonmarathon.ca).

I feel that my improvement and consistency are owed in large part to my coach, Chuck Dixon, who is a marathoner himself (www.marshhawk.ca). Chuck has developed my training schedule since the beginning of the year after helping me get through my training for my first marathon last October. Being in constant communication with an experienced coach and runner is invaluable and I consider myself very lucky. Add in the amazing people I’ve connected with through social media and I feel as though I am improving both my knowledge and fitness with regards to running on a weekly basis.

The last significant running related occurrence in the first quarter of the year is that I have registered for my first ultra-marathon!! This happened rather spontaneously and was the result of me being lucky enough to win a draw prize from Bib Rave (www.bibrave.com) during one of their twitter chats. My name was randomly selected to win a free registration for any of the North Face Endurance Challenge Series. The closest event is in Ontario in July, so it seemed unlikely at best that I would be able to take advantage of such an awesome prize. However, after talking it over with my amazingly awesome wife, we have decided to make a vacation of it! There are races of every distance between 5 km and 50 miles, so I decided to go big and register for the 50 km race – I’m not silly enough to try 50 miles…..yet! You can check out the TNFECS Ontario here – http://www.thenorthface.com/en_US/endurance-challenge/ontario-ca-trail/?stop_mobi=yes .

I hope everyone reading this is having a great start to 2014. If you’ve been battling injuries, polar vortexes or other challenges this winter and have had struggles reaching your goals so far, stay positive! We still have 75 percent of the year to come and countless achievements ahead!

Happy running!!

Under 50 Days!!

Tags

Fredericton Marathon, marathon, racing, running, training

It is now less than 7 weeks until the Fredericton Marathon is in the books. I wish I could say there has been a noticeable shift in the weather as spring has arrived, but it would be a big fat lie. Ridiculously low temperatures and yet another storm in the forecast have kept my singlets and short shorts safely tucked into my “for gym use only” drawer for now. Hopefully I will get some long runs in wearing some lighter gear and fewer layers. Of course, there is always the chance that May will still be like this – dear god, I hope not.

My dad always said that when he retired he was going to put his snow-blower in the back of his truck and drive south. As soon as he got somewhere that someone asked “Hey, what’s that strange contraption you’ve got there?” he was going to stop driving and settle down. As my parents have become snowbirds the last two winters, that’s pretty much exactly what happened. But I digress…

Training went well this week as I got in all of my scheduled workouts without any issue. It was the highest mileage week I’ve had in 2014 at 57 km and included my longest single run of the year (28 km) and a 5 km race. The race was a little spur of the moment with only a couple of days notice. I may have pushed a bit too hard, but I didn’t feel like I was going all out and I still had my best time to date since my return to running – 22:58. It’s nice to see that even without focusing much on speed, I’m still making gains just from the volume of training I am doing weekly.  

I’ve almost peaked my long run distance as I will top out at 32 km prior to race day – I will get at least two runs of that distance in if the weather cooperates. I am also looking forward to the trans-canada trail being snow free as I would love to get some runs done on the trail as opposed to everything being done on pavement or concrete. The marathon itself has a large portion on the trail, so it’s always nice to get your legs used to whatever surface you’ll be racing on in my experience.

I’m at the point now where I need to trust the training and not overdo things or get too bored. Ideally, I would have one more race between now and the marathon, but there is nothing that really fits properly into my schedule and also works time and money wise. C’est la vie!

What races in the short term and mid-term do you have coming up? Are you dreading the taper or looking forward to seeing your hard work pay off? Leave a comment here- I’d love to know what everyone else is planning for this mysterious enigma called “spring”.

Happy running!!

Think Global, Run Local – Supporting the Charity Next Door

Tags

charity, local, racing, running, Sackville running, training

A couple of days ago, a local 5 km/10 km race popped up on the Running Room events page. It’s actually an event that I ran last year and is basically a fun run that is also a fund raiser for a local cause –  the SMILE program, which is part of the Cumberland Early Intervention program.  Being focused on marathon training, I really have no idea what to expect. Throw in the fact that I also have my longest run of the year planned for Sunday and it’s probably not the time for me to go all out anyway.

Local runs that support worthy local causes are, in my opinion, one of the foundations of the running community. Even in a relatively small town like Sackville, they are well attended, well organized and a lot of fun. Many of the runners I know got their start at events such as this one. Often times, people are drawn out because a family member or someone they know is involved with the cause promoting the event. Whatever gets people out is a positive and it’s very common to see entire families participating – running or walking the course together.

Small local events also tend to be very affordable, which is always a bonus. While they may have fewer frills (no fancy swag, finishing medals, etc) you know that most likely one hundred percent of your registration fee is going directly to the cause. Small community businesses and people are amazingly generous making the overhead for these events pretty much non-existent.

If you think that there is a need for more races/events in your area, partnering with a community group or local charity may be the route for you (no pun intended). Think about what is important to you and your community or what your community needs help with and go from there. The logistics of race planning can seem daunting, but once you start talking about your idea, you will find help in all kinds of expected and unexpected places. Focus on the major factors first – road safety, route planning and food/water and the finer details will become apparent. Sure, there will likely be a few glitches, but organizers tend to notice them more than participants and the more times you get involved with the planning, the easier it will become.

56 Days Out – Fredericton Marathon Training Update

Tags

Fredericton Marathon, marathon, racing, running, training

Eight weeks from now, if all goes according to plan, I will have completed my second full marathon – the Fredericton Marathon. It’s a little more than halfway through my specific training that began on January 1^st, so I thought it would be a good time to look at how things have gone so far compared to my first time around last summer/fall.

The weather has certainly been a challenge. In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t taken so much time off after my marathon in October because there wasn’t much in the way of snow during that time. I needed a little time off to savour my accomplishment and figure out what was next, but I definitely milked that longer than necessary.

Training through the toughest winter I have experienced since moving to New Brunswick has made me readjust what I’m willing to put myself through. I’m very lucky to live in Sackville, as the street clearing here is incredible and this year the town has gone above and beyond. Despite the near record snow, constant storms and general crappiness weather wise, I can count on one hand the number of outside workouts that I moved inside to the gym. That being said, getting ready for any marathon is not the easiest. Getting ready for a spring marathon in Atlantic Canada takes a special kind of dedication (or love of the treadmill – something I do NOT have).

As of today, I have run 484 kilometres in 2014. It’s not a phenomenal amount by any stretch, but it is certainly the most distance I have covered without any kind of setback or injury – especially when you add in the 100 km or so I put in during December. I’m averaging between 40-50 km per week, although that will climb a little over the next few weeks. My longest Sunday run so far this year has been 26 km, but the next two weeks will see that stretch to 30km. If all goes well, I will get in a couple of runs of 32 km prior to race day.

Most weeks I have run five out of seven days, with two days of strength exercises and elliptical training. A couple of times I have used one of my non-running days as a complete day of rest. I really need to be more consistent with my strength exercises as they will help my running, but are also very beneficial when it comes to preventing injury. For someone who has a history of knee problems, you would think this would be a no-brainer for me. Sadly, not so.

As with my first marathon, I’ve been very fortunate to have the guidance of a coach. Chuck Dixon has helped me a great deal with my training this cycle as he took the time to develop a schedule based on my goals and has adjusted it as my training has continued. If you aren’t fortunate enough to have a coach, I strongly encourage you to at the very least find some more experienced runners or tap into the online community. Learning from others and benefitting from their encouragement is a huge plus for any runner.

With less than two months to go I think one of my biggest challenges will be not overdoing it. Following a schedule and committing to it has worked very well, and even if I am tempted to add workouts or stretch some runs a little farther, I will have to resist. I expect that the taper will be challenging again, so I will need to make sure I have other things to keep me busy those last few days. Before I know it, the Fredericton Marathon will have come and gone and I’ll focus on the next challenge – whatever that may be!

 

Happy running!

Putting My Cards on The Table – 2014 Goals

Tags

racing, training

Setting goals is important regardless of where you are as a runner. Goals keep us focused on the present, help us to learn from the past and look forward to the future. Running goals are, by and large, completely dependent on the individual. You are responsible for the races you choose, the training hours you put in, what foods go in your mouth – everything. If you are realistic about where you are you can set goals that are challenging but certainly attainable. Here are the goals I set out for myself at the beginning of the year.

1) Staying healthy!

This is the goal that is both the most reasonable and most challenging. The vast majority of injuries are preventable just by listening to your own body. However, there are always unforeseen things that can happen over the course of 12 years. Dialing back mileage and even skipping occasional workouts is something that I may have to do in order to stay healthy. I also need to be more consistent with my cross training and strength exercises – both of which can be very helpful in preventing injuries. Most of my other goals are dependent on this one.

2) Growing the local running group.

The first running group I got involved with since rejoining the runnerverse was the Amherst Striders (who I am going to dedicate an entire post to eventually). Experiencing the support and camaraderie within that group was really eye opening for me. Even though they are only twenty minutes away I am rarely able to actually run with them but I felt (and feel) strongly that Sackville could support and would benefit from a similar group. The weather has kept many people inside, but the response has been terrific and I feel very optimistic about the future of the Bogtrotters.

3) Race in two marathons and three half marathons.

I’ve already completed one half marathon in February (the Hypothermic Half) and I am registered for another in September (Maritime Race Weekend). I’m also pretty certain that I will be racing the Fredericton Fall Classic in September as well. For marathons, I am registered for the Fredericton Marathon in May and I’m planning on doing Legs for Literacy in October. I’m not sure what other races I will be doing this year, but I don’t think there will be many others on my schedule. I am considering another half in June, but it will depend on what happens between now and then.

4) Running sub 3:45 for a full marathon and sub 1:45 for a half marathon.

Having run my first full in just under 3:53 on a fairly hilly course, I’m hoping that my training and a flatter course will help me shave a few minutes off of that time. Coming into this year, my half marathon PB was 1:51.36 and in February I exceeded my expectations and shaved over four minutes off of that time. I feel going under 1:45 is very doable. I am optimistic that I may have to readjust this goal before the end of the year, but if not I’m ok with that too.

Those are the main goals I have for the year. I’m hoping that putting them out there for others to see helps me to keep on track. If I’m lucky it will also inspire some others to set goals or at least give it some thought. I’d love to hear what goals you’ve set for 2014 and especially if you’ve accomplished some already – so feel free to leave a comment!