Old Goals and New

2012 was the first year that I set some goals to try and achieve.  I will spare you the suspense I only achieved one of the three.  My thoughts on only being successful in one goal are a mixed bag that I will explain in full.  The first goal, while technically being a failure, was sort of a success.  The second goal I totally dropped the ball on.  Whoops!  My bad.  The third goal was very much a success, and I am proud of my efforts.

Goal #1:  Get 12 bag nights

I got ten.  Several times I could have gone out and picked up the other two but I always opted to stay home and spend time with Beth.  So while this is technically a failure to meet the goal, I failed on acceptable terms.  It is also worth noting that ten bag nights is way more than I normally get in  a typical year.  Some of the nights I spent outdoors were terrible, and others were enjoyable.

Campsite on Two Branch

Here is a list, in no particular order of where I spent my bag nights this year:

3 nights spent out on the Katy Trail.  During these 3 nights everything was conspiring against a good nights sleep.

1 night camping at Carlyle lake.  The day of our arrival the lake was too choppy to have any fun paddling, the next day it was smooth as glass.

1 night camping on Two Branch island.  My nephew and I paddled down the Cuivre to the Mississippi.  Horrible stretch of river after we left.

3 nights during the Kayak100+ (MR340).  I have never been so exhausted in my life.  Paddled 340miles in 76hours.  Very little sleep.

1 night on a random boat ramp on the Missouri river.  100miles from Jefferson city to St Charles, we decided to take a nap.  Bad idea.

1 night camping on Two Branch again.  I enjoy paddling out to the river islands.  Last time we were racing the dark this time a storm.  We lost.

During Kayak100+ I was trying not to look exhausted.

ROCK Racing teammates Chuck and Robin (among others) met me at the finish of Kayak100+

 

    Goal #2 Increase level of fitness

I think subconsciously I made this goal as vague as possible so that I could claim success in the end.  Even with a vague goal I have to admit to failure.  It wasn’t all failure though.  Leading up to Kayak100+ I was doing great.  Then the wheels fell off and I now at my heaviest weight (can’t weight to eat?) and feel like crap.  Epic fail y’all.  Being heavy is not the only area of failure in this goal.  I am also not any stronger, but that is probably because of all the workouts I missed.  As far as running goes I am doing okay, not great just ok.  I have a plan to correct all of this though because 2013 will be one of the most physically demanding of my life.

Goal #3 Build on the foundation of the 100+Project

I would call this one a success!  While the 100+Project is not widely known around the world, I have been working hard to spread the word and draw attention to the efforts put forth.  In 2012 I had a couple mentions in the media, completed Cycle100+ and Kayak100+, and also held a very successful 12hour run/fundraiser.

Cycle100+ was 240miles on the Katy Trail.  Gary Wilson and I rode the entire length in 4days.  What a great ride it was.

Kayak100+ was a 340mile paddle from Kansas city to St Charles along the Missouri river.  Cycle100+ was a joyride compared to this.

Page of the Health in the St Louis Post Dispatch section (below the fold) 

Blurb in a local Sunday magazine.

The 12hour fun run, was a just a great day all around.  This was something that I was doing as a training event for Run100+ and decided to invite people to join my friend Cheri and me for as much as they wanted.  I suggested a $5 donation.  We started at 6am and I don’t think there was one lap that we had to run alone.  In total 30people showed up and many donated a lot more than the suggested $5.  We raised a lot of money for a good cause.  My only regret is not keeping track of everyone’s miles.  I wasn’t expecting that many people to show up and it was difficult enough keeping track of my own miles.  Maybe I can reconstruct them.

Cheri (far left) and I with some of  the people that came out for the 12hour run.

Summary

I think in the goal department I broke even.  I’m not happy about #2 but can only blame myself.  I couldn’t be happier about #3 although I have some things that I need to work on in the future to make it even more enjoyable for everyone following along.  As previously stated I’m ok with how #1 turned out.  I didn’t get 12 bag nights but I did get 10 and that is pretty good for me.

Goals for 2013

I like these goals so I will keep them for 2013 but with a few modifications.

1. Get 20 bag nights.  I will have 8nights associated with Hike100+ so 12 would be to low a number.  Increasing to 20 cancels out the hike nights and leaves me with 12nights to get on my own.
2. Increase fitness.  This will be measured a success by meeting two of three minor goals.  Weight 170, pass the Army PT test according to the standards when I was still serving (pushups, situps, 2mile run), and break a running PR.  Within these there is certainly criteria by which success can be measured.
3. Build on the success of the 100+Project.  There are big things in store for 2013.  Run100+ and Hike100+ will be two of the most demanding challenges of my life.  They both have such a slim margin of error, one tiny mistake could mean failure at both.  I am thinking about adding another 100+ mile journey but as of yet haven’t decided what.  More fundraisers apart from the big events might be a good idea.  I would also like to get the 100+Project on TV in 2013.  That a lot, but I assure you it is all one goal.

That is how my year went.  Hopefully 2013 will be much better and more successful, and I hope yours is the same!