Looking Back / Moving Forward 2015 Edition

   It's time to look back on last year's goals and see how I did. This should be relatively easy, as I only had two goals for last year. I know that might not seem like a lot of goals for an entire year, but the second goal was a doozy.

GOAL 1 for 2014: Take a photo every day.
   For those who follow me on instagram (@myllstogo), you know I've completed this one. The point of this exercise was to appreciate the every day things in life. And you know what? It worked! Before taking the photos, I can't tell you how many times I've walked in and out of a building / park / down the street without really paying attention to my surroundings. Now, I'm constantly looking around for something cool to photograph. Granted, I also took a lot of dog photos, but I have a lot of dogs. They're easy targets for my camera.  Grade: A

GOAL 2 for 2014: Survive Ironman Chattanooga.
   Here is exactly what I wrote about this goal in December, 2013:
"Survive Ironman Chattanooga. That's it. I don't care about my time. Would it be nice to be all "I'm gonna kick ass at this race" and what not?  Sure, but I also need to be realistic. I have no freakin' idea what I'm doing or how I'm going to get through the next nine months (yes, it's only nine months away), and to be honest, I'm completely terrified. I KNOW it's going to be hard and it's going to hurt a lot. But I have to admit, I'm kind of looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to pushing myself to a new level and trying to accomplish something I never thought I'd be able to do."
   I have to admit - I freakin' nailed this one. I was hoping for a 13-14 hour finish and I finished in 12:16. I was THRILLED. While some of the training was tough and tedious, and the race hurt (BAD at times), I loved every minute of it. My first Ironman experience was so great that I'm a little scared to do another one because it can only go downhill from here. But I probably will. Maybe in 2016. Grade A++

STATE CHALLENGE:
  Some of you might remember that I have a long-term goal of running a half marathon (or longer) in every state. Unfortunately, this got a little sidetracked because of IMCHOO, but I was able to fill in two states: Arkansas and West Virginia.

   I'm hoping to cross off Mississippi, Kentucky and Illinois next year, and hopefully a few more. It's getting more difficult to travel to races since I've hit a lot of the close states. I'm going to have to start flying places. I can see why people try to do two half marathons in one weekend. Travel is expensive, y'all.

GOALS for 2015:
   Honestly, I don't really have any. At least, as of right now I don't have any. I'm going to keep up with my reading challenge of hitting 52 books in a year (two years running!) and I'm obviously going to continue with triathlons and running, but I don't have "the big goal" like I did last year. I mainly want to keep trying new experiences and learn a little bit every day. And I'd like to learn to sew and maybe take a cooking class or two. Oh - and I want to break 2:00 in a half marathon. Ok - I guess I do have goals. I'll try to make a coherent list and get back with you.

   I hope everyone had a great 2014 and wish everyone the best in 2015! See you on the roads!