Yesterday, I drove to a local path about 20 minutes from my house to do a New Year’s Day tempo run. On my way home, I was flipping through radio stations and randomly landed on a radio DJ talking about goals and resolutions for the New Year. Although he probably isn’t a runner, he said something I found to be incredibly profound for chatter between the latest hit songs. He said we should think of a new year like a blank book, and January 1 is simply the first page in a book with 365 pages. Every day is a chance to write a new page, but it’s up to us to determine the story we want to write for ourselves.

I have long been a believer that while the New Year is a chance to set specific and measurable goals for ourselves that we want to achieve during the next 364 days, January 1 is no different than January 2, April 5, October 13 or November 7. It is what we choose to do every day that matters. Big improvements and big changes come day by day, page by page, with simple, small victories. We can’t get to the big finale without writing the chapters in the middle of our book. And with each page we write and each chapter we finish, we learn things along the way that impact our story. Day by day, week by week, we can make incredible things happen. At the end of the year, that decision to get up early to run 5 miles before work or the choice to hit the treadmill after a long day when it was the last thing you felt like doing will add up. They matter. And they will add to your story. Our story.

Yesterday, I wrote the first page in my 2014 journey. I ate well, I had an awesome 8.1-mile run with 5 miles at tempo pace and I got myself organized for the month. I don’t know what tomorrow’s page will look like or how my 5^th chapter in May or my 9^th chapter in September will look yet. But I do know that when it comes time for the epilogue, there are some things I would like my 2014 book to say. What I write – what I do – page by page and chapter by chapter between now and then will dictate the ending.

Here is what I want my story for 2014 to say:

• I finally ran a half marathon in 1:45 or faster.
• I ran my 6^th marathon and had fun doing it. I don’t have a time goal for my next marathon, which is in Albany, Georgia, on March 1. I’m taking a different approach to this race. I want to finish feeling good and enjoying the miles (which, if you’ve ever run a marathon, you know that is hard to do). I’m saving the big hairy time goals for some of my shorter-distance races.
• I set a new PR in a shorter-distance race, such as the 10K or 5K. With my current 10K time of 45:06 and 5K time of 22:09, I’m very close to breaking into the next lower minute threshold. I’d like to continue running local races to see if I can bust through those barriers.
• I started training with a heart rate monitor. Through my coaching certification process, I’m learning so much about heart rate training and how it can help enhance overall performance. I would like to get professionally tested to determine my maximal heart rate and VO2 max, and begin factoring this into my training and evaluation.
• I improved my swimming technique, efficiency and knowledge by taking private swim lessons with a coach.
• I consistently incorporated 2 days of strength training into my regular training regimen. This sounds easy, but when you’re trying to fit in 4 days of running and a day or 2 of biking and swimming, it can be tough, especially when triathlon season starts. However, it is critically important to improving overall performance and overcoming weaknesses in the body.
• I finished my coaching certification and took on 3 new clients. This is an in-depth, 6 to 8 month process and I am loving every minute of it! I take my first test on January 26!

In addition to these goals for the year, there are some cross-cutting things that I’m going to strive to be part of my everyday fitness philosophy. They may seem simple, but they are all so important. These include:

• Be more diligent about my warm-ups and cool-downs before and after every workout. I’ll be writing more about proper warm-ups and cool-downs later this month.
• Eat within 30 to 45 minutes after every run and hard workout (ratio of 4:1 carbs to protein). I often go longer than this if I’m not near my house or want to immediately jump in the shower. However, this is critical for getting our body recovered and prepared to successfully complete our next workout.
• Wash my face immediately after every workout. This means keeping face wipes/cloths in my car and gym bag so that no matter where I am, I can keep my face clean after runs, rides and swims.
• Go to bed earlier so I can wake up earlier to work out. I would like to do at least 2 of my weekday runs/workouts in the morning before work. This makes life so much easier and starts the day so much happier.
• Limit my consumption of grains and sugar (as in desserts).

The ending we want to write for ourselves depends on the little things we choose to do each and every day to make that possible. Sure, there are going to be days that don’t go as planned and that we’d like to forget immediately … and we can tear a few of those pages out of our book along the way. But overall, being consistent, being disciplined in doing what we say we are going to do, being flexible when we get unexpected cards dealt to us, believing in ourselves and finding balance in life and in training is what will get us there.

Happy 2014. Let’s go write our story.

What goals do you want to achieve during 2014? What will you do to make them a reality?