Kelly the Culinarian: Why I Chose My 2012 Goals

Friday, January 13, 2012

Why I Chose My 2012 Goals


A resolution is defined as: the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones. I said in my New Year's Resolution post that I picked my goals very deliberately in order to fit into some long-term goals I have in mind.

Let's review. My goals are:

1. Run my first marathon.
2. Complete my first triathlon.
3. Set a personal record for the 5K.
4. Volunteer at a race.
5. Take a swim class.
6. Try vegetarianism for one month.
7. Read more books.
8. Achieve my goal weight of 124 pounds by March
9. Try one new recipe per month.
10. Send out holiday cards.
11. Grow the Fort2Base Race Ambassador program.
12. Save money.

They seem kind of discombobulated, huh? Not so interconnected.
However, most of my goals are about striving towards one long-term goal that I haven't really discussed on the blog: Ironman.

Yeah, it's crazy. It's totally crazy. But I've had it on my mind since this summer. I'm not really sure when or why I decided I wanted to be an Ironman, or why I even thought this would be a good idea to finish a marathon after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles, two sports that I've never competed in.

I think somewhere along the line losing weight stopped being enough. I didn't just want to be skinny. I wanted to be fit. More than that, I wanted to be hardcore. And I wanted to do something epic. After watching some videos on YouTube, I was really motivated to push myself and see how far I could go. After listening to the audiobook version of "You Are an Ironman," I knew I could do this.

It's going to take me years. At least four to get into shape and compete in the intermediary races that will build a solid foundation for the Ironman. My 2012 goals 1-5, and to a certain extent, goal 8, are all about making steps towards that goal. Goal 6 is kind of an experiment to see how vegetarianism affects my athletic performance, and goals 11 and 12 are all about saving the money needed to compete in Ironman. It's not cheap to compete in three sports, especially when the registration fee alone is $600.

While it will be hard, and it will be a long road, I know it will be rewarding. One day, a former fat kid who couldn't run a mile will swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles.

I will cross the finish line and hear Mike Reilly say: "Kelly Janowski, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN."

5 comments:

Maggie W said...

AWESOME GOAL! Good luck, and it will be fun to read along during your journey.

Erin said...

That is definitely an admirable goal! And I really like that you're being smart about it. I'm sure you have your own contacts but I have quite a few friends who have done multiple Ironman races who you could hit up for advice if you want :-)

KellytheCulinarian said...

@Erin, I need all the help I can get. Please send it along!

Unknown said...

Hey there, just randomly found this and I think that's great! I've been thinking of an ironman sometime in the next few years (a few friends pegged 2014 to be the year!) but am still a bit tentative. Would love to hear more about your plans!

KellytheCulinarian said...

I've been making small steps towards this goal for a while. I started with a sprint triathlon this year and a marathon. Next year, I plan to do a half Ironman and a century ride. Slowly but surely, I'll get there.