New goals and challenges…

The year has already nearly come full circle, just like my bracelet which I repaired today.

I enjoyed a lovely long run with a friend today and complete my 48th half marathon of the year. I have 4 left to get to my target which I am sure I will do no problem.

I did a guided meditation today, a body scan. Body scan meditations are traditionally done lying down and it is the observation of the body from head to toe or vice versa and is literally just noticing sensations of the body.

The reason we do this is because we have become so cut off from our bodies, as we are flooded with distraction after distraction and this practice strengthens the connection between brain and body to tune in to ourselves. This then helps us to develop awareness, of our body, feelings and thoughts.

The meditation went well, although I fell into the trap of nearly falling asleep. This is a natural and common consequence of stopping and sitting or lying, because we rarely do it. It’s also a sign of being pretty tired which I am. The tendency for fall asleep reduces over time as our attention become sharper. The idea of meditation is to be alert, not to be falling asleep.

With my running challenges coming to an end, I am giving a lot of thought about my challenges for 2023. I function better with a plan, goals and structure. One of my goals has to be to finish writing my next book and to get it published in print. An epic challenge. Continually doubting my ability in this area, whether I’m good enough or whether to try something else, I feel that it’s now or never. Have another go. Show how resilient I can be, how persistent I can be. So this will be going down as a goal for 2023.

I will continue to run and to meditate. Earlier this year on the lead up to my ultramarathon I did daily videos of the journey which kept me accountable to myself and to my audience. I think I may do something similar with my running and meditation over the next 12 months as I realise how I miss doing this ever day. I will do a marathon in the Spring, an ultra marathon in July of 64 miles and I am considering an ultramarathon of 86miles in September. Let’s see what else comes up.

Thank you for stopping by…

“All the suffering, stress, and
addiction comes from not realizing
you already are what you are
looking for” Jon Kabat-Zinn