The year that was... and the one that will be!

Warning - this is not a running post, so if that's all you're here to read about - skip this!! It's a rather long, personal ramble about my life!

OK, so its already the 2nd Jan and I have yet to do my post (about things other than running) to sum up 2006. Its typical of my nature to feel the need to do so... As I've said a couple of times already, I have been doing quite a bit of thinking about it all... and have written a lot of stuff down over the last week, but I was not sure how much I wanted to air on my blog. However I am a firm believer that we should keep on learning throughout life and that each experience/encounter we have is for a reason and that we should take something positive from each and every one, even if it is not so obviously positive at the time. Here are some of the things I've learnt/achieved/struggled with this year, that I don't mind sharing publicly and in fact I think doing so is a way of dealing with some things and moving on:

2006 has been a mixed year for me - lots of highs and lows rather than just middle ground and I kind of think of it as a "year of two halves". The first half of the year was pretty much all consumed with two major events:

1) Going thru the process of selling the house that I (part) owned as part of a family trust in January. With the other trustees unable or unwilling to handle the process, it was agreed that I would be responsible for it all, including working with the land agents, solicitors, banks, etc. I had been thru the process of buying a house before, but not selling one personally. While it was often rather stressful, it was a good learning curve.

2) As I was the one who had initially set the wheels in motion to upgrade from our existing investment, I was then responsible for overseeing the building of our new property as well. I spent the best part of 6mths working with the construction company, beginning at the point of choosing a suitable section, right thru to choosing all of the colours and fittings for both interior and exterior. Working in the building industry helped immensly - I was able to save us all a lot of money and call on expertise that I would not otherwise have had free access to. I also dealt with the bank, mortgage broker, solicitors, council, etc and again I learnt so much from this (despite many a sleepless night!) Everyone involved was extremely impressed with the end result when it was finally finished in April. It was very satisfying to achieve something big like this - all be it with help from others - and it still feels like "my baby".

Also, in March I was completely blown away to find I had won a credit industry award - "The NZCFI (Credit & Finance Institute) Credit Professional of the Year" I had been nominated for it at the end of 2005 and been thru a rather involved process of self-assessment and interviews by the judges in early 2006. Just going thru that process was an experience that I was glad to have had. At the awards dinner, which I attended with my boss and other colleagues, I was shocked and stunned to be announced the overall winner, due to the high standard of the other finalists. As well as an educational grant, lifetime membership to the NZCFI and prize money, I also won a trip to the Aust Institute of Credit Management 3 day conference, which was held in Hobart in Oct, followed by 4 nights in my choice of either Sydney or Melbourne. Winning the award bought with it quite a bit of publicity (I can even be Googled successfully!) two very flattering job offers and a pay rise! It also taught me quite a bit about not under-estimating myself professionally.

Apart from a couple of brief relationships, I had been more or less single for the best part of two years by the time June (and the second half of the year) rolled around. And I was more than happy with that. Between work, my daughter and her activities, friends and family and my running, I was always busy and really didn't feel I had time for much more in my life - there weren't enough hours in the day as it was! So much so in fact that when I met someone in June, despite thinking he was extremely attractive and him showing me a lot of attention, I told him I was not available - that I was single by choice and thats how I intended to stay! Lets just say his perserverance and charm won me over and the next 3 months were a time of new social experiences and lots and lots of fun. If I'm honest, the fact that he was also almost 10yrs my junior did not do the ego any harm either - despite it feeling very weird initially! In some ways I felt like a teenager again (only better!) and I was reminded of what it felt like to be in a compatiable, contented relationship. When it all came to an abrupt end in Sept, I was to quickly learn that a relationship does not have to be overly long for it to hurt alot when it is over... and that no matter how cautious you think you are being to not get in too deep, it doesn't always work that way. We parted company largly because he had plans to travel in Dec, with no idea of if or when he would return to NZ. That was not something I wanted to stand in the way of, but not something I could be a part of either. I realise it took a lot of maturity on his part to end it in Sept rather than Dec. He's currently in his native South Africa for 5wks and has a contract to work in the US until the middle of 2007 should he so choose. I'm happy for him.

I've picked myself up and brushed myself off many times from various situations over the years. This was not the hardest relationship I've had to get over, not by a long shot. But it has made me stop and think about life and reassess what I expect/want from the future, as far as relationships go. I've also learnt that I think and feel and handle things very differently now than in the past. I know I am now far more open to what ever may come my way in this area, than I was 6mths ago.

My major sense of pride and joy of course continues as always to be my daughter. Courtney turned seven in Sept and I make no apologies for boasting where she is concerned! She has done extremely well at school in 2006 - she was accepted into the Talented & Gifted Programme they offer for the second year running and won the class award for Effort & Attitude at the end of year junior prizegiving. She has the reading and comprehension skills of a 9-10yr old and most of the social skills to match! Not bad for being born 12 weeks prem, weighing a tad over 2lb and having to be resuscitated many times in the first few months of life! She never stops talking, singing and dancing - often all at the same time! She loves taking swimming lessons and gymnastics class and wants to be a vet one day. She has an amazing memory for animal facts and loves anything to do with nature. I put a lot of emphasis on manners, virtues, and values and this probably makes me quite a strict parent in the eyes of some, but when you have an only child, who is also the only grandchild and the only niece, you run the risk of ending up with a spoiled brat, unless you teach that the world does not revolve around them alone. We have a very close bond and my biggest hope for the future is that this will remain.

As it's impossible to predict what life will throw at us in 2007, I will instead get back to running now and list some goals for 2007. I have set some personal goals as well of course, but will go into those as and when and if I feel ready, during the year...

1) First and foremost I need to do everything I can to avoid injuries and therefore be able to run consistantly all year. Due to receiving several pieces of advice on it, the first thing I am going to do is find a good, local sports massage therepist that I can go to regularly, to keep things in order. I want to run not only more kms this year, but faster and stronger too. I can't do that if I'm injured. The other part of this equation is having more patience, being sensible when it comes to building milage and if something is not feeling quite right. I have learnt a lot from previous injury experiences, but still tend to try to do too much too soon - I'm results driven, despite also being able to enjoy the (training) journey.

2) I want to participate in a series of 5kms road runs that are held (semi) locally every Monday night during summer. I have never raced over this distance and I'm told its also a good way to meet some fellow, local runners. At least I'm certain to get a new PB!

3) To participate in more events this year than ever before. As I've said previously, I love participating and it gives me a huge sense of achievement. It makes all of the training on my own worthwhile, when I can get out there and run with others and enjoy the atmosphere and its a way of gauging progress and improvement, which keeps me motivated. As I've mentioned before, there are some triathlons coming up that I wouldn't mind doing as well, but I do not have the passion for these that I do for my running, so if I do them it will be a bonus, not a priority.

4) There are other things I would like to do this year, such as joining a running club, doing some track running and perhaps finding some training partners as well as doing an overseas event. But there are other things I need to get sorted first. It goes without saying that I want to keep improving my PB's - this will always be the case with me, no matter what!

Of course there is also the unchartered territory of completing a full marathon - I need to exorcise the demon of getting a stress fracture 5wks out from when I was going to do the Auck Marathon in 2004, with most of the training for it already in the bank - but it is not something I feel I have to do this year.

I'm sure other things will arise as the year progresses. Right now I am still being cautious about my left leg - but after the last few days I am feeling far more optimistic about it coming right. I have yet to post about my exercise activities of the last two days, so I will end this post here and start a new one about that.

If you are still reading you deserve an award! Thanks! :-)