So, 2018…

Whilst the name of this blog is not based on the fact that I am a fat man (it came from the fact that I played the Tuba), it cannot be denied that I am carrying more than my share of spare timber.  

Every year I try and set fitness goals. I sign up for events, partly because I enjoy them, but also because they encourage me to train and avoid humiliation. Over the years, I’ve been “almost last” in enough events that the humiliation has become less of a training incentive. But I still have that desire to improve on my fitness, and this year, after the birth of our beautiful daughter in 2017 I am incentivized to properly slim down the Tubbyman to a healthier weight and hopefully give her a few more years of being embarrassed by her old man.  

I’ve been told that making goals public gives them more chance of  being achieved. I’m not sure if a blog with such a limited readership as this really counts, but it’s better than a secret list on an excel spreadsheet, so here goes my goals for 2018: 

1.  Lose 50lb, to achieve this I am going to try James Haskell’s new “Perfect Fit” .  I’ve respected James’s work ethic in the England Rugby team for several years, follow him on Facebook  and given he is a bigger guy, I’m hoping that this will be more relevant to me than other fads I’ve seen and dismissed over the years.  I’m also going to do the following…
2. Given time constraints with wanting (/needing) to spend time with Emma, rather than committing to an epic event, I am going to focus the first half of my year on improving my 5k time.  As part of that goal I have started a handicap (time trial) 5k race series at work, running fortnightly the same route, and plan to start getting my time down.  This should then assist…
3. Getting personal bests in the Cayman Stroke and Stride Series (if holiday plans don’t interfere) and then in the Cayman Triathlon.
4. As part of this, I am to log 1,000 km running this year.
5. Personal best in the Flowers Sea Swim, which should also assist me in the Stroke and Stride and Triathlon.
6. Organise a team to travel to and participate in a Tough Mudder – I have wanted to do one of these for a while, they’re fun and physically challenging, which should be further motivation and reward for increasing my fitness. Then…
7. At the end of the year, try to get either a personal best in the Cayman Islands Half-Marathon, or a personal best 10k time (I organise a team for work, and only the first leg can run the half, so that is not under my control – if I have to run a later leg, I will target a different half marathon). Then…
8. If all has gone to plan, target the Cayman Islands Mercury Man in February 2019. I guess that means a lot is riding on Haskell giving me a good start to fitness this year… if it doesn’t go to plan, I’ll drop the run off the Mercury Man and complete the Aquabike.

What are your fitness goals and resolutions for the New Year, and recommendations for keeping them…?  Give me some inspirational stories below and check in for the results as the year goes on.

Too Tubby Tubbyman.