Sandy's Blog

I just checked my blog to see I haven’t written any posts since October … okay I guess that could be some kind of New Years Resolution, keep the blog going.

I went to The Hoog for Hogmanay, which was basically a Celidh/Big party in the assembly rooms. It was a great night, my mum, auntie, uncle and cousin came up from Englandshire which made it a bit of a special evening. I had a bit too much to drink, managed to rip my girlfriends tights with some dancing involving aerial maneuvers, which seemed a good idea at the time! Also managed to spin her straight into one of those huge event speakers … not the best!

So well, at this time its usually good to take stock of what has gone on, and what I could do better/achieve this coming year.

“Good stuff” thats happened in the last year

• Moved out of parents house, into my own place
• Switched jobs
• Met my girlfriend
• Took part in the Polish mountain bike stage race
• Started doing lots more road biking
• Tentatively started running
• Became a bit better with managing money etc (I was forced to)
• Increased my understanding of fitness, what works for me etc
• Continued to go to the gym, figured out some time efficient exercises, which mainly involve free weights
• Managed to only miss one Spanish class all year …

“Not so good stuff” thats happened in the last year

• Haven’t traveled as much as I would have liked to
• Missed a lot of bike events due to money and transportation problems
• Found it hard to make time for friends of mine
• Although I continued to take Spanish classes, I found it increasingly difficult to find time to do the homework and have not been getting enough from the classes
• Was issued with a statutory notice for roof repairs

So, looking ahead, what would I like to do/achieve this year?

• Work on career stuff
  In general, my new job has been going pretty well, however, like everything its all about time and effort and I feel the need to focus some of my efforts on this stuff, at least for the forseeable future.
• Redecorate both bedrooms in my flat
  In a world of procrastination, I think it would be prudent to have a specific yearly objective to redecorate both bedrooms. Number one priority is the second bedroom though, and I’m considering turning it into a study/spare room.
• Do a half marathon
  One of my friends has invited me to do the “Forthside Half” in April. In general if I can keep training occasionally I should be able to manage this. My longest run so far has been about 9 miles which took me roughly 65 minutes.
• Try a triathlon
  I’m sort of drawn to do a triathlon somehow. Currently I’m not too bad on the bike, my running is improving, and although I haven’t been swimming in ages, I think with a bit of practise this could be my real strength. This is a bit of a wildcard though and I’m not 100% sure I will actually do this.
• Do some other events I haven’t done before
  Rather than consuming time and money doing the same stuff year in year out, I may try a few new things. A friend and her boyfriend have invited me to do the Arctic Circle 24 adventure race as a trio, although that is in the earliest stages of organisation.
  Dougal took part in the Etape Caledonia last year, which he said was very good, and is something I have my eye on definitely. In addition both him and Tom have entered the Grand Raid Cristalp, something I have wanted to do for years but I think at the moment, may be a bit beyond me.
  I may also be doing the biking part of the Glentress duathlon, and may give The Mighty Deerstalker a go, however they are both in the same weekend!
• Continue with Spanish
  This will be my third year of study, and although its only once a week, it does stick after a while.
• Have a non/minimally bike related holiday
  I don’t know how likely this will be, both in terms of time and well, I always seem to pack a bike!? A spanish speaking country will probably be the destination so I can continue practising the language.
• Read some novels
  I read one or two books in the last year, and although this is a total time pit, its also fairly relaxing and probably good for my English.
• Get a TV
  Although I never really watched TV when I did have one, it is annoying not having one to watch films etc on. This is dependent on how good/bad the roof repairs are and how much money (if any) I have left over.

So, not a big list eh? Most of that stuff is a brain dump, and I probably wont achieve any of it. I hope everyone had a good new year, best of luck for 2008!