2021 review / 2022 plans

[speedingfine]

What's your 5k time Gavster? There's no way I'm anywhere near I just want to check

[Matty]

I'm only averaging 10min miles so not very fast but that's so much better than the unfit mess that I was prior to starting.

Just going out now for a couple of miles to get started. Let's hope my heart doesn't explode

How old are you? 10 min/mile is pretty quick - it's on pace for the 5k/30min which is a decent task if you're 40+
I managed the 5k/30min last year, but like Gav I found that I enjoyed running far more if I stopped timing myself and just went out without a goal.

[Gavster]

What's your 5k time Gavster? There's no way I'm anywhere near I just want to check

It's nothing crazy fast, I was doing around 19:15 at the start of 2021, my PB is 18:28 on a hilly parkrun (Highbury fields, 2nd place out of 133), but that was back in my thirties. I've always been plagued with injuries so never felt that I reached my peak in any races. Will still have the occasional stab at a race when it takes my fancy hbu?

[McSwede]

I'm only averaging 10min miles so not very fast but that's so much better than the unfit mess that I was prior to starting.

Just going out now for a couple of miles to get started. Let's hope my heart doesn't explode

How old are you? 10 min/mile is pretty quick - it's on pace for the 5k/30min which is a decent task if you're 40+
I managed the 5k/30min last year, but like Gav I found that I enjoyed running far more if I stopped timing myself and just went out without a goal.

I'm 48. It doesn't feel fast and is especially slow when I see some of the times other people run over various bits I run on Strava.

[speedingfine]

Good Lord, very impressive Gav, certainly counts as crazy fast to me

My best 5k time is just under 25 mins but my route isn't ideal for setting a time, it's a bit uphill and down dale. I should enter a race really and see what I can manage, but I have a bit of a love hate relationship with running. Love what it does for my mental health, hate actually getting my trainers on and putting the miles in

[Delphi]

All things considered, 2021 wasn't a bad year.

Family
Everything ticking along nicely. Wife and boy both delightful. Acquired another dog - I'd forgotten how much work a puppy is!

Work
Quit contracting at the end of March and became a permanent employee. Day to day, nothing much has changed other than I get lots of employee benefits. Having the job security is nice and helps offset the reduction in income. I'm expecting a decent bonus in March as I got a pretty much perfect appraisal and rating.

Car(s)
The V60 went back to be replaced by an XC40 Inscription Pro and one minor annoyance aside, it's been an excellent family car so far.

Not driven the 928 as much as I would have liked and it's cost me a fair chunk of money (which was entirely expected). It did give sterling service as a daily driver for 6 weeks in the gap between the V60 going back and the XC40 arriving. There's just the A/C to fix, then the interior and a respray. By summer it should be utterly sorted and I'm hoping to get to more TIPEC and Porsche Owners Club meets.

Other
Managed to get back to regular judo training which improved my fitness and managed to finally finish off my last dan grade points in November (at the expense of a torn rotator cuff). The winding up of my contracting company and the sale of the house my ex-wife is currently in are both taking longer than I would have liked but if I can get everything sorted by the end of Q1 this year, I'll be happy.

[mr_jon]

Good Lord, very impressive Gav, certainly counts as crazy fast to me

My best 5k time is just under 25 mins but my route isn't ideal for setting a time, it's a bit uphill and down dale. I should enter a race really and see what I can manage, but I have a bit of a love hate relationship with running. Love what it does for my mental health, hate actually getting my trainers on and putting the miles in

Joining a local running/athletics club is a good idea if you want to improve, or even just for the socials.

I'm at 22mins 5k/48 for the 10k. I really struggle with running compared to cycling and swimming, just too heavy I think at 90KG, plus long torso to shorter legs ratio doesn't help. I'd really like to go sub-20 one day, even if it's just the once! However I think I'll have to shed 10KG to do that

[duncs500]

2021:
Personal life wise I've not got too much in my sights except for trying to enjoy it as much as I can, try to be a better husband and father, and enjoy watching the little one develop.

As usual work is big on my agenda, I really need to make a change. I don't know what the economy and jobs market are going to be like next year, but certainly HS2 isn't any harm in terms of absorbing a fair amount of people (most of it doesn't really appeal to me, but helps open other opportunities). I do have a few irons in the fire at the moment, so with a bit of luck one of them will pan out, although I won't hold my breath.

Need to keep going with the exercise, which might suffer if I do get a new job that I may need to throw myself into, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Looking forward to enjoying the Lotus and ticking a few things off the to-do list in terms of both the car and the garage.

Just like everyone else, some time with friends in the pub and maybe a beer festival or two wouldn't go a miss as soon as possible as well!

All in all, bring it on, looking forward to 2021.

2021 review:

Well I achieved my main goal of 2021 by starting a new job in February. The new job has been everything the old job was in both good and bad ways. It's been a huge challenge, I started in a new framework/client for the business, a new role for me, a new discipline of sorts for me, and despite there being a number of people more experienced, since I've been there I am the only one who has delivered projects for the client so far, so the spotlight has been entirely and at times painfully on me and my team. That said, I wanted to be somewhere where I meant something, and where I mattered, so whilst it's been stressful and I've wanted to quit at times, I do still feel that one day I'm going to wrestle it into a well oiled machine that makes money in the way that the client can't wait to give you it. Don't really like my boss which makes life unpleasant at times, but I managed to recruit an old colleague/friend to work with me, and with one other we have a really good team going that I enjoy working in. So all in all, I'm relatively optimistic that with every project we get a bit better, and soon enough we will be the top show in town (we'll see how we're going next year, it'll probably be at least that in truth as project life cycles tend to be a year or so and I continue to close out legacy issues from others that have been dropping in my lap).

Personal life wise, been a challenging year bringing up a little one, as I'm sure many in here will know. It has definitely strained marital relations at times. I think we've done a good parenting job, and I think as the year has gone on I've more and more got the hang of being a dad and enjoyed it. A lot of sacrifices of course, but hopefully we're still allowing ourselves to enjoy life as much as the little one will allow.

I went on a diet and lost around a stone, and although sporadic at times with work and the little one, I've been swimming and going to the gym relatively regularly. Let it slide over Christmas, but I will get back on it and go for my goal weight this year.

Lotus hasn't done many miles sadly, I go out locally fairly regularly, but not done anything remotely interesting.

All in all, I'd summarise 2021 as a decent year, but room for improvement.

2022:

Work wise, just got to build on 2021 and hopefully fight to get it into a place where the work load is manageable and we're delivering effectively. Not sure it's possible as the client keep pumping more work our way, and we don't seem to want to say we can't handle it, but just need to keep finding ways to be more efficient I guess (either that or have a nervous breakdown! ).

Personal life wise, as before, be a better husband and farther, but probably put more emphasis on the husband side of it this year.

Hit my dietary goals, I think I'll do it, a bit of damage done over Christmas but Jan and Feb are particularly easy months to be disciplined.

Definitely do more with the Lotus, driving it the other day thanks to that mild spell reminded me how enjoyable it is, so as much as family commitments allow I want to make the most of it. Couple of trackdays and a road trip is the aim, lets see how I go!

Other hobbies wise, looking forward to cooking some bbq again soon, and considering giving home brewing a go (just reading up at this point, but looks interesting).

Relatively calm year by the looks of it, don't have loads of money due to nursery costs, but still think it will be enjoyable. Could do with COVID becoming less of a big deal and getting on with enjoying life.

[Matty]

I'm 48. It doesn't feel fast and is especially slow when I see some of the times other people run over various bits I run on Strava.

Lets be real here - <30min 5k is good going, regardless. Your athletic ability starts to decline fairly rapidly after 30, so that's a great time. Gav's "not crazy fast" sub-20mins is a complete understatement tbh not crazy fast for a pro athelite maybe, but for recreational runners who aren't in their 20's, that's impressive

[McSwede]

I'm 48. It doesn't feel fast and is especially slow when I see some of the times other people run over various bits I run on Strava.

Lets be real here - <30min 5k is good going, regardless. Your athletic ability starts to decline fairly rapidly after 30, so that's a great time. Gav's "not crazy fast" sub-20mins is a complete understatement tbh not crazy fast for a pro athelite maybe, but for recreational runners who aren't in their 20's, that's impressive

After 6 weeks or inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption and shedloads of food I would think I could run 5k at the moment I might sign up for a Park Run as motivation to crack on.

[240PP]

I run 5 or 6 days a week, between 3.5 and 4.5 miles each time. Per mile I’m around 9:30 but it varies depending on how I’m feeling. Yesterday was 4.5 miles at 9:12, tonight will no doubt be slower, but I’ve stopped caring about how fast I go. As long as you do the run then who gives a fuck?

[McSwede]

but I’ve stopped caring about how fast I go. As long as you do the run then who gives a fuck?

I'd never really thought about it like that, and your right .

[Marv]

Yep I'll get started on the Spanish ASAP!

Edit: having looked more into Ayahuasca it doesn't look bliss it looks shit scary! Did you do that @Gavster and how was your experience?

I quite like the idea of flying to Guadalajara for a few weeks to do some Spanish lessons. I tried Duolingo for about 3-4 months and didn't find that it worked for me.

https://www.glc.com.mx/prices.htm

[nuttinnew]

I've just had the most exercise I've had for a long, long time; sweeping the gravel rain has washed onto a slope, trying to get it done before it starts raining again. Failed, with heart making a bid for freedom, and wheezing muchly. I'll have to find the handle extension before next time so that's two plans for 2022.

[Ascender]

I run 5 or 6 days a week, between 3.5 and 4.5 miles each time. Per mile I’m around 9:30 but it varies depending on how I’m feeling. Yesterday was 4.5 miles at 9:12, tonight will no doubt be slower, but I’ve stopped caring about how fast I go. As long as you do the run then who gives a fuck?

One of the things that seems to have changed about ultra marathons in the last few years is an obsession with times which really wasn't there for a long time (other than with the elite runners). Its nearly as bad as road marathons where when I'll ask someone "how did your race go?" and they'll inveitbaly start off with 32 excuses as to why they didn't get the time they were aiming for. Enjoy the run and be proud of what you've achieved.

[dinny_g]

Ascender - are you the guy who did the Marathon Des Sables ?? Mike ??

I am terrible at keeping track of Users once everyone was able to change and then we moved to the new board etc...

[Ascender]

Ascender - are you the guy who did the Marathon Des Sables ?? Mike ??

I am terrible at keeping track of Users once everyone was able to change and then we moved to the new board etc...

Yip, guilty.

[dinny_g]

Thank Fuck for that - at least my memory isn't completely gone...

[Beany]

Applied for a job today - had a good long chat with the recruitment consultant. Talked about my current employment situation.

His response to each stanza was to get more and more shocked at my current working conditions. So he's going to backchannel some of his favoured clients and see if they fancy a gobby, broadly experienced (but looking to focus) IT veteran on staff.

So that's a slight improvement on 2022 so far....

This more recent job hunting flurry has been spurred on by even the checkout lasses at Lidl pointing out that they don't remember seeing me, and me ever saying I'd had a day off, or I'd not been doing some work - even on weekends. And that I should get a new job. So that they can hear about me having Fun Times, not Work Times.

Can't let the checkout girls down!

[RobYob]

Good luck with the escape plan Beany!