Goodbye 2024.

It's the end of yet another year, and I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the last twelve months. The general consensus among my friends is that this year has been a tough one. It's been my third 'tough one' in a row, but between two job losses and the end of a longterm relationship, there have been some really positive aspects of 2024 that I am grateful for.

Running

First and foremost, I became a runner. A proper one who does races and has a strava account and everything. At the start of the year I could barely run 3km, and I'm now training for my fourth race. This year, I ran three half marathons in races and in training I managed 30km. I joined a running club where I've made some incredible friends, and even became a run leader.

2025 starts strong with a backyard ultra in January - although I'm not planning on doing an ultra marathon distance. I'm aiming for four laps (which will be about 24km) though if I do more than two I'll be happy because my training was disrupted by an illness which lasted nearly a month. I've also got a 25km race booked in March, and a Marathon booked in April. In September I'll be doing the Great North Run which is supposed to be one of the world's best races, and I'm absolutely over the moon to have got in on the ballot.

The Gym

January 2024 started strong, with hitting PR's in my group class with weights I never thought I'd be able to do. As my running training got more serious, and as my body weight decreased, my strength has decreased. This isn't a negative thing, though. I have been focusing on conditioning, and increasing my endurance so that I can improve as a runner.

I have definitely fallen into the trap of focusing on my upper body, and worrying about overworking my legs whilst running training, but with a bit of guidance from my PT and fellow runners I've ended the year with a really good programme, and my performance both in the gym and running has improved exponentially.

Reading

A huge aim for this year was to be more mindful of my time, and to stop scrolling mindlessly for hours on end, so I set myself a challenge for 2024 to read 25 books. This is double what I've read in recent years (although there are other factors such as page counts to consider), and for the most part it worked. I'm currently on my 30th book, although November and December has been filled with cosy, easy to read fiction to round off the year. Another aim of mine was to utilise my local library, and spend less money buying books when I have so many, which I absolutely have done.

Writing

Ironically, my writing took a big 6 month dip in the middle of the year, which is mostly because I was focusing on my job and my running training. My writing club took a break, and I was spending a lot of time getting out and about. I didn't reach any of my writing goals, though I did submit to a publication at least once a month - and even got a submission accepted and published. I also received my first royalty cheque from a short story that was published in 2020.

Towards the end of the year, my writing club picked up again and I've made writing part of my daily routine, even with renewed running training. I have set myself some goals for 2025, but the most important one is to finish the first draft of my novel.

Community

I came into the year feeling deeply lonely. I'd been in my new city less than a year but I hadn't made many friends, and those I had made who weren't part of my gym were aloof at best. The most important thing I wanted to get out of 2024 was a community and good friends. Through the gym and through run club I've met some incredible people, and have spent the Christmas period celebrating with people I didn't know existed a year ago. I've been hiking with some of the most fun gym folks I've ever met, and made friends with people I'll keep in my life forever.

New Year Who This?

2025 has lot's of exciting things in store, and I have a really good feeling about it. The biggest one with regards to this blog, however, is that I'm going to be starting a youtube channel, and using that to keep you updated about things going on in my life and with my writing.

I love this blog, so it's not going to end, but I have a hard time keeping up with it. The goals for my youtube channel are totally different; I want to build more of a writerly community, and interact with people who are also early career writers, and readers with an eclectic taste. I'm in the planning stages as I write this blog, and have prerecorded a few videos, ready to post in the new year.

So watch this space, I'll post the link in the new year when I've started uploading. And keep your eye on my instagram for more writing and reading content.

Here's to having a great year in 2025.

Don't tread on the flowers

F x