A Year of Running ================= .. articleMetaData:: :Where: London, UK :Date: 2015-12-31 12:15 Europe/London :Tags: walking :Short: run15 Today is the last day of the year. Champagne has been acquired, and I am gearing up to see The Force Awakens tonight. These are the times that we look back on the past year. From a technical point of view, lots of things happened of course, such as `PHP 7`_, new PHP and HHVM drivers for MongoDB, and many many more. But that is not what I want to focus this year's review on. Instead, I want to talk about running and setting goals. Go back in time a year. A little more than a year actually. It is Christmas and the usual question *Have you made any resolutions for the new year?* pops up again. Well, for once, I had — and I don't mean 1024x768. With my circumference gradually getting larger, I had decided to do something about it: get fitter, and actually mean it. After seeing many of my family-in-law being addicted to running, picking up *moving my legs really fast* seemed liked a promising venture for doing something about my level of fitness (level 0, really). I know that starting something is easy, but that finishing something is hard. I already dabbed with running when I was still living in Norway, but I was pretty good at coming up with excuses to not go running: *oh, it rains*, *oh, it is cold* (always works in Norway!), or *oh, I got out of bed too late*. One thing I did manage to do back in 2007, was actually buying running trainers! .. image:: images/pebble-c25k.jpg :align: left Eight years later, I picked up these same running trainers. But I also needed a plan. A plan to follow to the letter. Without a good plan, I was doomed to fail. This plan came in the form of a `Couch to 5K`_ program—also promoted by the NHS_. The NHS makes a handy podcast available, but I instead opted for using a `C25K app`_ on my Pebble_. It is very basic, but it does do the trick. Couch to 5K requires you to do three runs per week, gradually pushing you from *walk a few minutes* to *run for 30 minutes*. I choose to run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and promised to myself to stick to it. And I did. I do remember my first run, not far from home in `Queen's Park`_. The first run consisted of 5 minutes of warm up walking, and then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. By the third *run for 60 seconds* I thought I was going to collapse. But I persisted, and completed my first run. I nearly had to crawl home. But I noticed that with the second and third workouts of that first week, things already started to improve. So I continued with weeks two, three, and then four, only missing one Friday run because of `PHP Benelux`_, where I instead ran on a Saturday. And then came the third run of week five. The dreaded *run for 20 minutes without any breaks*. I made it, with shaking legs, but I was so pleased with myself! I finished the Couch to 5K in 10 weeks, instead of 9 as I went skiing in Norway for a week. By this time, I had also signed up for RunKeeper_ to track `my progress`_. Of course also to drool over statistics—I am a geek after all! With encouragement from my wife, I also signed up for my first real race with `The Race Organiser`_ in Hyde Park on April 12th. They organise smaller races, with about 500 people showing up. Excellent for novice and experienced runners alike. I set myself a goal for completing this race within an hour. I managed to cross the finish line in 59m13s. Great success! .. image:: images/run-the-river.jpg :align: right Since the first run on a cold January morning, I ran 846km and completed several races: A 3.2 mile race in `Central Park`_ with work as part of the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge, the `Vitality British 10K London Run`_ with 20 000 other runners in Central London, the `Kew Gardens 10K`_, an awful `Run the River`_ 5K around Tower Bridge, and finishing with a last race in Regent's Park in the middle of December. I steadily improved my performance up to the point where my 10K Personal Best is now 49m17s. I definitely got addicted! I have also lost 1½ stone, and soon might need new jeans. All I have changed this year is starting to run. I still enjoy beer_, whisky_, and food ☺. But why am I talking to you about running? It is all about setting goals and following them up with a plan. My first goal was to get off the couch, and used *Couch to 5K* as my set of milestones. Then I signed up for a 10K, and worked towards that. Setting a goal, with measurable milestones is something that does not only apply to running, but also to career development. Set a goal, figure out a plan how to get there with mile stones and then work towards them. And practice, lots of practise! In 2016, I will continue to run, work on Xdebug_, and perhaps work on a new project for whisky drinkers — stay tuned for that. As a last note, and I don't know what overcame me, I have signed up for a half marathon in 50 days with the goal to complete it in under two hours! Wish me good luck! Perhaps a marathon later in 2016‽ Enjoy the last hours of 2015, and **Happy New Year**! .. _`PHP 7`: http://php.net/archive/2015.php#id2015-12-03-1 .. _`Couch to 5K`: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml .. _NHS: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k-plan.aspx .. _`C25K app`: https://apps.getpebble.com/en_US/application/52e81bd9afe0908ce9000002 .. _Pebble: https://www.pebble.com/ .. _`Queen's Park`: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Park,_London#Queen.27s_Park .. _`PHP Benelux`: https://conference.phpbenelux.eu/2015/ .. _RunKeeper: https://runkeeper.com .. _`my progress`: https://runkeeper.com/user/derickr .. _`The Race Organiser`: http://www.theraceorganiser.com/ .. _finished : https://runkeeper.com/user/derickr/activity/546499946 .. _`Central Park`: https://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/events.php?city_id=6 .. _`Vitality British 10K London Run`: http://www.thebritish10klondon.co.uk/ .. _`Kew Gardens 10K`: https://www.richmondrunningfestival.com/ .. _`Run the River`: https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/run-river-2015 .. _beer: https://untappd.com/ .. _whisky: http://www.amazon.co.uk/registry/wishlist/SLCB276UZU8B .. _Xdebug: http://xdebug.org