24 in 24 Review
Last year I put together a list of 24 things I wanted to do in my 24th year. With my 25th birthday right around the corner, I figured it was time to evaluate and see how I did this year:
Fitness related:
1. Run a marathon
Done. I ran Philly in November.
2. Run each popular race distance (5k, 10k, half marathon, etc) one more time since it's my last year in the 20-24 age group.
I did OK here. I think I only missed the 10K.
3. Win an age group award. This requires finding a very small race.
Didn't happen.
4. Find and stick with some sort of strength training routine.
I was going strong with this all winter and then even in the spring, but fell over the wagon after that.
5. Break 2 hours in a half marathon.
Nope, but maybe next year.
6. Volunteer at a race.
I actually forget this was on the list. I spectated a race this year and volunteered to be my friend's cheerleader. That counts for something right?
7. Find a balance between having fun and sticking to a training plan.
This is something I'm still working on. Some weeks I'm really good at balancing everything out, others I struggle. But I have definitely seen improvement in this area.
Travel:
8. Go to Bermuda and or the Bahamas
I was thisclose to going on a cruise to the Bahamas, but then Libya happened (the first time back in winter) and gas prices went sky-rocketing and the cost of the cruise doubled. So yea, it didn't happen.
9. Swim with dolphins
I was supposed to swim with dolphins in the Bahamas. I did however, see some dolphins super close to the shore when I was at the beach earlier this summer.
10. Spend at least one weekend at the beach completely unplugged to recharge my batteries.
I didn't go for a weekend, but I spent two weekdays at the beach relaxing. I didn't unplug though. I packed my laptop and did some work while I was there.
11. Visit a place I’ve never been before. A friend of mine one year made it his mission to see one new place each month for a year. I always thought that was a cool idea.
Done. I went to New Orleans in the winter for the first time ever.
Friends and Family:
12. Stay in touch with friends, who are all spread out now, whether that be through phone or email.
I did OK with this. I kept up with some friends, but not as well with others. Could still use some work in this area.
13. Spend more time with my family. That includes cousins locally and family back in PA.
Success! I spent a lot more time with my family this year than I have other years, especially my cousins who are local, and I'm really glad I have. I love spending time with my cousins. They are amazingly awesome people and we always have a good time together. Between weddings and birthday parties and other random dinners, it was a fun year!
Money:
14. Start saving to buy a house. Not that I’m anywhere close to ready to do this, but it will be good to have some money set aside.
I'm still no where near ready to buy a house, but I did start a savings account just for this purpose that I put a little bit of money into each month.
Self Improvement:
15. Read at least one book a month. (Ideally more)
Done!
16. Try meditation.
I did a lot of yoga in the winter, but no straight up meditation.
17. Go to more cultural events/festivals in my area. I live near DC and I never take advantage of it like I should.
I spent more time doing fun things in D.C., but still haven't really taken advantage of the various events and festivals.
18. Complete a cross word puzzle without having to Google any answers
Epic fail. I think I maybe attempted three crosswords the entire year.
19. Learn how to take better pictures. Maybe take a photography class.
My photo skills have improved, but they still aren't great. I'd still like to take a class at some point.
20. Find time to volunteer with organizations I care about.
The keyword there was finding time and I never did. I contacted people at Girls on the Run about being a coach, but just couldn't make it work with my schedule.
21. Unplug at least a half hour before I go to bed. Take that time to read or relax.
Yea this didn't happen. Most nights I come home from my day job and start working on blog projects and I'm plugged in until the moment my head hits the pillow.
22. Be more spontaneous and less "type-A everything must be planned days/weeks in advance". Learn to roll with it.
I'm still working on this. In some ways I've gotten better, but I still really like to plan and I haven't let go of that.
23. Break out of my comfort zone and try some new restaurants instead of always relying on the same few.
Thanks in part to the D.C. blogger dinners and my coworkers who love to try new places, I tried a ton of new restaurants this year and most of them were really good!
24. Do something that scares the pants off me. I’m not sure what this will be yet, but I'm always open to ideas.
I flew by myself twice this year, which is a pretty scary thing for me, but I don't think it quite falls into the category of "scares the pants off me." Need to work on this for next year.
Overall, I think I did OK with this list. There's still plenty of room for improvement and I'll be carrying some of these things over for next year. All I know is that if my 24th year was pretty good, my 25th year is going to be epic.
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