Year in Review - 2017

First I can't believe I haven't written a single blog post on this blog in 2017. I did write few drafts on Medium but I am surprised I didn't publish any thing and in a way having mixed feelings. Not sure if I need to look that as I was very focused in accomplishing other things or I didn't take the time to publish. I am going to choose to look at it as "I was very focused in accomplishing things".

In fact I did accomplish quiet a bit in 2017. 2017 has been a year of focus and getting things done.

So what did I accomplish in 2017 ?

Running 

• Had a PR in Kaiser with 1:31:26. (was shooting for sub 1:30 and didn't make it
• Had a PR at the Tokyo Marathon with 3:12:25 although I cramped badly as I was shooting for sub 3:10
• Had a PR at the Bay to Breakers with 50:04 (was shooting for sub-50 and didn't make it)
• Bonked terribly at the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon as I got greedy and was shooting for sub-3:05, started with the 3:07 group and mostly gave up the race by the half way point. Ended up running the marathon in 3:23 something.
• Had a PR at the second half of the San Francisco Half marathon with 1:30:18 (was shooting for sub 1:30 and didn't make it)
• Had a PR at the Berlin Marathon with 3:05:32 although I cramped badly as I was shooting for sub-3 
• Ran a marathon under 3 hours at the California International Marathon with 2:58:44. This got me qualified for Boston and of course was my PR. This was my biggest accomplishment of all and it didn't come easy. 
• I also noticed I ran almost 2000+ miles for the year.

Overall a great year for my running with some good accomplishments. I ran a marathon under 3 hours, qualified for Boston, had a PR in 5 of the 6 races I did this year.  Ran the half under 1:30 during my sub-3 marathon (1:29:35, 1:29:09). Did sub-19 5K's during training. A good year for my running. It wasn't easy but it was worth all the effort that went into it.  

I remember naively writing down in 2011 about qualifying for Boston by 2012. After feeling guilty and sick of myself of "thinking and dreaming" about Boston but not doing much about it, I wrote down my goal of BQ in an attempt to get disciplined and determined about achieving the goal. It  took me almost 6 years more to actually achieve that goal.

In hindsight it makes sense, I was more interested and excited about running the marathon in all the 50 states and 7 continents that I didn't focus on qualifying for Boston. I do vividly remember going through the dilemma of "Should I focus on BQ or running the states and continents ?".  I chose the 50 states and 7 continents over BQ. While BQ is what got me started to run, traveling the 50 states and 7 continents is what excited me. Running became an excuse for traveling.  After completing the 50 states and 7 continents last year I couldn't give that excuse of "50 states and 7 continents" anymore.

Wow, qualifying for Boston and running a marathon is not easy. It took a lot of focus and discipline and I am very happy and glad I did it. It was worth all the pain and suffering. I am glad I did it. 

Traveling

• Tokyo - Japan Trip
• Berlin - Germany Trip
• Hyderabad - India Trip (twice in the year)
• Ventura Trip
• Sacramento Trip

Camping/Hiking/Adventure/Fun

• Yosemite Trip
• Redwoods Trip

Public Speaking

• Finished the Storytelling Manual (5 speeches) at  Toastmasters 

Entrepreneurship

• Did decently well but plan to change the direction and get lot more focused.

Sleep 

• Got 7hrs of sleep on an average through out the year (FitBit showed that I didn't get much sleep in the first 8 months and I caught up on the sleep in the last 4 months). 

Reading

• Read at least 25 books this year.
• I read a book a week on average in the last 4 months of the year. (Need to be consistently reading instead of reading just towards the end of the year

Writing

• Wrote for 270 days of the year, writing at least 1000 - 2000 words per day.
• Wrote consistently everyday starting from April.
• Made some good progress on writing the memoir book, coming up with the manuscript. Yet to finish the editing and finalize the manuscript.

Simple Living 

• Donated most of my medals (almost 50+ medals) to a Kids Cancer hospital
• Donated many of my clothes to St. Anthony's Diner

While I like living simply and minimally, I also wanted to remind myself "I didn't run it for the medals". I wanted the medals to find a home where they will be cherished and be of much more value than lying in one corner of my apartment. I didn't want my accomplishments to get to my head and also wanted to remind myself "we come with nothing and we go with nothing but it is what we leave that matters". I am glad I donated all my medals to the children's hospital.

                                     

Missed ...

• on Summit goals, writing goals, few more adventure/fun trips,  relationship goals and creating additional value 

Overall a focused year of getting things done. Had some really good accomplishments with running, decent accomplishments with traveling, reading, writing, public speaking, getting good sleep and eating decently well.  More importantly I was happy I didn't spend much time on the Internet, especially the Social Media and the messaging apps. I am happy for cutting down the distractions and getting focused.

Looking forward to making 2018 much more focused with working on the goals daily, instead of just few weeks or months of the year. I am excited about the daily schedule and looking forward to see how diligently I can follow the schedule of living life and making a living.

To 2018 - a year of focus and doing.