This year we level up!

I began penning race and fitness goals a couple of years ago. I never really bought into New Year’s resolutions, but I do believe that having goals and actually writing them down is truly powerful. This year I found it tougher to decide on what 2017’s goals should be. It took me almost an entire month (and some time off from blogging this January) to sit down and commit to what I wanted to achieve. Finally, it’s been narrowed down to a simple question, “Have I levelled up?”

At first glance, that doesn’t exactly meet the SMART philosophy of goal setting.  But actually, I think it does. Let me explain 🙂

Last year was an epic for LTC. I worked with some awesome people and brands, we made a movie, inspired people to get out onto the trails, I ran my first marathon in November (Winelands Marathon) and then went on to complete an ultra in December. A super-duper year and I thank everyone for their encouragement whether it was training-related or just your support for the LTC movement – a lot of these achievements are due to you

I learnt a few things last year which really helped with achieving my goals:

1. Having one major race for the year (mine was Ultra-trail Cape Town 65km) was the best thing for me. It felt like every run, workout, recovery session, cent spent on physio and kit etc. was all about building to that one race and it really helped with my focus
2. Sharing the trails with so many new people during the LTC Together runs was really fun. We got to meet so many people and made great new friends. This will definitely be continuing into 2017 and you all can expect the courses to take a step up as well 😉
3. And the biggest lesson of all was doing what feels right. There were a couple of times when a tough decision had to be made whether it was about working with certain brands or even making a call on when to abandon a trail run. Those decisions were tough in the short term, but in the long run I’m super happy that I went with what felt right. So more trusting my gut in 2017 lol

Today I woke up an ultra runner 💪😎 What a special day it was yesterday as I got to take on the @utct 65km with @kaleidoscopic_fitgirl. The months of sacrifice and training paid off as we smashed our targeted time of 15hrs with a 12hr 36min finish! We had amazing support from family and friends and am just so thankful for having such special people in my life, especially my amazing wife @aanikahhb who seconded us along the route. Big shoutout to @raetrewbrowne @peterjmoses and @phillipgibb who pulled us through in some really dark times along the race. I’m also super excited to be working with the boy genius @zahr_abader to pull a short film together about our experiences on the day. Ultra running is no picnic 😂 On another note, my bum is really really sore 🙈😂 📷: @reyanahmanuel #leavethecouch #utct2016 #trailrunning #TeamLTC

A photo posted by Fareed Behardien (@leavethecouch) on Dec 10, 2016 at 10:24pm PST

But as awesome as 2016 was, it will not be known as the year that LTC peaked. I won’t accept that.

So this year, my goal is to level up and make sure that 2017 is another big one.

On a training note, the goal event for 2017 is PUFfeR. I can’t actually believe that I’ve got the balls to put it down as a goal! A few years ago I wouldn’t have even dreamt myself capable of completing a race of its pedigree and it would definitely confirm that I have levelled up by crossing that finish line. Sitting here writing this, I am optimistic about the challenge, but SHIT it’s a big one!

With all my focus on this one event, a couple of other secondary goals will have to be achieved in order to arrive there fit and ready to rock:

• Finding the right training plan to help me toughen up (any recommendations?)
• Aligning the training plan to fit the other parts of my life i.e. family and work
• Participating in events that will allow me to prepare for the rigours of PUFfeR. There are some epic trail races that I’ve got my eye on such as the Mountain Challenge series and Ocean 2 Ocean. I still can’t believe how the races have stepped up in badass-ness

Welcome to my playground – image by Ebrahim Dalvie

On a blogging note, my goals are to continue growing LTC by:

• Producing more video content with talented filmmakers (including another short film)
• Have a few more people appear on LTC. This blog was always about showing that ordinary people have the power to change their lives and start being active and living healthier. It’s not just the Fareed show and I’m sure everyone is tired of seeing my mug
• Find another way that others can interact with LTC through merch (trucker caps for everyone!) and maybe even an event. Prepare yourself for something cray-cray

All while staying true to the message that we are ordinary peeps trying to live active lifestyles and encouraging others to do so as well. We’ll be breaking some rules and pissing people off along the way – because being disruptive is fun 🙂

So that’s kind of my plan for levelling up in 2017. I really hope we can achieve it all and even more. I’m excited to be sharing it with you and hopefully when I look back as a (wiser) man in December 2017 the answer to “Have I levelled up?” will be a confident “Yes!”

Good luck with all of your 2017 goals. Let’s kick some ass this year!

– Peace

Image by Zahier Abader