January will be somewhat of a chaotic month.

January may traditionally be the quiet, broke month in which people obsess over fitness and money (and who says I won’t?) but it’s the perfect time to hit personal goals, undistracted by other people. 

I have four targets to hit. 

Namman Muay

 

1) Improve flexibility 

I recently bought some Namman Muay Thai oil, a traditional eastern product that warms up the skin, joints and muscles, and is known to prevent bruising. Muay Thai fighters use it before fighting to aid recovery. 

The plan is to use this on my legs to gain some flexibility, whilst polishing off a few books that I really want to read. I’ve tried this project many time before, but this will be the first one with authentic Namman Muay, something I used to use in the early 00s when I trained in Muay Thai. 

My record for sitting splits is 163cm from 2014. I’ve just sat down and got 140cm. Let’s see if I can beat 163. 

2) Beat my outdoor run record 

I have a route near me that takes around 45 mins to do. On a good day I can do it in 40. I managed 38:06 in October last year, at a time when I was living off spinach and kale smoothies. My weight was plummeting and I was beating my chin-up records frequently. It could be done again, if I have a similar diet. (I’m not going to let my freezer food perish this time, though.) 

3) Beat my indoor run record 

Back in 2013, when I was 31, I managed to run for 10 minutes at 14.1km/ph. In November this year, in preparation for the Santa Dash, a 5km run, I managed to match said record. Then after the Santa Dash I ate a load of junk food as a reward. I can get nowhere near now. But the diet will be back on track, the work will be put in and I expect I can get back to where I was in a month. Just watch. 

4) Fit back into my suit trousers 

I managed this back in November ‘22, after lots of vegetable smoothies. I could do it again, but I’d like a little more variety this time. I got a new smoothie maker for Christmas, as the last one stopped working after the connectors near the motor ran out. I will mix in a few smoothies – spinach and kale, etc. - but I’ll try for a bit more variety of veg, and a bit more roughage too – solid veg and meat. I also don’t want to neglect the freezer food that I’ve already bought. I learned last time, it doesn’t last as long as you’d think. 

I was 72.2kg when I got back into my suits. I’m 81.5kg now. Let’s see where I am in a month’s time, but let’s carry on after that and see what happens.