I know, I know. Resolutions are ridiculous, meant to be broken, recipes for failure, right?

Well, they don’t have to be. Every year, my dad resolves to give up alcohol for the first quarter of the year. I think it may have started as a month, but it’s grown to several months. He doesn’t even make an exception for St. Patrick’s Day.

I don’t remember a lot of my past new year’s resolutions, although I’m certain I’ve broken scores of them. I did manage to make homemade marshmallows (a 2012 food-related resolution) a few days before the end of the year, though, and they were awesome (don’t worry, I’ll be posting the recipe and photos soon). This year, I want to make my own pasta and chocolate-hazelnut spread.

But I wanted a fitness-related goal that is both doable and measurable, one that isn’t so strict that one off week will derail the entire enterprise. I was inspired by a friend who runs 1,000 miles a year, and my father, who once golfed 100 times in a year (quite the feat, considering he lives in Detroit). I decided to try to swim 100 miles and run 500 miles this year.

Now, some people I know (my brother and Rob P., for instance) probably accomplish those numbers in a month. Perhaps you can, too. But I didn’t want to commit to something I am guaranteed not to finish, and I want to be able to go to core barre once in a while, too. So 100/500 it is.

So far I’ve made a chart (with markers, no stickers yet), swam 1.5 miles and run 4. I’m hoping to beef up both of those numbers this weekend. But I’d like to hear about your resolutions! And if you’d like to join me in either or both of my mileage-related goals, please let me know by emailing me or leaving a comment below. I can send you encouraging presents at various points during the year! Just make sure you put your email address in the little box on the comment thingy, so I can get your mailing address.

Happy 2013!