December Outdoor Goal Review – Goodbye 2020

The end of the year: December. It came faster than I expected and was gone even quicker. December is full of holiday joy and family time. It is also really cold here in New York so most of those activities happen indoors (like baking cookies). Despite the cold, we still went outside (almost) daily and managed to achieve all of our outdoor goals, checking the last box on the very last day of the year!

It’s hard to talk about December without reflecting on the entire year to a certain degree. When I first set these goals at the beginning of 2020, I never expected this year to turn out the way it did. Nobody expected we would be socially distancing and wearing masks in December when we were looking forward to a new year last January. It seems like a lifetime ago when we went on a cruise and it’s crazy to think that that was just this past February. Time played tricks on us as the world was turned upside down.

Our outdoor goals provided us with some consistency throughout the year. No matter what, we kept moving forward toward these goals. It helped to ground us, bond us, and keep us from going crazy. I feel so lucky to live in an area with so many outdoor areas to explore, even if it was just the woods right outside our house. I’m going to continue living this outdoor lifestyle and tracking our numbers but this will be my last monthly review. I want to focus on other aspects of my blog, like Ela Wild’s “What Nature Can Teach Us”. If you want to continue to see all of our outdoor adventures for inspiration, follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

In case you need a reminder of my goals:

Spend an average of 1 hour/day outside with my kids. Setting this as a daily goal motivates me to make an effort every day instead of getting behind and then trying to play catch up. I’m hoping that we will surpass this goal, but for now, I am keeping this as an attainable goal. Plus, I made the goal in the winter and my youngest does NOT enjoy the cold. UPDATE: I surpassed any expectations of myself and would love to hit 1000 hours outside this year.
Hike/walk the year in miles. That is 2,020 miles during the year, an average of 5.5 miles/day. I am recording my miles every day to keep track of this.
52 hikes in 52 weeks. This includes the trail runs that I started to enjoy.

Over the course of the last year, it was these outdoor goals that helped me on my journey to achieve better mental health after postpartum depression and better physical health. You can follow our journey daily on Instagram!

I can’t believe I actually hit all my goals and can’t wait to continue living this new lifestyle that I found through them! For next year, I’m not making resolutions but will focus on doing a little better. I’ll continue to track our time outside, hikes, and miles in the hopes of beating our totals for 2020.

Goal #1: 1/hour outside every day in December

December was all about the holidays. Our decorations were up and the kids were so excited. We visited the tree farm to pick out the perfect tree and saw outdoor lights. Our local fire department had a mailbox to the North Pole and D was so excited to walk there and drop off his letter to Santa.

December is our final month to plan any outdoor projects and prepare for the winter. We measured our fence line so we can start planning the work to replace it (hopefully in spring). D loves helping out and it warmed my heart to watch him help his daddy outside! He even got his brother to help me as I prepped our garden for the winter by layering cardboard, straw, leaves, and compost.

December brought our first good snow of winter which brought so much joy and hours of outdoor time sledding and building snowmen. There is something magical about snow and there are endless ways to play in the snow that we have to drag the kids inside!

After the snow, comes ice. Christmas day brought a huge rainstorm that melted all the snow on the mountains. All that water rushed down and ended up turning to ice. We found some amazing icicles and lakes of ice. D wanted to go check the ice almost daily and it was fun to watch how it would change from day-to-day.

Christmas day came and so did Santa (aka Grandparents) with a big red, battery-powered ride-on for outside. This thing is so intense that they can drive our trash can back from the main road! I see this becoming a regular thing.

We went on a few small family walks and spent hours at a small creek throwing rocks, sticks, and sometimes just yelling at it. Getting out of the house is so important or I think we would all start tearing each other apart! This daily outdoor time is crucial for the kids’ development and all of our mental health.

Total time outside for the month: 49.5 hours

Daily Average for the month: 1 hour 34 minutes

Total time outside for the year: 1002 hours

Daily Average for the year: 2 hours 45 minutes

Not only did we meet our goal of a daily average of 1 hour outside, but we also hit 1000 hours total for the year! I’m so happy with this achievement and hope to beat our yearly total in 2021.

Goal #2: Hike/walk 2,020 miles

In December, I did avoid running and hiking at first because of the cold. We went on a couple of family hikes and I was able to run semi-regularly but the cold air really sucked it out of you if you don’t have the proper gear. While our kids have good clothes for the cold weather, we were a little more lacking. I was so close to this goal at the end of November that I knew when I was going to hit it and made sure to do a good trail run, hitting my 2,020th mile on a mountain.

After Christmas, however, we both received gifts of some cold-weather clothing that allowed us to be more active outside again! There is nothing like good gear to motivate you again. I finished the year strong with several long runs. Check out this video on Instagram for a quick look at my 2020 in miles.

Daily Average for month: 5 miles

Total Miles Walked this month: 154 miles

Total Miles Walked in the year: 2103.7/2020

Goal #3: 52 Hikes in 52 Weeks

We didn’t do any crazy hiking this month. Honestly, N doesn’t want to ride in the pack like that anymore so we are really limited to trails that he can walk at least part of. That doesn’t mean that we don’t get some beautiful views. There are so many rewarding trails that aren’t super difficult so we just kept going back to our favorites.

While N is enjoying hiking on his own feet more and more, he does still need a lift every now and again. I usually don’t mind if it means we get to make these types of memories.

Hikes are a great way to allow the kids to play with their friends and remain socially-distant (for the most part). It warms the heart and brings joy to the soul to hear the giggles and watch them run around and play.

We ended the year with a hike on New Year’s Eve to go out on a positive note. I can’t wait to explore more trails with my family and to continue raising and teaching my boys while hiking outside.

Read tips for hiking with a toddler and hiking with a baby!

Total Hikes this month: 7

Progress Toward Goal: 15/52

Mental and Physical Health December Check-In

As the cold weather moved in, I wasn’t ready. My wanderlust was pulling me to the mountains even though I knew it wasn’t a good time. I needed to focus on my family. The holidays made it easier since I just poured myself into creating the most magical day for my boys. I’ve found that I need something to do. I need something to keep my brain and my body active. During these colder months, I tend to get more creative in order to fill this need.

This also means getting more creative with my workouts. I took a little break from yoga during the holidays and still need to get back to it. The extent of my strength training was shoveling snow during December (if you have ever shoveled you’ll agree it counts). Running outside isn’t always possible in the winter months due to ice, wind, and general conditions. I have less daylight and therefore my window for a run is shortened. Having my husband home right now is the only reason I was able to go out some days!

That was my outdoor goals review of December and the final review of 2020. I hope that some of what we have done to inspire you to get outside. For more life adventures, check out my Instagram or Facebook pages.

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