It’s been a big year. I’m still very busy, and still in a probably lifelong process of trying to work out what the most important things in my life are and what I should be prioritising!
Business is still going well and is still nicely time-balanced, but I’ve become too reliant on a few ongoing contracts that are coming to an end. For 2025 I have some plans to branch out in both my main proofreading business and my side hustles.
I only released two short games this year. This is nowhere near my usual prolific release rate, but I just haven’t had the creative energy or motivation, largely due to being tired from my increased running mileage. It was great to be able to make those two games towards the end of the year, but I would really love to be able to complete something longer in 2025 – especially as my interest in writing poetry and prose fiction is also rekindling, and so there might be a few competing creative priorities.
It’s been another incredible year in running. I’ve got back to marathon training (Manchester and Yorkshire were both huge learning experiences), run my first ultra, and improved in my shorter distances as well. I set targets at the start of the year to run 30+ miles every single week, run a half marathon distance run at least once per month, and be more consistent with my strength training. I have achieved all of those and am very proud of myself. My daily run streak is still going strong too – fifth year completed today! I love running so much and I have made so many friends through it.
PB improvements in 2024:
- 5k: 26:10 to 23:21 (2 minutes and 49 seconds)
- 10k: 54:23 to 48:57 (5 minutes and 26 seconds)
- Half marathon: 2:14:52 to 1:55:22 (19 minutes and 30 seconds)
- Marathon: 6:26:41 to 4:16:30 (2 hours, 10 minutes and 11 seconds)
I visited TEN new-to-me parkruns this year, which made up for only doing one last year! I’ve now visited 38 different events in total. This year’s new ones visited were Blyth Links, Wythenshawe, Faskally Forest, Troon, Ruchill, Carlingwark Loch, Heaton Park, York, Fælledparken and Auldcathie District. Five of those were in Scotland (I have loved being able to visit the homeland a bit more than usual in 2024) and one was in Denmark, which was my fourth different official parkrun country. I was also really consistent with my parkrunning – I only missed one this year, due to a Saturday race!
Music-wise I pretty much entirely listened to Duran Duran until I got into the Christmas playlists earlier this month! I also went to see two gigs – OMD in Leeds and The Midnight here in Newcastle. I’m still very behind with my gig reviews, but hopefully I’ll be able to catch up in 2025.
Here and there I was able to make a bit more time for videogaming, which is great, because it’s the only thing that totally relaxes me and I would love to be able to do it more. This year I have finished Zak McKraken: Between Time and Space, Inside, Sam & Max season 2 (all three of those had been started a literal decade ago and I hadn’t got round to finishing them until now), Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, the third and final episode of the Sea of Thieves / Monkey Island collaboration, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (after playing it on and off for nearly three years!), Paper Mario, Etrian Odyssey HD (with the exception of the post-game, which I’ll get to in January) and Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. I am also still working my way through Block-A-Pix Colour and Luigi’s Mansion, and have enjoyed some text adventures via the IF community.
My successes and failures regarding last year’s New Year Resolutions:
- Get rid of at least half of the stuff in my house, preferably two-thirds. A lifetime of hoarding has left me with so much stuff I don’t use that’s just getting in my way. I’ve got to the point where I just want it gone. I am trying. I’ve got rid of a lot, but it’s complicated and often logistically difficult to get rid of stuff (I like to recycle and donate where possible). I really need to dedicate more time to this.
- Spend six months making a polished game for IFComp (the biggest text adventure game competition of the year) rather than making six small, rushed games for smaller comps and jams and burning out by the middle of summer. Well, I didn’t make anything before IFComp (not for lack of trying!). But I found it very hard to make time for game-making this year, and so while I did finally manage to enter IFComp (which was an achievement), it was only a short game rather than the epic I envisaged.
- Run big marathon PBs at Manchester and Yorkshire and continue to take chunks off my half marathon, 10k and 5k PBs. Smashed this goal – see above for details!
- Be more focused with my strength training. I was. I am especially proud of my Yorkshire training block, during which I never missed a weekly strength session.
- Try to work with my fickle changes in interest when it comes to my hobbies rather than fighting the former and seeing the latter as chores. Right now my biggest non-running passions are fashion and Duran Duran. At some point in 2024 it’ll be videogaming again. At some point, maybe in several years’ time, it might even be Doctor Who again. That is fine. It’s fine that I neglect some hobbies while I’m passionate about others. It doesn’t make me a bad fan or a bad person, and I don’t need to catch up with five years’ worth of online discussion all at once if I come back to something after a while. I feel like I am improving in this aspect and am able to roll with my changing interests a little more. I just wish I had more time to indulge in them!
- Play ukulele again. And, in the spirit of the above, not be demoralised that I’ve pretty much forgotten how. I did not pick up any of my ukuleles (though I did find them a new place while moving stuff about in the house). However, in the spirit of the above, I am fine with that. Ukulele will be there when I’m ready.
I’ll post my look ahead to 2025 tomorrow!