A Look Back and A Look Ahead: Happy 2015!

Happy 2015! It's a wonderful thing, isn't it? We get to start a new year. 

Hope you all had a fabulous New Years Eve. It was pretty tame in our house, just the way we like it. 

January 1 brings a fresh start. The perfect opportunity to go after our goals with a renewed sense of optimism and energy, and reflect on what's happened during the year we're leaving behind. Enjoy the moment and take a deep breath because there are many great things ahead!

While not completely void of a few low points, 2014 was a pretty good year as I accomplished a few things that I'm quite proud of. Among them: I finally caught my breath and learned to run at altitude, I expanded my workout routine to include snow shoeing and trail running, I ran my way to 5k and 4Mile PR's, I challenged myself and visited yet another new (for me) place with Bird Camp in Bend, OR, we bought a house (!), I learned (or more accurately, am learning) Photoshop, and I got through another year without any major injuries!

I have much to be thankful for - far too many things to list here - but I will take a quick moment to thank you for stopping by throughout the year, taking time to read my ramblings. The blog has had it's ups and downs since we moved to Colorado, but it's not going anywhere. 

Looking ahead, there are a lot of things on my list that I'd like to accomplish in 2015. Realistically, I know that some of them may not get crossed off over the next 364 days, but hopefully I'll take a lot of steps forward.

There are some bigger goals (on the fitness, personal, and professional fronts) that I'll be focusing on and thankfully I got my hands on a copy of the Believe journal to help me stay on track throughout the year. On the fitness front, my goal is to build strength, endurance, and speed.

For me, this includes mastering the 3 minute+ plank, racing a new distance (10Mile or 15k) and hitting some PR's (5k, 4Mile, and 10k). I have a lot of work cut out for me!

While there are a lot of things I want to do in the coming year - beyond these running related goals - there are also a few things I think we all should leave behind in 2014, like:

- Filling silence with our social media feeds
- Letting our fears dictate our actions (or inactions)
- Spending more time sitting than on our feet
- Making decisions based on what others think/say instead of how we feel & what we believe
- Focusing too much on the future and not the here and now

For me, one of the little fears I need to let go of is running in the cold and snow, so to kick the year off right we went for a cold (8 degrees!) run on the snow packed trail around Washington Park! It was really cold but neither of us fell (success!) and eventually our core temps warmed up and it was a beautiful morning and the perfect way to start of 2015!

Alright, time to get this year going. Next up for us, time to watch the Cotton Bowl - Go Spartans!!! How are you kicking off 2015? What are some of your goals for the year?

Running on Goals

It’s been a while since I’ve had any real, focused running goals. This past year I’ve been running for fitness mostly – getting acclimated to running at altitude – with Bolder Boulder as the race I was running towards. Since I started running in 2006, I always used races to set my goals. But after moving here I kind of lost my focus.

But that’s changing.

First up – next Tuesday, Woody and I will be running the Running Bear 5K in Glen Arbor, Michigan. It’s a small, local race on a weekday morning in a beautiful Northern Michigan town. We ran this race two years ago, and were slightly disappointed by the lack of lake views along the course, but were overwhelmed by the abundance of post-race refreshments. It’s a great community event with little pressure. While the race definitely pulls in fast runners, it’s really just a big party. My goal for this is to run a strong, fast and smart race. I’ve been pushing myself a bit harder on my training runs in Wash Park and I’m feeling good about how hard I can go. But, it will be interesting to race at sea level again!

Next on the line is BirdCamp in August. I’m beyond excited to travel to Bend, Oregon for the first time, to meet many of my amazing Oiselle teammates and to catch up with others I haven’t seen since moving to Denver. I’m feeling stronger and more confident in my running now that I’ve gotten acclimated to this altitude. That said, I will be running with women who are so much faster and stronger than I am, so my goal is to run hard, run smart and hold my own. And to have fun. To do that, I’m pushing myself harder, running more often, and training on a variety of surfaces – gravel path, asphalt/concrete (sidewalks and streets) and real mountain trails. I’ve also been pushing myself harder in the gym with weight training. I’m feeling stronger than I have for a long time. Now I just have to stay injury free for at least another month!

Lastly, I want to become a trail runner. With our two trail runs at Chautauqua (oh yeah, we went again this past weekend!), and a few others, I’m on the right path but still have a long way to go. I’m not sure when I will feel like a real trail runner – or what that really means – but perhaps it’ll be once I feel comfortable enough with my footing that I can actually look up and enjoy the view for more than a split second, and when I buy my first pair of trail running shoes. To reach this goal, we’ll keep exploring trails! This is on the list because the few times we’ve gone, I’ve loved the variety of the terrain, the fresh air, the endless places to explore and how strong I feel when we finish a really challenging run. I want to do more of it.

I’m going after my running goals, what are you working towards?

So...How'd I Do?

As the 2010 ended I decided to lighten my load a bit by checking out of some of the many e-newsletters I receive each day and I said I'd be accountable for this by checking in two weeks later. Well, it's been two weeks. Let's see how I did!

AdAge Daily
MediaVOX
Ragan's Daily Headlines
HARO
NY Times Media Decoder
ProBlogger Blog Tips
NY Times Today
TastingTable NYC
Vital Juice Everywhere
Vital Juice New York
Pop Sugar Daily Digest
Daily Candy
Flavorpill
Jetsetter
Tablet
The Beauty Bean
Eat This, Not That
Weight Watchers
Hungry Girl
Healthy Bitch Daily
Runner's World
Women's Health Daily Dose
New York Road Runners
Living Social
Groupon
And 1 (or 6) retailers and blog feeds

Okay, so it doesn't look like I've done that well, but I do swear that I have unsubscribed from quite a few. I have taken myself off the list for all but one retailer, which is a good start too. I'll continue to try and delete a few here and there and I'm definitely not going to sign up for any more. I don't mind when they ask for a little feedback, hopefully they use it to better their offerings, but I do have to say, some of these websites can be a little annoying when you try to unsubscribe. Like those who as you, more than once, if you're sure that you really want to unsubscribe, and that it wasn't just a mistake that you clicked that tiny link at the bottom of the email. Others send you an email confirming you are off their list and won't get more emails!

Did you also vow to declutter your inbox during the New Year? How have you done with it?

I didn't get to Zumba last night because I had to stay late at work (this is why I go to the gym in the morning!) to get ready for a client meeting today but then was cancelled late last night. Too bad the snow storm wasn't that bad afterall and the streets are clean.
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today's workout -
50min/5.7mi elliptical
stretching

2011 Here I Come!

The last few days I've been finalizing my goals for the year. I prefer to call them goals, rather than resolutions, because I like the idea of reaching for something rather than keeping something. I also decided to only set a few this year rather than many like I did last year, but I did set personal and professional goals. Along the way I'll set mini-goals too, I'm sure, but I really want to focus on just a few things.

My Goals for 2011:

1. Get Fit: loose the weight I gained while injured, increase all over strength
2. Stay injury free & healthy: this will be easier if I increase my strength and consistently take my vitamins while eating a healthy diet
3. Run 4 Half Marathons and set PRs for the 4mile and half marathon: I've already registered for one half and know a few others I'd like to do
4. Get a promotion at work: take more risks and volunteer for new assignments more often
5. Develop my blog: provide more reviews, tips and features

Woody and I also set a few goals for us as a couple. We've done this in the past, but this time we're writing them down and are getting more serious about these goals. They are both short term (like scheduling and taking vacations) and long term (like setting a specific monetary goal we want to reach in our savings to purchase a house). Setting goals as a couple is really important to the health of our relationship - knowing we're on the same track and still looking for the same things in life. 

What is one of your goals for 2011?
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yesterday's workout -
50min elliptical
2mile treadmill run
3x10 weighted side bends
3x10 upright row
3x10 squats
3x10 squat/ball throw
stretching

today's workout -
50min/5.5mile elliptical
3x10 cable pull twists
3x10 front arm raise
3x40sec planks
stretching

Starting 2011 By Looking Back on 2010

Happy New Year!!! For my first post of the year I'm looking back at the goals I set at the start of 2010 and wow, did I set a LOT of goals!! Let's see how I did!

FITNESS
Run 4 half marathons - none. my injuries kept me sidelined for most of the year.
Qualify for the 2011 NYC Marathon (just in case) - again, didn't happen.
Try at least 12 new fitness classes throughout the year - haven't counted, but I did try quite a few
Go to yoga at least two times per month - on average, I accomplished this one!
Become a jump rope master - sadly, no. my foot injury made this difficult.
Walk more - I did walk quite a lot, but not as much as I had hoped.

DIET
Incorporate a wider variety of vegetables into my meals - definitely did this one!
Reduce the amount of sweets, added sugars, and processed foods in my diet - still ate too many sweets but I did cut back on processed foods.
Concentrate on eating more whole foods - did it!
Cook more real meals - most definitely accomplished. Check HERE for some recipes.
Try a vegetarian diet for at least one week - I now eat very little meat.
Loose a few lbs. - sadly I did not accomplish this goal.

LIFE
Visit at least 3 new cities - being unemployed for a good portion of the year put a damper on this goal.
Take at least 4 classes/seminars/lectures on topics that interest me (food, nutrition, the arts, business, a city tour, etc) - done.
Volunteer on a regular basis - other than the YPC, I fell short on this one.
Pay closer attention to my overall consumption habits and decrease when possible - I have done this but hope to do better.
Organize more days with my girlfriends - yoga classes, movies, potlucks.... - had a great time with this one!
Clean out my closet and donate clothing & old books to Housing Works - accomplished this by moving!
Read more (and borrow more books from friends or the library rather than buying all the time) - check HERE for book reviews.
Attend more jazz concerts - budget cutbacks didn't allow for this one.

Looks like I didn't accomplish several of these, but I did make a good dent and I'm proud of the positive changes I've made. I will focus on fewer goals in 2011, and hopefully a year from now I will be able to tell you I've accomplished all of them. They'll be posted on Monday!

I ran my first run of 2011 this morning! After sleeping in a little I hit the road. A lot of ice had melted since yesterday morning so the route was easier to pass. I felt great, the weather is amazing today, Woody had coffee ready when I got home, I made PB&B stuffed french toast and we're off to watch Michigan State play (and hopefully beat!) Alabama in the Citrus Bowl! So far my 2011 is off to a GREAT start! I hope yours is too!

How did you do on your 2010 goals?
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today's workout -
5.5mile run
3x10 hammer curls
3x10 overhead tricep extension
3x10 bent side arm raise
stretching