Yearly Archives: 2013

2013 In Review

Let’s see what goals I set for myself for this year:

2013 Goals

  • Clearly, I want to finish a marathon this year (in less than two weeks).
  • Complete 2 triathlons
  • Fundraise for TeamFight and volunteer with them as much as possible
  • Finally lose weight.  No really, this time.
  • Stick to a healthy, sustainable eating plan.  Less junk, more good stuff.
  • Set a good training schedule and stick to it
  • Paint at least one room in my house (set the bar low)
  • Finish working on my office
  • Stay closer to my personal budget

How did I do on those?

Well, I finished the marathon and two triathlons.  Met my Team Fight fundraising goal.

I sort of started eating better.  I did cut out a lot of junk, and a lot of caffeine too.  My daily Coke Zero habit is no more, replaced with water and tea.

Zero pounds lost.  In fact, I gained weight this year.

I had a great training schedule during tri season, which went to crap afterwards.  All cross training disappeared.  The weight gain is likely partially due to this.

Housework?  Nope, nothing got painted.  And my office still looks like a junk room.

So… in terms of number of goals completed, not so great.

But I don’t want to overlook the awesome things that I did in 2013.  MARATHON!  TRIATHLON!  Two huge things that scared me for many years.  I’m doing a marathon again, but after this, I’m taking at least 2 years off from marathoning.  I didn’t love the training like I did for my first marathon.

I conquered my OWS freakouts!  That still worries me, especially with the inability at some races to get in the water prior to the start.  Just jumping in completely dry isn’t the ideal situation for me.  But I’ll deal with that when it comes.

I only ran around 525 miles this year, down from last year, but with the added biking and swimming, that’s to be expected.  I have no idea what next year’s running will bring, but I’m excited for all the goals I will be setting.

2013 was a year of new things for me.  Here’s hoping 2014 is as much fun.

 

 

Old and Cranky

Well, my week away from the internet kind of destroyed any chance I had at completing Holidailies.

WORTH IT.

So I thought I’d catch up on some prompts.

How do you feel about outdoor holiday decorations? Are you a fan of the giant inflatables? Prefer a minimalist approach? Have firm preferences on the color of the lights?

I think outdoor lights are awesome.  There are two ways to do them:

  1. classic white or colored lights (no blinking) neatly lining the house
  2. DECORATIONS EVERYWHERE

There is no other option.

Of course, at my own house, there are no decorations save for a wreath on the door because I don’t trust myself to climb on a ladder.  Maybe next year.  I do own some of those fancy clips that go onto your gutters… but my gutters are 2 stories up.  Kind of makes it tough.

But the “too much of everything” house is sort of my favorite.  My high school driving instructor used to do his house up with insane amounts of decorations, including a rocket that “launched.”  As someone with a January birthday, my driving lessons occasionally involved a trip to go buy more lights.  (And we had a giant Wakko doll (Animaniacs, anyone?) buckled into the back seat of the car.  The man was eccentric, but I have yet to wreck my car, so I guess it worked.)

What will you miss about 2013 (or alternatively, what will you *not* miss)?

Well, I can’t say that 2013 had anything that 2014 won’t have, really.  Job, house, bills…  But I am hoping that 2014 is a better year.  2013 was definitely a year of ups and downs, which I will likely write about in more detail later, but here are just a few things that happened this year.

  • Ran a marathon
  • Completed a triathlon (and another one)
  • Aunt passed away from cancer
  • Mom got cancer

So, you know.  Major highs and lows.  It was an excellent year for me personally, but a terrible year for my family.  Here’s hoping 2014 is better.

What is your favorite way to celebrate New Year’s Eve?

I am old and cranky, so staying up til midnight is no longer fun.  I prefer to celebrate by curling up on the couch with a movie, having a drink at midnight in London, and going to bed by 10.  Old and cranky.

 

Taking Full Advantage

I am taking full advantage of this Christmas vacation thing.  No workouts.  None.  Food?  Terrible.  Relaxing?  100%.  I love it.

Christmas has been awesome.  It’s nice to hang out with family (humans and doggies) and just be lazy.  And of course, gifts are fun to give and receive.  My sister wins the gifting competition this year, having made quilts for many family members.  She is way more patient than I am.  I could probably manage to make a mouse quilt.  Then I would get bored.

I head back home tomorrow, which is nice because it gives me one more day of the weekend to get unpacked and such before I have to head back to work.  Not that work will be all that busy.

It also means I can get in one more long run.  12 miles, I think.  Which doesn’t seem all that far, having just done 20.  Of course, with a full week off in between those two runs, it might not be pretty.

And let’s be honest, I’ll probably do it on the treadmill so I can watch all the tv I missed this week.  Yep, that’s how I roll.

Still Alive

Yes, I survived my 20 mile run yesterday.

It wasn’t pretty, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared.  It wasn’t good either. As I told Jen, it was just sort of mediocre.

(Things that aren’t mediocre – Jen.  She ran the last 10 with me and put up with my whining.  She is awesome.)

Around mile 15 or so, I started to stiffen up a bit.  Not sure what to do about that except to stop and stretch, perhaps (which I didn’t do).  And I think from about 17 on, it was a slog.  Not a slow slog, mind you – I was pretty much keeping pace, but it just felt slow.

So while I’ve lost some speed from last year, maybe this year’s marathon won’t be too bad after all.  If I can get through 20, I can do 26.2 with the added motivation of the medal and the pride that comes with it.  Now if only the weather will cooperate.

Worn out

This morning, I managed to hit my snooze alarm for an hour.  Only 40 minutes late to work though, so I consider it a win.  So what if I didn’t shower?

(Side note – I showered after last night’s run, so I’m still clean.  Really.)

Then I couldn’t remember the name of my blog so I could post this entry.

Going to be one of those days, I think.

Last night, I ran 8 miles on the treadmill.  The schedule called for 10, but seeing as I’ve been slacking as of late, I didn’t want to overdo it.  So 8, then a rest day today, then 20 tomorrow.  Thank goodness Jen is willing to run the last 10 with me.  Because I am absolutely dreading this run.  It’s just not going to go well.  But it’s one of those things that has to be done if I want to feel prepared for January’s marathon.

I’m mostly disappointed in myself.  Last year, I was so on with my training.  I really worked hard and I felt ready for the race.  Sure, the race itself didn’t go well, but that was no one’s fault.  I did everything I could to be ready.  This year? Not so much.  It doesn’t help that I’ve gained a bunch of weight.  It also doesn’t help that work has gone insane and I’ve been putting in so many more hours than I was at this time last year.

I’ve already decided that I’m not running a marathon in January of 2015.  I know a lot of people will be running Goofy that year, as it’s an anniversary year, but I need a fall of not marathon training.  I haven’t touched my bike in months.  Nor have I been to the pool.  And I’m tired.  I just need a break.

Who knew that going back to triathlon training would constitute a break?