Each month I plan to have four goals, one for each of my 2014 themes. Depending on the goal, I may continue that goal for more than one month but each month will have one new goal per theme.
What's in store for February?
1. Organized: Start planning my meals (actually writing them out) AND doing my grocery shopping on the weekend AND pre-preparing what I can for the week.
And finish off my January goal of organizing those boxes.
2. Positive: I'd like to continue to work on practicing gratitude. My new positivity goal for February is taking my lunch break away from my desk once a week. I scheduled some "be happy" time in my calendar this week and it completely turned my day around.
3. Consistent: March goals will be written AND I will hit at least four quality work outs each week.
4. Social: My social goal is attend a new social event (new place or new people).
February is already starting off well, as I've escaped the Chicago deep freeze! Getting away from the cold to run my first half marathon for 2014 is certainly helping me feel positive!
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Friday, January 31, 2014
Training: January
In case you missed it, January was COLD!
I didn't get in the kind of training I was hoping for this month due to a combination of the weather and getting sick during the month.
In January I ran:
13 times
A total distance of 68 miles
For nearly 13 hours
I also did 4 core workouts, 8 rehab workouts, 2 strength workouts
I'm looking forward to a more consistent February.
I didn't get in the kind of training I was hoping for this month due to a combination of the weather and getting sick during the month.
 |
| Not workout related, unless you call walking though the snow a workout. It is pretty though. |
13 times
A total distance of 68 miles
For nearly 13 hours
I also did 4 core workouts, 8 rehab workouts, 2 strength workouts
 |
| Frozen lake |
January goals - retrospective
Back at the beginning of the month, I set some goals for January. Now it's time to see how I did!
1. Organized: My goal was to clear out four boxes of 'stuff' in my living room.
Of the four boxes, I got got through about one and half. I travelled a bit at the beginning of the month and then got struck down with the plague. Not a success but I'll put on February's list of goals. It will get done!
2. Positive: I planned, every day for at least one week, to write down three things I am grateful for.
Done-ish! I didn't write down but I did use my workout time to reflect on things I'm grateful for. I'm happy with that progress.
3. Consistent: Write my February goals!
Done! I'll post these tomorrow.
4. Social: I wanted to write up a birthday/celebration list and schedule dates to send cards.
Done! List completed and some cards are already sent.
So, not perfect, but moving in the direction I want to and that's enough.
For anyone else who set goals, how are you going?
1. Organized: My goal was to clear out four boxes of 'stuff' in my living room.
Of the four boxes, I got got through about one and half. I travelled a bit at the beginning of the month and then got struck down with the plague. Not a success but I'll put on February's list of goals. It will get done!
2. Positive: I planned, every day for at least one week, to write down three things I am grateful for.
Done-ish! I didn't write down but I did use my workout time to reflect on things I'm grateful for. I'm happy with that progress.
3. Consistent: Write my February goals!
Done! I'll post these tomorrow.
4. Social: I wanted to write up a birthday/celebration list and schedule dates to send cards.
Done! List completed and some cards are already sent.
So, not perfect, but moving in the direction I want to and that's enough.
For anyone else who set goals, how are you going?
Friday, January 3, 2014
January goals
Each month I plan to have four goals, one for each of my 2014 themes. Depending on the goal, I may continue that goal for more than one month but each month will have one new goal per theme.
What's in store for January?
1. In the theme of being organized, in January I will throw away any unused, no longer needed (or more likely, they were never needed in the first place) items stored in four archive boxes I have in my living room. These boxes and their contents have not only moved house with me a number of times but also half way around the world. And in the 18 months I've lived in Chicago, I have sought out items in them maybe three times!
2. In the theme of being positive, every day for at least one week I will write down three things I am grateful for.
When I was planning my January goals, one of the things I was considering was working on reducing how judgmental of myself I can be. Then this came through my twitter feed.
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net
It made me laugh! And also helped me decide to work on gratitude first. Changing thoughts is not a one step, one month process!
3. In the theme of being consistent, in January I will write my February goals!
4. In the theme of being social, I will write up a birthday/celebration list and schedule dates to send cards. I really have to plan ahead with this because the US to Australia postal service = very inconsistent timing. Sometimes it takes just over a week, sometimes it takes three weeks! Ridiculous!! I will purchase cards and send them to my friends and family who have a birthday this month or early February.
So, there you have it. Please ignore the fact that there isn't a single running related goal here, despite that this blog is supposed to be about running.
And, yes, I did notice my excessive use of exclamation points. Maybe one of my February goals should be about reducing my exclamation point use?
What's in store for January?
1. In the theme of being organized, in January I will throw away any unused, no longer needed (or more likely, they were never needed in the first place) items stored in four archive boxes I have in my living room. These boxes and their contents have not only moved house with me a number of times but also half way around the world. And in the 18 months I've lived in Chicago, I have sought out items in them maybe three times!
2. In the theme of being positive, every day for at least one week I will write down three things I am grateful for.
When I was planning my January goals, one of the things I was considering was working on reducing how judgmental of myself I can be. Then this came through my twitter feed.
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net
It made me laugh! And also helped me decide to work on gratitude first. Changing thoughts is not a one step, one month process!
3. In the theme of being consistent, in January I will write my February goals!
4. In the theme of being social, I will write up a birthday/celebration list and schedule dates to send cards. I really have to plan ahead with this because the US to Australia postal service = very inconsistent timing. Sometimes it takes just over a week, sometimes it takes three weeks! Ridiculous!! I will purchase cards and send them to my friends and family who have a birthday this month or early February.
So, there you have it. Please ignore the fact that there isn't a single running related goal here, despite that this blog is supposed to be about running.
And, yes, I did notice my excessive use of exclamation points. Maybe one of my February goals should be about reducing my exclamation point use?
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Four themes for 2014
I have four themes for what I'd like to focus on in 2014.
1. Positive
Practice positivity in how I think, how I speak, how I communicate.
2. Social
Stay in touch with friends and family. Extend my networks.
3. Consistent
Areas where I would like to improve my consistency: Training, Nutrition, Self-care.
Make time each and every week to focus on what I want and plan how I will get there.
4. Organized
De-clutter. Organize. Plan ahead.
I plan to use these areas of focus to set myself monthly goals. January's goals are currently in progress...watch this space!
1. Positive
Practice positivity in how I think, how I speak, how I communicate.
2. Social
Stay in touch with friends and family. Extend my networks.
3. Consistent
Areas where I would like to improve my consistency: Training, Nutrition, Self-care.
Make time each and every week to focus on what I want and plan how I will get there.
4. Organized
De-clutter. Organize. Plan ahead.
I plan to use these areas of focus to set myself monthly goals. January's goals are currently in progress...watch this space!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Quick! It's almost over!
In case you've missed it, 2013 is nearly done. And in the spirit of being a mediocre running blogger (what do you mean it's been over a month since I last posted?!) I figured I drop some quick 2013 stats.
I ran an official 961 miles (1,546km) this year. There are possibly some more unofficial miles but if it ain't in my Garmin list then it doesn't count.
In those 961 miles, I did 13 races totaling 152.2 miles (244.9km):
Chicago Marathon
F^3 Lake Half Marathon
Nashville Country Music Half Marathon
Get Lucky Half Marathon
Chicago Spring Half Marathon
Chicago Women's Half Marathon
Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon
Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon (oops, no recap of this. It was Vegas-y)
Lakefront 10 Miler
Soldier Field 10 Miler
NYRR New York Mini 10K
Shamrock Shuffle
Burgers and Beer 5K
I traveled to and ran (albeit not always a lot) in places I've never been/run in before:
Nashville
San Francisco
Washington DC
And I met 43 people (not really, I don't actually know how many, but it was lots) through running.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with this. Without wanting to put too much pressure on myself, next year I'd like to hit up a few more miles but if 2014 is half as good as 2013 I'll be smiling.
I ran an official 961 miles (1,546km) this year. There are possibly some more unofficial miles but if it ain't in my Garmin list then it doesn't count.
In those 961 miles, I did 13 races totaling 152.2 miles (244.9km):
Chicago Marathon
 |
| My first marathon! |
F^3 Lake Half Marathon
Nashville Country Music Half Marathon
Get Lucky Half Marathon
 |
| Didn't feel too lucky running in this wind |
Chicago Spring Half Marathon
Chicago Women's Half Marathon
Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon
Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon (oops, no recap of this. It was Vegas-y)
 |
| Viva Las Vegas |
Lakefront 10 Miler
 |
| Snow. In April. Not what they told me before I moved here! |
Soldier Field 10 Miler
 |
| I got a sneak peek at the medals by volunteering for this race. |
NYRR New York Mini 10K
Shamrock Shuffle
Burgers and Beer 5K
I traveled to and ran (albeit not always a lot) in places I've never been/run in before:
Nashville
 |
| Honky Tonk Heroes |
Atlanta
 |
| Georgia Aquarium |
San Francisco
 |
| San Francisco icon |
New York City
 |
| Love this skyline |
Washington DC
 |
| Capitol Building |
Philadelphia
 |
| Elfreth's Alley |
And I met 43 people (not really, I don't actually know how many, but it was lots) through running.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with this. Without wanting to put too much pressure on myself, next year I'd like to hit up a few more miles but if 2014 is half as good as 2013 I'll be smiling.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
I'm still here!
I just realised I was about to hit all of November without checking in here! Oops!!
Why has it been so quiet? I had a bit of blogger burnout. I'm sure you were a bit tired of reading the same old, same old too.
And with that, I don't have much new to say. In the absence of words, here's what I've been up to/seen over the past six (?!) weeks in pictures.
Why has it been so quiet? I had a bit of blogger burnout. I'm sure you were a bit tired of reading the same old, same old too.
And with that, I don't have much new to say. In the absence of words, here's what I've been up to/seen over the past six (?!) weeks in pictures.
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| Way back at the end of October I went to a couple of talks at Chicago Ideas Week. It was awesome. |
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| Being a Chicago tourist. Trying to make the most of this city while I'm here. |
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| Rock n Roll Las Vegas half marathon |
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| Volunteering at races |
|
| More Rock n Roll Las Vegas half marathon |
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| Selecting Christmas gifts for family and friends from the SkyMall catalog on the plane. Who wouldn't want a portrait of their pet styled in 17th century clothing?! |
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| Speaks for itself really |
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