May Goals Recap and June (sort of) Goals

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Gee, we're halfway through June and I haven't even done my goals recap/new goals... *sigh* that's just how things are going right now.

MAY Goals Recap:
1. Try to pace Brandi (and myself) to a sub 2:27 BMO Half Marathon
We tried really hard for this one (Race Review here), but Brandi was feeling awful and it just wasn't her day so we are going to go for it another time.

2. Just enjoy the rest of my May races.
In Portland, I set aside any time goals and just had lots of fun.

3. Finish my surgical chapter and start my practicum.
This is part of why you haven't seen much of me. I'm STILL not finished. I better be finished by the end of this week though... or I might completely lose my marbles.

JUNE:
I'm hesitant to set any goals right now, because admittedly I'm in a bit of a funk and I just want to crawl back into bed and not do anything for the rest of the month, but I'm going to do it anyway. Maybe it will help.

1. Read, Bake, & Run and maybe repeat?
And better yet blogging about all 3! I've been lacking on all fronts so I need to get back to doing what I love.

2. Finish Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half without collapsing.
This could be difficult since I've hardly been running... see last point.

3. Get more organized.
I used to be good at this. But in the past year I've let it fall apart somewhat, maybe it has something to do with running 20+ half marathons and 2 marathons... For example, I hadn't been to the dentist or gotten my haircut in over a year, I fixed that yesterday but there's a lot more I would like to sort out and what better time than NOW!

4. Let's not forget finishing May's goals.
Really, this should be at the top of the list, but anyways... must get to my practicum.

Do you have any goals this month?

Pay It Forward Challenge

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Disclaimer: This is a non- reading/baking/running post, if that infuriates you, feel free to stop reading now.

Earlier this year, a friend on Facebook, Brandi, posted a pay-it-forward challenge and normally I'm not into sharing a ton of posts on FB, but I really liked the sound of this one, so I took the leap!

The challenge was relatively simple and within a very short period of time I had 5 people committed. Off I went in search of 5 unique surprises to send to some lovely ladies.

First up was a surprise for an old friend of mine, Alisha. We used to work together at Staples when I was in high school. She had just gotten engaged so right away I knew what to send her! She is very organized with notebooks and highlighters etc, like me, so I knew she'd love this.

A wedding planner/organizer binder.

Next up, was Tina who had mentioned she'd really be interested in this cookbook, so that was also a no-brainer! P.S. I also have this cookbook, I reviewed it here, if you haven't checked it out, I definitely would. Mmm I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Another friend, Renee, is training for a figure competition. Last Summer, I had bought a few pairs of Sox Box socks with the intention of doing a giveaway when I started CrossFit. I never did and they were still in the packaging and were just perfect for Renee, so that worked out great! I also made this framed inspirational poster for her.

 

Then, Nikki, who also has a blog and I thought getting her a personalized blog planner/notebook would be the best way to go! She's a list-maker like me :)

Finally, Amanda! I decided to send her a few of my favorite things! May Designs sent me some agendas and note cards to celebrate the fact they are now shipping to Canada, yay! I kept one of the agendas for myself, and sent this one to Amanda along with some note cards. As you may already know, Sparkly Soul makes my favorite headbands. Recently, Griffin decided to put a bunch of them in the built-in vacuum outlet when I wasn't looking... Thanks Griffin. I managed to rescue all but one. I ordered a replacement and a black one for Amanda, I hope she loves them as much as I do!

I really enjoyed the idea of this challenge. It was so simple. I tried my best not to just buy everything and either gift things I already had or make something like I did for Renee. I had intended to bake some things for people instead, but since a few them don't even live in the same province/country, that made things tricky.

Oh, and Brandi's pay-it-forward 1surprise for me was a race registration into 5 Peaks Golden Ears! Thanks Brandi!

Just by taking some time and organizing these 5 surprises, 25 more people will be impacted by acts of kindness this year! So what do you think, will you #payitforward this year?

(Second half of) January Goals

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Okay so I'm a bit late on this one. I had planned it for earlier in the month, but things got busy... I know, excuses, excuses...

A blogger I follow, Leana, does these great goal posts at the beginning of the month and then recaps how it went towards the end and I love the idea so I thought I'd give it a shot. It also furthers my idea that goals are better than resolutions because they apply all-year round.

So here goes January, better late than never:

1. Post about goals for January...
As I say I'm starting a new monthly tradition on the blog. Hopefully February's post will actually be on time!

2. Run at least 4x week, preferably 5x.
I have no problems getting in my long runs on Sunday, but I admit sometimes I struggle with the shorter runs especially when it has to be done early in the morning/late at night.  I've always believed that the longer runs are the most important when it comes to training to complete a race but the shorter runs should also be a priority and 3x week that I had been doing during my time off is just not going to cut it for marathon training.

3. Discover what I'd like to be different about marathon training this time around.
There were a few big issues that I noticed after thinking about my 1st marathon, lots of things I want to solve before my 2nd in May.

4. Get up earlier.
I need to start getting up before my husband and son wake up to accomplish more in a day such as getting an early run in or do some schoolwork while the house is still quiet. I always read to go to sleep but I definitely stay up too late sometimes when I get into a book...

What are your January goals, how are they going so far?

June Goals

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My fellow blogger and friend, Runner Leana is great at making monthly goals and she's inspired me to do the same!

1. After the success of DietBet 2.0 I've decided to attempt DietBet 3.0 (You can join the SweatPink DietBet too!)

2. Finish my quilt that I've been working on FOREVER

3. Complete the 13in2013 challenge by running the Rock n' Roll Seattle Half & the Vancouver Scotiabank Half (June 22 & 23)

4. Read/review at least two new books: "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed (June Book Club book) & "The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window & Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson. I have so many books on my list right now I better get reading!

5. Try 4 new gluten-free recipes!

6. Begin Marathon training, eeek it's almost time...

7. Attend CrossFit at least 3 x a week (I get 14 sessions per month so some weeks I will be going 4).

8. Make most snacks/lunches at home and remember to bring them with me!

9. Go for more walks with Griffin, we used to go everyday and now that the weather is nicer I want to take advantage of it. 

What are your plans for June? Do you have any of the same goals? 

WORK IT OUT Wednesday

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So today I'm initiating "WORK IT OUT Wednesday". From now on Wednesday's I'll be doing the usual run club at the Running Room and I'm also doing training at Equilibria. I decided I needed to add some cross training to lose some weight and maybe work on improving my running speed. Tonight was just my first session so we did goal setting and a fit test. At Equilibria they have this great wall where they post all the clients goals so when you walk in the gym it's the first thing you see, I love it and I should have taken a picture, I stole this one from the Equilibria FB page, I'll get a picture of my own paper next week.

The following are my goals:

1. Lose 20-30 lbs by June 1, 2013
By far the most daunting of all the goals but doable, definitely doable. I figure with all the running I might as well just throw that in there too... I know it's going to get more challenging as the weeks go on but I've already lost 5lbs with the DietBet!

2. Run 3-4 times per week
I can do that, I do that already but it feels good to have it written down somewhere. It's not an option anymore, well it can't be, not with 16 half marathons in 2013... Yes you read that right, 16, I'm not sure what happened to 13in2013 but I'm addicted to races, anyone ever heard of "Runner's Anonymous"? (I'll save that for tomorrow's post).

3. Eat 5 small meals at least 4 times per week (They said to start slow instead of saying that I will do that every day start with 4 days per week)
Eat... that sounds easy right, I love to eat. However, with Griffin I think I tend to put off eating for too long and then I'm starving so I eat too much and not often enough. So I'm going to work on eating smaller healthier meals more often.

There you have it. My goals, now everyone knows and there's nothing to hide.

The fit test went OK... Things have changed a lot since I last entered a gym. I had a baby, it's an excuse I know it is but it was hard on my body, the pregnancy, the c-section and everything that followed. Running has been a great way to build strength but this reminded me how much more work I have to do to be where I want to be.

122 days till June 1st.