July Goals

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June Goals Recap:
1. Read, Bake, & Run and maybe repeat?
Still a work in progress, but isn't it always?

2. Finish Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half without collapsing.
Done! Not an easy task in the least, but it's still an amazing race and I'm glad I got to take part for another year. (Race Review here)

3. Get more organized.
I went to the dentist, I got a haircut, I organized and cleaned out my house and I'm in the process of selling some of my things. I also ordered a new planner where I'm hoping to keep our family schedule a little more organized.

July Goals:

How is it July? I really don't understand how quickly this year is flying by. It's definitely summertime now, our schedules our filling up and the temperature outside is rising. I've decided to take a break this month from goal setting and just enjoy Summer and my family for a while. Maybe you've noticed I haven't been writing much; I promise I'm still around, I just don't have a whole lot to say right now.

I'm looking forward to the Dirty Dash this weekend in Langley, this will be my first mud run! Have you ever done a mud run, got any tips? I don't even know what to wear at this point...

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?

May Goals

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How is it May already? This is a tough one for me to write this month. I'm feeling a little at a loss in many aspects and it's been tough to really pinpoint more than one goal. So lets rewind a little bit and recap April first.

APRIL:
1. Finish the Las Vegas Mustang 50th Half with no pain and injury-free! 
Well I was mostly pain free. I did feel pain, but since we walked the majority of the last half of the race and chose to have fun instead of really race, it didn't so much matter. I hope for a little bit more of a serious output at BMO, but will just have to see how things go.

2. Read 3 books.
I read only 2 and that's all I really have to say about that right now... fail.

3. Continue to work on balance between Strength Training & Running.
I went to bootcamp on and off this month and though it was a positive experience and a GREAT deal I found on Groupon, the wheels definitely fell off the wagon after our vacation.

4. Learn how to garden.

By summer, we should have Broccoli, Peas, Beans, & Lettuce!

This has actually been a moderately successful experience. We started with the lawn, which was way more involved than I ever imagined. At our last house the lawn was a patch of grass about the size of a coffee table, so with almost an acre, things have definitely changed. We had someone come and rip up the moss with a special tool who works in our neighborhood and then we had to rake it all up and remove it. Then I seeded, fertilized, and cut the remaining grass. That was about 3 weeks ago, it's finally starting to grow back, but with lots of weeds, so I will have to work on that! Next, I planted my vegetable garden, some strawberries, rhubarb, and a bed with gladiolis for some cut flowers in the summer!
I had managed to plant some tulip bulbs back in the fall and some other things, so I was pleased to see those! I've still got some work to do with the grapes I think and a few other flower beds/cleanup.

MAY:
1. Try to pace Brandi (and myself) to a sub 2:27 BMO Half Marathon
This is a random goal that I wasn't anticipating, so I really hope my foot behaves and it works out. Normally, it wouldn't be an issue at all (with a PR of 2:08 and a relatively consistent sub 2:20), but the way things have been going I am mildly concerned. Either way, it's always fun to run with a friend so I'm so happy we get to do another race together!

2. Just enjoy the rest of my May races.
I will have 2 other races in May and my goal for now is to just enjoy and have fun and of course finish uninjured. It looks like my June race schedule might change so I'm just trying to focus on May for now and be happy with that, more on that next week.

3. Finish my surgical chapter and start my practicum.
This is obviously something I haven't talked about much, but I am so close (sort of) to finishing school and doing my practicum which will hopefully get me a job. I just have this one GIANT chapter to get through. It's supposed to take 2 months and I'm hoping to complete it in 1 month.

That's all for now folks. My usual goals will continue including drinking more water, reading, trying to consistently run, and gardening, amongst other things.

What are your goals this month?

April Goals

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Things went sideways again this month because of the foot injury and 2 weeks off from running so I'm again, looking forward to a new month. Unfortunately I'm starting April off with strep throat, along with the rest of my family, but anyways...

March Goals Recap:

1. Drink more water.
I have successfully been drinking more water. I've hardly had any pop or other drink besides Skratch Labs which I use when I run.
2. Find some new methods for preventing injuries. 
I've been going to the chiropractor all month and following his guidelines and exercise/stretching recommendations. Most of all, I've been listening to my body. I'll talk more about this when I recap how some of my longer runs have gone...
3. Run 180 km.
I really wanted to make this goal a possibility, but it became pretty clear after LA Marathon, that it wasn't going to happen this month. I think I'm going to put the mileage goals on hold for a while until everything is back to normal.
4. Try 4 new recipes.
I'm also disappointed in my performance with this goal. I think I tried 2. My biggest problem is keeping my groceries on a budget and it's difficult to do that when you need all the ingredients to try a new recipe. Anyways, going to keep working on this while being budget-conscious. I also hope to do a blog post about this down the line.

Now for April! On to bigger and better things hopefully.

1. Finish the Las Vegas Mustang 50th Half with no pain and injury-free! 
Obviously, rehabbing my injury and staying conscious about recovery is still, at this point, my number 1 goal when it comes to running.
2. Read 3 books.
I made this goal a while back and I was disappointed with my progress. I really enjoy reading, it helps me get to sleep at night and decompress. I read 2 books in March and I think I could bump that number up a bit.
3. Continue to work on balance between Strength Training & Running.
I was feeling pretty sluggish and lazy after my 2-week break from running to rehab my foot so I got a groupon for a bootcamp in my area at 5:30AM. I'm really enjoying it a couple of times a week. I was shooting for 3x/week, but I won't meet that goal this week because of the Strep. Also, it's definitely helping me on my quest to become a morning person! Every time I try something like this, I'm reminded how easy it is to get caught up in one type of fitness, and realize how out of shape I am otherwise. I just have to work on balancing the 2... and of course balancing them with family and school and everything else!
4. Learn how to garden.
I've learned how to successfully do a lot of things over the last few years on my own like knitting, quilting, cooking/baking, I've even picked up a tool once or twice, but one thing that I've so far not been very successful at is gardening. I've never really given it a proper chance though. I've been doing some reading and yesterday I started my very own vegetable garden. We have so much landscaping where we moved and gardening has pretty much become an essential skill...

Spring has certainly sprung around here and other than the illness, April is really looking like a positive month. How about you?

February Goals Recap & March Goals

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I've been avoiding writing this post as I'm not super impressed with how February went....

February:

1. Get up earlier.
This isn't happening, but as it turns out I think I am more productive at night anyway. I need to find a way to balance the two. We get up at 7:00am every morning anyway, why is it I need to get up so much earlier again?

2. Strength Training
I've successfully integrate P90x into my running routine and overall I'm feeling a lot stronger. However, this week everything will be on hold until I get my foot issue sorted out.

3. Read at least 3 books.
I only read 2: Labor Day and Thirteen Reasons Why. I think that short month really got to me!

4. Run 180km.
I really liked the idea of having a mileage goal, but unfortunately with nearly a week with no running due to the stomach flu I didn't meet my goal. I'll be retrying this one.

March:

1. Drink more water.
I neglect to drink enough water often and I always feel better when I do. My goal will be 2.2L every day.

2. Find some new methods for preventing injuries.
Particularly applicable at the moment but definitely beneficial long term.

3. Run 180km.
I want to do this one again but it really is dependent on my current foot situation, so we will see how things go at the Dr.'s and after the marathon.

4. Try at least 4 new recipes.
I've been stuck in the same old routine for a while and I want to mix it up with our family dinners.

What are your goals for March?

January Goals Recap & February Goals

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As per this post, I'm updating my goals for February and recapping how January went...


January Recap:

Post about goals for January...
Yay done!

Run at least 4x week, preferably 5x.
I've been sticking to the 4 but so far not 5x per week.

Discover what I'd like to be different about marathon training this time around.
I fixed some of the chafing issues I've had and bought a REAL sports bra (see this post).  I also worked on some pacing problems and after only a month of training, I'm right back at my race pace as per my half marathon last weekend!

Get up earlier.
I have to admit this, so far, is a total disaster. I've been reading endless tips from friends and other blogs on how to accomplish this and I haven't really improved. So, I'm taking drastic action. See below.


February:

Get up earlier. 
I'm continuing this one. Get ready... I will be getting up at 6:00AM every single day in February, ugh I'm going to regret this one tomorrow... But I need to do something to kickstart my body into getting used to it.

Strength Training.
You may remember me doing CrossFit last Spring/Summer and though I really loved it and it worked, I felt sore almost all the time and it really interfered with my running. This time around, I wanted to find something I can do at home, so yesterday I started P90x. I will not be doing it every day but preferably 4x per week to compliment running. More on this soon.

Read at least 3 books.
Here's what I'm reading in 2014, check it out and see what's up next!

Run 180km
This shouldn't be an issue with all the marathon training but I like the idea of setting monthly mileage goals to keep me accountable. I'll finish off January at about 130km including one entire week of being sick.

Do you have any February goals? Got any tips to help me achieve mine?

(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?