New Year, New Goals

What can I say about 2011? It was a year mixed with both good and bad, that’s for sure. But, the good definitely outweighed the bad, so I give 2011 two thumbs up fo’ sho’!

THE GOOD

Family trip to Disney! This was such a fun trip. The Hubs and I really loved seeing how our kids reacted to the magic that is Disney…they were in awe of the characters and rides, and they told us daily how much fun they were having. Heck, the Hubs and I were having an awesome time, too!

Us with two of our favorite Disney characters!

Races! Despite the warm, muggy, sprinkly day, I managed to PR my Houston ½ Marathon time. It wasn’t quite as good as I had hoped for, but a PR is a PR. Next up was the Austin 1/2 Marathon.  While I didn’t have the best race at the Austin ½ Marathon, I ran an entire race with the Hubby for the 1st time. This was his 1st big race and celebrating such an awesome accomplishment was a lot of fun. Then came tri-season...I PRed my CB&I time, and even PRed my 5k time on this race! I ended the summer with Bridgeland, where my times weren’t stellar, but I had my best open water swim ever and finally conquered that stupid anxiety in the water! And, the hubby also finished two triathlons this year – cheering for him with the kids at his final race of the season was definitely a high point of the year. Finally, the NYC Marathon lived up to the expectations – it was AMAZING. I had a 23-minute marathon PR and had an awesome time racing through the Burroughs.

Ah yes, all done and still smiling!

Trip to NYC! Yes, we travelled to NYC for the marathon, but we had an amazing time playing in the city, too! We had so much fun with my Sister-in-Law and her hubby, plus I finally got to meet one of my long-time on-line friends and see parts of NY that I’ve never seen before. It was phenomenal.

Brooklyn, before walking back to Manhattan

Family! For the 1st time, I took off multiple days from work during both Spring Break and Christmas Break. Even though we stayed close to home, I had an awesome time doing fun stuff around the city with the kids. I am definitely doing this again in the coming years.

These guys are my life!

THE BAD
Injuries. The infamous broken toe was something I’d like to forget. Yep, just one week after a great race at CB&I in May, I managed to kick the door in the middle of the night. Stupid. Then there was the odd back/neck/should issues in September. Not sure WTF that was about, but I’m glad I haven’t had a recurrence! And finally, there’s the hip issues…not the way I wanted to end 2011 and enter 2012, but what can you do?

Sickies. Yes, the woman who almost never gets sick managed to get Strep not once, but twice this year. Not a big deal, but after delaying my NYC marathon training for over a month because of a broken toe, missing training because of step really pissed me off.

Jake. We lost our family dog in 2011 and still miss him today.

Family drama. I can’t go into this one, but let’s just say it’s almost Jerry Springer worthy. Sigh.

Work. Our company announced in October that it was being sold and that the section I work in is going to be sold to a 3rd party. We don’t know who the buyer will be, so there’s still hope that everything works out well for everyone involved. If things don't work out well, then I will use this as an opportunity to spend more time with my family and re-evaluate my career goals.  I am trying to be an optimist on this one!

2012

So what’s new for 2012? I’m not one to make “resolutions” really, but I do try to set goals each year. Without having something to work toward, I find that I grow bored and lose motivation. So here are some goals, although I know there will be more along the way…

Races. Unless the hip thing gets worse, I fully intend to run the Houston Marathon. Before the hip issue (and after that awesome 18-miler), I had every intention of attempting another PR. But now, the goal may only be to finish. Bummer. I also have the Texas 70.3 on schedule for 2012. Again, unless the hip issues prevent me from training for this, I will train my arse off and finish my first 70.3. This is sort of a scary goal for me, which is exactly why I want to do it!

Workouts.  I had a lot of fun in 2010 and early 2011 when I mixed it up with my workouts.  I did an entire cycle of P90X and Insanity and loved the challenge of both.  After the 70.3, I'd like to do more of both workouts or maybe even try P90X2.   And, I'd like to add either Pilates or Yoga to my workout routine for at least one day per week...in fact, the gym at work offers both each week, so there's no excuse for not fitting these in.  (Except that Pilates is offered on Friday...not so sure this is a good thing for the Saturday morning workout!)  Since I stopped the strength training, I have started to feel...well, soft.  I want my muscles back!  I also vow to continue the core workouts (a/k/a Ab Ripper X) at least 2x per week!

Fun. To be honest, after the 70.3 I am not sure what I will be doing. Maybe CB&I, since it’s a great race and practically in my backyard. I do know that I want to have fun. I want to do whatever races I feel like doing and just have fun with them. I do want to continue to work on my speed at shorter distances, but I have been so focused on the PRs for the past couple of years, that I just want to race for fun, for bling and not have to worry about overdoing it before my “A” race. I know, not terribly ambitious.  The Hubs and I are considering the Goofy Challenge in 2013, but again, we would be racing more for fun than for time (which I hear is best for these races). But, shhhhh, don't tell Coach!

Family. From now until the Texas 70.3 on April 1st I will be uber busy trying to juggle training with work and family. But, my goal is to never make my family feel like they come 2nd to my training…which is why I wake up at stupid-thirty to workout. I believe with us working running/triathlon moms, it’s sometimes about quality over quantity when it comes to our families. I want the time I spend with the kiddos to be quality time - to give them my full attention, even if it’s only for an hour in the evening before bedtime.

Nutrition. Before NYC, I had a great start on eating cleaner and had lowered my sugar intake considerably. However, since returning from that trip, I really haven’t eaten as well as I should. In fact, this is the 1st holiday season in 3 years where I’ve seen a gain on the scale instead of a loss. I haven’t eaten that poorly, but with the kids at home with me over the last week, let’s just say I could have done much better. But, not to worry, I have my focus back and have already started working on this again. I love the way I look and feel when I eat well, so that in itself keeps me motivated to get back on track and stay there.

Other. I have other goals regarding my personal life, the family and work, but I won’t bore you with those. It will be an interesting year ahead and I am ready to tackle it!

Do you make resolutions each year?  Set goals?  What are some of your goals?

Spin, Spin and more Spin

Tuesday may just become my official spin day...depending on my work schedule of course. The past 2 weeks have been fairly slow with so many people at work out on vacation, so it's been easy to sneak out for spin class during my lunch break.

Yesterday's spin class was tough - lots of jumps, hills and intervals. I think it may take me a few more classes to really get used to spinning again, because I was sweating like crazy and my legs felt like jello. Good stuff!

Today would normally be my run day, but my left quad has been sore for a couple of weeks so I decided to give it one more day of rest. I'll do today's 5-miler tomorrow. I'm also pushing back my long run to Sunday, so that the hubby and I can actually run together...that means I may sneak in a quickie 2-3 miler on Friday and ride my bike on Saturday (depending on how the NYE festivities go).

One of my many goals for the 2011 is to stretch more. I am notoriously bad about stretching before and after my runs. I may stretch a bit after a really long, tiring run, but I rarely stretch after my shorter, weekday runs. I plan to incorporate either the P90X Yoga or X Stretch video into my weekly workout routine. Who knows, maybe it will help this stupid sore quad issue too! In fact, I decided to start working on this goal a little early and did the X Stretch video this morning. My problem with this? It didn't feel like a "real" workout, so I brought my workout clothes to work with me and intend to do some kind of cardio today during lunch.

More about the 2011 goals later. Until then, happy running/biking/swimming!

2010 Goals

Okay, so I realize that I am probably the last blogger on the planet to post my goals for the year. The problem is that I never feel I can start my new year's running goals until after the Houston 1/2 marathon. That race is one I always do and it kind of closes the year for me. But then, after the 1/2 I managed to get wrapped up into training for the next race and never get to my goals.

Before I can talk about my 2010 goals, let's review 2009...In comparison to 2006-2008, this year seems almost calm. In the previous years, I was in grad school, pregnant, remodeling a house, selling a house, buying a new one, moving, etc. When looking at 2009, the things I am most proud of are:

• Learning to swim - a HUGE obstacle for me)
• Competing in four triathlons - short ones, but swimming was required in all of them and the fact that I did not drown in any of them makes me quite proud!
• My PR at the 1/2...I've been working on getting faster and it's actually working. I know it takes time though - baby steps!

I also managed to lose some weight and overall, I just feel so much stronger this year!

In 2010, here are my goals:

• Spend more time with family - this includes more time with my parents as well.
• Be more patient, especially with the kids. I find myself getting so impatient and getting bent out of shape of stupid stuff. This is a goal every year, but I always need to work on this one...my hubby and kids will thank me for it.
• Get to goal once and for all! In 2009, I managed to lose 6.5 of the 8 lbs I wanted to lose between November and January (and they say you can't lose weight during the holidays - total hogwash!!!). My goal for 2010 is to get to my goal weight by my 1st tri in May...it's only 6 more lbs, but I know those are always the hardest to lose!
• PR in all distances - 5k and 10k mainly. The next 1/2 I'm planning to do this year is Zooma, which is REALLY hilly...I am highly doubtful of a PR there. But, since I count Houston as part of my 2010 goals, I am going to work toward a PR there. I'd also like to improve my times in swimming, biking, and running and PR in any of the Tris that I competed in last year and will be doing again this year.
• Complete at least 4 triathlons. 'nuff said.
• Re-work our family budget and stick to it. We were pretty good with this until recently...time to get back to it (thank you Dave Ramsey)!
• To become ridiculously organized. Seriously. We need help in the master closet and the kid's playroom...I will make some magic happen this year!
• Be a better friend. Sometimes it's hard when you have small kids, you're always in training for something and feel you're going in a million different directions, so I want to slow down and take time out for my peeps!
• Be happy!

That's it for now. Peace out!

T minus 1 week

Wow, it seems like I just posted something about the 1/2 marathon being 8 weeks away. Holy crap, where does the time go?

This is the time when I start the "stinkin' thinkin' ". Fortunately, since I'm doing the 1/2, it's not too bad. If I was doing the full marathon next weekend, things would be much worse - I'd be obsessing. But still, this is the time I start to question things:

- Can I do the distance?
Of course! It's a 1/2, even on a bad day I can usually get through 13.1 miles.

- What's the weather going to be like?
Well, I don't like the rain on tap for Thursday and Friday, but it's supposed to clear out for race day. Let's face it - it's 2 - 2 1/2 hours - can handle pretty much anything you throw at me weather-wise for that amount of time. Of course temps in the 30s-40s and no rain would be ideal and much appreciated. :-)

- What should I wear on race day?
I've had issues adjusting to the cold this year and I normally love running in the cold. Then again this year has been an unusually cold year for those of us in South TX...I had to break out my full tights for the 1st time in 3 years! Also, for some reason this year I can't get my clothing right. I tend to over dress and then have a jacket tied around my waist for my entire run.

Really, these issues are minor and I'm not stressing about them all that much. The biggest question I have going through my mind for Sunday is:

Can I meet my pace goal?

I know I can do it (especially in good weather conditions), but still...there are those doubts. Those little thoughts in my head that nag at me.

Honestly, this is probably the 1st time I've made a true goal for my finish time. I've had races where I've said "I'll be happy if I finished in x:xx time", but I'd follow up with "yeah, I'd still be fine as long as I'm under x:xx" and even worse, "okay, just finish strong." Last year's training season goal was to just get into shape post baby and get my mileage up. I did that, but my performance at all 3 1/2 marathons I did was pretty much what I'd call lackluster.

This past training year was different - I decided early on that if I was going to keep running the 1/2 and not train for the full that I would have to set some goals - stop being complacent, push myself harder, run more miles, be more consistent in my training and work to improve my pace at that distance.

I think I've done that. Could I have trained harder some weeks? Sure, nobody's perfect. But, I think this has been the best training season I've ever had...let's hope the payoff comes in the form of a nice, big PR!

2008 in Review

Okay, I think I am quite possibly the last blogger out there to post their proud moments of 2008 and resolutions for 2009. You know what they say - better late than never - right?

Shining Moments of 2008

I started out this year pregnant and running slowly. Instead of running this 1/2 in January as planned, I ended up volunteering so I could live vicariously through those who could run and run fast. That was an awesome experience and would recommend it to anyone who can't run the marathon or 1/2 for whatever reason. So here goes...

• Bought a house in February
• Moved into said house in March
• Had the sweetest, most precious baby boy in May and walked in my graduation ceremony 2 weeks later
• Finished my MBA in August

(I did the above while working full-time and being preggo!)

• Joined Woodlands Fit in July, but didn't get to run with them again until late August
• Made some awesome friends through Woodlands Fit!
• Survived Hurricane Ike and 12 days with no power (which is a PITA with a 3 year old and a 4-month old)
• Ran the San Antonio ½ marathon with new friends :-) - even through I was slow, it far exceeded my expectations 5 months post baby!
• Got back to our budget after the house purchase - learned to play the "Grocery Game"
• Hooked up with nutritionist extraordinaire, lost 13 lbs and got back to my pre-pregnancy weight!

2009 Resolutions

• Continue the weight loss until I reach my goal weight (goal for this is March 15)
• Train for and finish at least 1 triathlon - I've signed up for the TriGirl Super Sprint in May
• If I enjoy the tri in May - sign up for at least 2 more!
• Running - begin implementing speed work 1x per week and get into the 10 minute range again
• Complete at least 3 1/2 marathons in 2009 - I'm doing the Houston 1/2, Zuma Austin, but I'm not sure about the 3rd...maybe White Rock?
• Take some swim lessons! On this, I don't even know where to start. I haven't set goals for pace yet, since I am not really sure where I stand now
• Be more patient - especially with the hubby & the kids
• Play more, stress less
• Find a new church near our home and attend regularly
• Stick to budget and finish our emergency fund
• Start the baby's 529 plan
• Get organized in every aspect of my life - work and home
• Work to improve on the areas of my job that I understand the least - and be better about tolerating the areas that like the least :-)

That's it for 2009...I think it's enough!!!