March goals

😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡I don't know that I'm going to change my goals much this month.  They seem to be working well, but I'm still struggling with a few minor things. The hiking goal is hard when it's so cold and yucky outside.  I feel like I should be doing something, but I don't know what.  I wish I had more money so that the goal could center around buying hiking gear.  Maybe I should work on that. 

Goal 1: getting outside (hiking) . . . In March I will save $20 towards hiking gear.  That is such a small amount, but really I don't know with our current situation if I can do more than that.  If I can I will.  And I will keep my eyes peeled for an opportunity to go hiking with Damian. 

Goal 2: yoga . . . In March I will do some sort of stretching 3 days a week for at least 10 min. and one week of 4 days.
This is working well.  In February I even had a week of 4 days of stretching, so I'm going to add that as part of my goal.  My leg, hip, and knee are all doing so much better with now 2 months of consistent stretching.  I need to renew my last months massage goal and actually complete it, so  I am also going to schedule a massage somewhere.  I first need to find somewhere that will take my insurance.  Maybe I need to call places in Everett where I work. 

Goal 3: PR half and full marathons . . . I will run at least 3 times a week and with a day of speed work.
I am currently trying to prevent plantar faciitis from getting worse, so I don't feel like I can increase my running at this time.  However, I do believe I need to start rolling and icing my foot religiously (right now I'm average once a week on really bad days).  So . . . ice and roll 3 times a week.

Goal 4: healthy eating . . . I will eat a salad 2 times a week, cut back my afternoon coffee to 2 times a week.  Wine on weekends and one day in the middle of the week.
I'm keeping this one.  Maybe I need to change this one up, this will be the 3rd month I've had the same goal (although in February I added the wine component).  This particular goal is to help me lose weight, and I am not losing weight.  My weigh ins this month were consistently in the same range, even a little high one week.  However, my belt was tightened today, but then it was tightened a month ago and then loosened again.  Maybe next month I change it to staying in my calorie range 5 of 7 days (although I'm not usually out of my calorie range, and when I am, not far).

Speaking of calorie range . . . myfitnesspal . . . I had a streak of 868 days.  That is 2 years, 4 months, and 10 days.  And I missed a day.  Just completely forgot.  How do I completely forget after 2 years, 4 months, and 10 days??  I don't know, but I did.  And I was furious.  Mad.  Angry.  Frustrated.  Annoyed. Sad. Very sad. Disappointed.

And as of today I'm on day 5.

February goal wrap up

The end of February snuck up on me.  It might be because there's only 28 days, but it's also probably because time goes so much faster as you get older.

I don't know if I mentioned it, and I'm too lazy to go look ; ) but on Valentine's Day my Mom fell while taking a selfie of herself with the snowman she had built.  And when she fell she broke her leg pretty badly.  She needed to get pins and a plate in her leg.  Well, they scheduled the surgery and about a week after her first fall but before her surgery, she fell in the middle of the night while trying to go to the bathroom.  This time she fell on a table and broke 3 ribs.  My dad took her to the hospital and they admitted her.  Well, while in the hospital she started having problems breathing and they couldn't figure out why.  She was moved to the ICU on Sunday, where she still is.  Today the theory is that she has a lung infection.  She was put on antibiotics yesterday, so we're hoping that gets her better.  The plan is for her to be released to a rehab facility because my Dad just can't take care of her.  He has his own health issues and has a hard time lifting her or anything.  Not that she needs it, but what if she fell again?

Anyway, I've been dealing with that this week.  Not knowing if I need to go over the mountains or not.  My sister and I have talked about staggering our time over there, but then when she went into the ICU we talked about going this week.  I think, as long as she continues to get better, I'm going to go next weekend and my sister is going this weekend. 

But, it's still February 28th and I have a goals update post to write.  ; ) 

So at the beginning of February I had set some small goals for myself. 

Goal 1: getting outside (hiking) . . . In February I will go for at least one hike.  I did not complete this one.  Damian and I were going to go on President's Day, but he decided to hang out with his girlfriend instead.  Plus, we've had extremely cold weather for half of the month and I just didn't want to go.  We did go for a walk along the river, but that definitely wasn't a hike.  But I did buy a pair of hiking boots, so that means I'm one step closer, right??

My very windy run last week.

Goal 2: yoga . . . In February I will do some sort of stretching 3 days a week for at least 10 min.

I meant to take a picture of my mirror but forgot that I needed to write this today, so I didn't.  I have so far completed this goal.  10 min really flies, so even just an average stretch right after my run has equaled 10 min.  =)  I am also going to schedule a massage somewhere. Honestly, I forgot about this part.  However, I did call the physical therapists office where I went a few years ago for my plantar faciitis, but the massage therapist there doesn't take my insurance.  =/

Goal 3: PR half and full marathons . . . I will run at least 3 times a week and add a day of speed work (probably hill repeats). I succeeded in this goal.  I ran every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of February (well, I didn't run Saturday the 3rd because my Mom and other sister were in town and I spent that day with them, but I knew that was going to happen).  I also ran hills every Saturday, even on the treadmill one Saturday because it was so cold and windy outside.  And I think the speed work is working, my long runs (only 7 miles all month) are averaging around 9:20 min/miles.

Goal 4: healthy eating . . . I will eat a salad 2 times a week, cut back my afternoon coffee to 2 times a week.  I'm also going have wine only on weekends and one day in the middle of the week.    I actually had 2 weeks where I had wine 2 times in the middle of the week.  I justified it both times, the first time I had wine on Feb. 13th, and then again on the 14th, because . . . well, Valentine's day.  The next week I had wine on Monday the 19th, and then again on Wednesday the 21, I justified that week with the 19th being a holiday and sorta still the weekend, and the 21st was my hair appointment, so obviously!  Hair and wine Wednesday! I did continue to eat salad 2 times a week, often more, and was successful in the coffee only 2 times a week. 

I think I cracked the bone in my elbow when I fell in the middle of the month.  It's been 2 weeks, and the spot on my elbow is still tender and still a tiny bit swollen and I can't rest it on anything.  And when I push on it (not hard) it still hurts and feels like there's an indent in the bone that is not in the other elbow.  I have full motion of my elbow and other than not being able to rest it on anything, it doesn't bother me, so I haven't been to the dr. 

Fun times

My previous post talked about the last week and a half of running, but I also did a couple really fun things during that time as well that I wanted to talk about.

After Chris had his stroke in August my weekly workout get together with my sister stopped.  We did spin class once a week for awhile, then walked outside when it was nice, but with Chris not able to drive and his work schedule changing, I haven't been able to do it with her.  Right now, and for the last 5 months, Chris has been working 2 days a week in Everett for 8 hours, and the other 3 days in Mount Vernon for 4 hours.  He still has Monday off, but he started doing cardio rehab (basically personal training at the hospital being monitored so he doesn't die).  So since he's no longer allowed to drive a work van, he's been driving our one and only car to work in Mount Vernon and to his cardio rehab, which means that I am no longer able to stay late after work.  I've been riding the bus on days when I am not driving him to Everett to work.

Well, in January he told me that his insurance is going to quit covering his cardio rehab in February, and my job is expanding into a neighboring town, which means I will need the car on every other Monday, so I told my sister that every other Monday we can hang out/workout again.  =)  And we started that last week.

We went for a walk in Everett not very far from downtown.  And it was so nice!  I love hanging out with my sister. 

On Friday the 9th, I had a training in Mount Vernon.  I had coworkers that were also going to that training, so I rode the bus (it was a regular bus day) and one of my coworkers drove me to Mt. Vernon for the training.  After the training we went out for "1 drink" that turned into 4.  =)  We had a blast.  It was just 2 of us, the other girl didn't want to go out. 

 
Then on this last Saturday that same coworker and another one came up to Mount Vernon again for The Comic Strippers.  I had never heard of them before and my hairdresser told me about them at my last hair appt.  They were hilarious.  I haven't laughed that hard in forever.  They didn't strip, they were more of a comedy act.  they came out with just pants on and a bow tie, and stayed that way for the whole show (one guy, an older guy, had spandex pants that went over his belly button). My stomach hurt after 10 min, they were so funny.  =)

Running

I haven't been on here for a couple weeks.  I thought about writing something last Friday but I only had 15 min and didn't think I could crank out a decent post. (Not that any are good, but I try.)  ; )

I ran hills on Saturday a week and a half ago.  My first hill repeat workout in 2 years, it went better than expected.  I ran 10 hills at a little faster pace than my first ever hill workout over 2 years ago.

Interesting to look at that, it says my distance is close to half a mile farther, but there were more steps on the shorter distance.  But it's the average pace that is surprising to me.  I ran .39 miles farther, but in only a min longer. 

On Sunday I ran 7 miles.  I have found a 7 mile route that I like a lot, it combines my daily route with my long run route, and for whatever reason, right now, that makes me happy.  I especially like running along the river, and I've traditionally only done that on my long runs.  =)

Plus it was super sunny.  Cold, but sunny, and I love the sun.  =)  I do kinda wish it was warmer though. . .

Tuesday I went for a 3 mile run after work.  Even if I'm getting home at 5:30, the sun sets right about that time, so I'm running in the dark.  I was close to home and started crossing the road in a spot I don't normally cross (no crosswalks, and no driveways).  I took a step or two in some grass and then slam, I was in the road on my face.  My foot caught the curb and I was on the ground wondering why I was on the ground before I realized I had fallen.  I hit HARD.  I could feel my knee, elbow, and hip bruising up, I thought I hit my knee the hardest, but after a few days it became obvious that my elbow hit first and very hard. 

That picture doesn't really do my injuries justice, my knee is still blue (a week later) and my left elbow still bothers me if I don't have a bandaid on the scrape, oh, and is very tender to touch.  My hip is pretty much better, and my right elbow still has a scrape, but the bruise is gone. 

But I went for another run on Thursday, another 4 miles. 

This was Thursday after wearing a belt all day, it definitely made the bruise worse. 

Saturday was COLD and windy.  I asked Damian to come home so I could run around 11am, then changed my mind after watching the trees blow around in the backyard.  So I was sitting on the couch feeling nice and toasty, enjoying my book . . . and started thinking about my stupid goals.  Hill repeats every Saturday . . . damn it!  So I got on my treadmill and tried to imitate hill repeats.  0.15 miles on a setting of a 9 incline and a 7 speed (having no idea how fast or how steep that is), then 0 incline with a speed of 2 and 3 for 0.15 miles.  Repeat 10 times.  It was definitely slower than outside, but I did it.

Then Sunday came.  Again, I was sitting on my couch all nice and comfy and snow started falling.  If you've read my blog for long, then you know I love the snow, and I love running in the snow.  However, I hadn't had anything to eat, and no water, just coffee.  So I ate, drank water, and then it melted.  =/  Then we needed to go grocery shopping, then I needed to eat lunch, then we had our tax appt, and then it was too late.  (I totally could have squeezed it in after eating before taxes.) But I had taken Monday off to go hiking with Damian, so I thought that I'd just run before we hike.

Which I did.  7 miles.

Accidental picture of my leg.

And then Damian and I decided it was too cold to go hiking, so we didn't. 

Yesterday I debated on running all day.  I didn't want to.  I usually take a rest day the day after a long run, but it was Tuesday, and I run on Tuesday and I have a hair appt this evening.  So I went for a run . . . and immediately remembered why I don't run the day after a long run.  My legs were tired.  I was slow.  And it was COLD!  But I ran, because . . . it's Tuesday.

Crosstraining

Last night after I got home I decided to walk on my treadmill for awhile.  I haven't walked on the treadmill for a week or more, I just haven't felt like it.  I was watching TV while walking, but I've cut way back on my TV time in the evening lately and it's much harder to walk and read, although I have.  I decided to put on the hiking boots I got to break them in.  I don't know if that's truly a thing I should do, but it sounds smart.  ; )

While I was walking I decided I should do some squats.  I haven't done any in awhile, so I thought it'd be good for me.  I walked for 30 min and then did 50 squats.  While I was squatting I thought it would be good to do more stuff, so I did some "pull ups" laying down under the treadmill and pulling myself up on the treadmill.  I did 10 of those, switched my hands and did 10 more.  Then walked for another 15 min.  While walking again I decided that I really needed a picture of the pull ups I did . . . I figured I could get one without much difficulty, so I did several more trying to get the "perfect" picture. =)

If nothing else, I got a good workout just trying to get a decent picture.  =)  

Yes, I am wearing pajama pants and a sports bra.  =) Oh and don't forget the hiking boots that are not in the pictures. 

After my picture taking, I spent 20 min or so stretching, and then I iced my feet.  I think I need to ice my feet every night.  On days that I do, the next day my feet don't hurt as badly, and that is the goal.  Stretching yesterday means that I reached my weekly goal (for this week) of stretching 3 times a week.  On my mirror I put 4 boxes to check off after each week.  I did that on purpose for those weeks when I go above and beyond. But I forgot that I put an extra day, it wasn't until this morning that I was looking at it and remembered that I had reached my goal and the "extra" box was extra.  =)

Tonight I need to run because I probably won't tomorrow.  I have a training and am planning on going out for a drink or two with coworkers afterwards.

Water, lots of water

Last week I was going to start running more.  I was also going to start hill repeats on Saturday, the first Saturday of February.  Well, I did run 3 days last week, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, however, my mom and 2 of my sisters and I went for an all day shopping trip on Saturday and I didn't run.  Which means I didn't do hill repeats on Saturday either.  I did have a good trip with my sisters and my Mom, and I got some really cute clothes (that unfortunately I have to wait for spring/summer to wear).

One of my favorite things to shop for is shoes.  I am a shoe-aholic, I admit it freely and proudly.  I tend to buy most of my shoes with my closest sister (closest in distance and relationship), so I was super excited to go shoe shopping on Saturday.  Well, I didn't find any shoes I liked.  One pair was too small in my size and (of course) too big in a half size bigger.  I like heels, I like the way I feel in them and I like the way I look in them.  Whenever I can't find a pair of heels that I like, I think that I should buy some flat shoes because I don't have very many and I could use them, but then I feel like I'm "wasting" my money when I do that . . . it's so dysfunctional (my thinking).  Anyway, when I was unable to find heels, I ended up buying a pair of hiking boots.  It was hard, but I did want them anyway, and they were on sale, I do need to have them if I'm going to continue with my goal of hiking this year . . .

So running, I ran 4 miles last Tuesday and 3 miles on Thursday.  Neither one of them was anything special to write about.  =)  On Sunday it was raining.  It was raining a lot, and had been raining for several days.  We were under a flood watch (I wasn't in danger of a flood, but the lowlands in my area and the rivers were).  I didn't really want to go for a run, but I figured I needed to.  Especially since Sunday was the Super Bowl and I planned to eat a lot of unhealthy, fried food.

So I told myself I'd run 5 miles, and that would be good.  Well, as it often does, while I was running I changed my mind.  I decided to go a different route, incorporate my long run route into my regular 5 mile run route and make it 6 miles so that I could run by the river and see how high it was.  Well, when I ran down the big hill to the low lands, I ran into a lake . . . literally.

I tried to pick my way through some grass and blackberry bushes, but I ended up with one foot sinking into the water.  Thankfully it was only one foot, and I didn't notice it too much (probably already wet from all the rain/puddles/water I had already run through).

I got to my turning point and decided to not turn and add some more distance.  At this point I had no idea how far I was going to run, I was kinda thinking it would turn out to be 8 miles, but I didn't know for sure. 

I did run by the river, but it wasn't as high as I've seen it before.

Even the creek that is normally dry was flooded and "raging."

I ended up with 7 miles, which I was okay with, and it turned into a very good run, even though I was wet.  I definitely like that distance, almost anything between 5 and 10 miles is great. 

I kept very good track of my food during the Super Bowl, even though it was high calorie and not good for me, I stuck to serving sizes and logged it as soon as I ate it.  I still managed to stay under my calorie goal with the added running calories.  =)

I ended up with only 12 miles last week (that doesn't count Sunday because that is this week).  =)  But I do plan on running tonight, Thursday, hills on Saturday, so we'll see how many I get. 

When I was running hill repeats a few years ago, they totaled about 3 miles, but I haven't run hill repeats in almost 2 years (well, I ran a lot of hills last spring to train for the San Juan Half, but not just repeats), so I'm thinking 3 miles is an awful lofty goal.  It will probably be a lot less.

February goals

I wrote my previous post "January goal update" on Monday, so that was before I ran on Tuesday.  =)  Yes, you read that right, I ran on Tuesday, and it felt great.  It was only 3.5 miles, but still I think I need to get back into running regularly on Tuesday.  Make it my "run no matter what" day again.  So that makes my January running total 55 miles.  It's not bad, not great, but pretty good for what it was.  =)

I have been thinking some about my February goals, well, a lot, since I'm writing this, and I'm thinking they're going to stay pretty similar to January.  So here is what I've come up with so far . . .

Goal 1: getting outside (hiking) . . . In February I will go for at least one hike. 

I am going to try to take Maddox up Little Mountain again.  Maybe do a different area than what we did last month.  I don't know if I'll make it out with Damian again.  With our completely different schedules it makes it hard.  But there may be a weekend where he works later and we could go super early.  I will keep my eyes open for an opportunity.  =)

Goal 2: yoga . . . In February I will do some sort of stretching 3 days a week for at least 10 min.
I have already written on my mirror a way to keep track of this, so that will make it easier to know if I'm actually doing it.  I also am having an ache in my leg again, the last few times I've had this ache I think it's because of a knot or something in my hip, so I am also going to schedule a massage somewhere. This seems like an easy goal, but getting massage therapists to call back has been a pain in the butt.  I don't know why, but they never call me back.  =/

Goal 3: PR half and full marathons . . . I will run at least 3 times a week and add a day of speed work (probably hill repeats).
I'm going to make Tuesday a running day again, so my running will look something like Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday (or Friday), with hill repeats on Saturday.

Goal 4: healthy eating . . . I will eat a salad 2 times a week, cut back my afternoon coffee to 2 times a week.  I'm also going to work on cutting back on the wine. 
I'm keeping this one.  I was successful in January, mostly, so I'm going to leave the salad and coffee one alone.  Goals are more successful when they are attainable, and are not generic.  "Cutting back on wine" is very generic, but I'm not sure what I can commit to.  There are days that I really, really want a glass of wine, so saying only on Wednesday and weekends, is hard, plus I do like my baths with a glass. . . maybe I should say weekends and one day a week only.  So there we go, Wine on weekends and one day in the middle of the week. =)  I suppose I should write that on my mirror too.  =/ 

So there we have it.  Month 2 of 2018 and I'm killing it.  hahahaha!

January goal update

There's not a lot to chat about this week.  I haven't been running a lot, I'm barely keeping the goal of running three times a week.  I used to tell myself that Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday were "no matter what" running days, with a moving running day on Thursday or Friday (meaning that if I didn't run on Thursday I "had" to run on Friday).  Most specifically Tuesday was a hardcore, no matter what, I'll never miss, running day. Since my last half marathon I haven't kept that unofficial rule at all.  I'm pretty lucky if I run on Thursday or Friday, and I pretty much force myself to run on Saturday and Sunday.

I haven't run on a Tuesday since the beginning of December, and before that the middle of November.  At first it was because my knee would be achey on Tuesday after my long run on Sunday, then it was because I didn't want to run in the dark.  Now I'm just lazy, well, and I still don't want to run in the dark.   

Last week I ran a total of 13 miles.  That is not very many.  In fact, so far in January I have only ran 51.39 miles and if I keep with the trend I've been doing all month, I won't have anymore miles.  My average weekly running days have been Sunday, Thursday, and Saturday and since the month ends on Wednesday . . . 

I know that I tend to scale back on my running after a major race.  And while I'd consider my most recent "major race" to be the marathon in October, I was also pushing myself to stay in half marathon shape for the Last Chance Marathon in December.  So now I'm done with all planned races, and I haven't figured out my next ones.  I also know that I tend to do better if I have a race to train for.  I don't have any half marathons I'm really aiming for right now.  I've been thinking about the Berry Dairy Days half that I did in 2013, it's the first half I've ever done, but I don't know.  It's in June, so it's a good time to start deciding. 

Anyway . . .

In the middle of the month I made goals for January.  Because I started the goals late in the month, I will forgive myself the first week and a half.  =)  So, let's look at my stated goals and how I did:

Goal 1: getting outside (hiking) . . . In January I will go for at least one hike. 
I accomplished this goal.  I went hiking with Maddox, and I went with Damian a couple days later.  I had planned to go with my sister, but she didn't want to go in the rain so we canceled it. 

Goal 2: yoga . . . In January I will do some sort of stretching 3 days a week for at least 10 min.
I did not keep track of how many times I stretched every week.  I was really great for the first 2 weeks after writing this, and then I started getting lazy.  I know that I stretched at least 2 days a week, but I am actually not sure if I made it to 3 every week.  I need to find a better way of keeping track . . . maybe writing on my mirror.  I'll think about it. 
I will also do at least 50 squats at the same time that I do the stretching. 
I did squats every time I stretched, and sometimes when I didn't (like last night).

Goal 3: PR half and full marathons . . . I will run at least 3 times a week.
I honestly thought I would kill this one.  I have been running 4 days a week for a long time, but I really got lazy.  The only reason I often went for a run on Thursdays was because of this goal.  I think I need to do better.  =/  Although, I did successfully complete this goal, I ran exactly 3 times a week all of January, but no more than that. Oh, and my knee feels fine, but I've been trying to ignore a pain in the heel of my left foot that is very reminiscent of plantar faciitis.  I may need to work on that as well.

Goal 4: healthy eating . . . I will eat a salad 2 times a week, cut back my afternoon coffee to 2 times a week.
I also successfully completed this goal, well, mostly.  I'm pretty sure I had an afternoon coffee 3 times one of the weeks.  However, I also had salad 3 times one of the weeks, so that's a wash, right? ; )

Stay tuned for February's goals (I'm thinking they'll be pretty similar to January's).  =)

Hike

I haven't been running much.  I do better with running when I have a goal I'm working towards.  I don't have a goal right now other than getting better.  I have run 24 miles in January so far.  I have pretty much abandoned running after work.  The thought of the cold and the dark has kept me inside, plus, the treadmill being in the living room has me thinking I don't need to go outside to run.  Problem is, I'm not running on the treadmill either, I'm walking.  I guess I need to find a half marathon in the spring I want to run and start training for it.

I am doing a lot of walking right now.  I've been walking at lunch a couple times a week, and also am walking on the treadmill in the evenings most nights a week. I don't think that the walking I am doing is keeping me in shape, but at least I'm not sitting on my butt all day and evening.  =) 

I've said it before, when I don't run I don't have as much to talk about.  Even if I'm not talking about running, at least I can think of something to say. 

Actually . . . I forgot (see, not running makes me stupider).

This weekend I went on two short hikes.  The first one was on Saturday with Maddox.  I told him we were going on an adventure, and he said he wanted to be Adventure Cat (whatever that is).  I said that he is Adventure Maddox, and he loved that name.  Then he told me we were Adventure People and we needed to go get Adventure Hats, 4 of them (even though it was just him and I hiking). 

He is so different than Damian.  His conversation was all over the place and he never stopped talking.  He talked about being Adventure People, and he talked about wanting to be like Damian.  He probably talked about Damian for 20 min, how strong he is, and how high he can climb, and how he wants to be like Damian.  He never left the trail (I couldn't keep Damian on a trail) and he avoided all the puddles because he didn't want the water to go over his boots and get his feet wet.

  Overall it was fun.  I will do it again with him.

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr Day, and while I didn't have the day off, Damian had the day off, so I took it off.  We decided we were going to go for a bigger hike and take packs and just see how it felt.  I asked a friend of mine who hikes if she knew any easy day hikes, and I was given a couple maps.  Damian picked the one he liked, he said it was 2 miles out and 2 miles back, so I thought that would be a nice little hike. 

I had no idea what to put into a pack, so kept asking Damian.  I don't have anything, and if I go alone I'll have to borrow stuff from Damian.  I really wanted to feel what it'd be like to have a pack full so we ended up putting a bunch of books in my pack to make it heavy. 

We got to the trail and were going uphill, I actually wondered what I had gotten myself into, but it evened out pretty quickly, and then we were at the lake.  It wasn't even a quarter mile from the road.  We walked around the lake, and to and around a beaver pond.  We passed several people, mostly people that looked like they were there for a stroll.  We got almost pack to the beginning and I decided we should stop and eat lunch, so we sat on a bench by the water and ate the sandwiches we packed.  And then we were done.

The whole trail, including all offshoots we could find, was 2.25 miles.  We did it in an hour and 15 min.  I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more to it, but I really enjoyed spending the time with Damian. We talked about all sorts of things, and it was nice.  I offered to go somewhere else to hike another trail, but he wanted to go home, so home we went. 

All in all, it was a good weekend.

Monthly goals; January edition

After writing up my goals for 2018, I was catching up on my blog reading and there are a lot of people posting about their goals for 2018.  Isn't that what everyone does in January?  Then I came across one person that talked about her monthly goals.  This is not the first blog post I've read talking about monthly goals.  In fact, I've read many, but for whatever reason this was the first time I've thought "maybe I should make monthly goals."

I work in the mental health field and many times a year goals come up in my work for my clients. I know that goals need to be achievable, and it always helps to break them up into smaller goals to reach a bigger one.  So my next thought was, maybe if I do monthly goals that support my overall goals, I'll succeed in some of the ones that I haven't in the past (yoga? hiking?). 

I know January is already almost half over, but I can still set some goals for the rest of the month.  Little ones that will help me succeed in my bigger goals. 

Goal 1: getting outside (hiking) . . . In January I will go for at least one hike. 

I want to go out once with Maddox up Little Mountain, so I will do that.  I would also like to go out with my sister.  She is coming up to hang out with me on the 27th, so I will ask her if she wants to go for a hike on Little Mountain at the same time.  She may not want to if it's raining, so I'm going to keep the monthly goal of getting out once instead of 2 times.

Goal 2: yoga . . . In January I will do some sort of stretching 3 days a week for at least 10 min.
There are 3 1/2 weeks left in January, so that would be a total of at least 10 days of stretching.  I have also been doing squats, so I will also do at least 50 squats at the same time that I do the stretching.

Goal 3: PR half and full marathons . . . I will run at least 3 times a week.
That very generic goal is easy for me, but I need to take it easy on my knee, so even though my goal is to get faster, I can't get faster if I am hurt.  So first I need to make sure my knee is okay, then I can focus on speed work.

Goal 4: healthy eating . . . I will eat a salad 2 times a week, cut back my afternoon coffee to 2 times a week.
This is a very low goal for me for this month.  But it is achievable for me right now.  Anything more may not be attainable for me at this moment. 

I don't know if this will stick.  I'm good at starting things, not so good at keeping it up.  I think it would be better if I had some sort of fitness calendar, but I don't want to buy one.  Maybe I'll do some looking for a free app on my phone, or something to help keep me accountable.  If you know of anything, I'd love recommendations. 

Oh, and the treadmill I moved to the living room?  I finally asked Damian to help me maneuver it to get the mat under it straight and not lumpy.  Once we did that, I realized how hard it would be to get it in and out every time someone wants to use it, so for now, it's going to stay down all the time.  Hopefully it will get used by more than me.  So far I've walked on it for 40 min 2 days in a row (just enough time to walk 2 miles slowly). 

Yes, that is wine, yes, I am walking on the
treadmill.

2018

Well, for about a month now I 've had some unformed goals for 2018 roaming around in my head.  I talked about them before Christmas but haven't come back to finalize anything.  I don't know that anything is final anyway.  I don't know if I'm going to have a "final" list of goals, but I have thoughts.

Mostly this year I want to focus on being a better me.  So far in my head, this has included being more active, not just running, but getting out more.  Damian spent a lot of money in the early summer on backpacking gear, and went backpacking once.  Ever since then, I have had the desire to actually do it.  I've always thought hiking would be fun, but have never actually done it.  This is the year.  I am going to do it.  I need a couple basic supplies before I do anything major (hiking boots being number one priority) but until I get them, I can do smaller hikes in the area that I live.  There's a big hill called "Little Mountain" that has a ton of trails on it, so that is my first goal, go hiking there in my tennis shoes. 

January 7, 2012

This also includes more time with my kids.  Damian and I can do some more challenging hikes in the summer, and Maddox and I can do some easy hikes starting now.  I actually was going to go hike on the "hill" this last weekend, but ended up not able to get away.  When Maddox was a baby, we actually did do some hikes on those trails, I just haven't been back in 6 years.  =/

Not my most flattering pose. This
was about 4 months before my
marathon, June 2015.

I am tired of the aches and pains that I get from running.  I love running and am not going to give it up, but I need to work on keeping my body from falling apart.  So I am going to do yoga (or stretching, whichever term you prefer).  I have made this commitment before and have never followed through.  A couple years ago I decided that money was a good motivation for me, so I decided that every day I did yoga I would give myself a dollar, which I did for awhile, but then I quit (again).  I kept giving myself my extra money though, so that was nice, it was what helped pay for Damian's and my tattoos.  I think I need to rethink the way I think of yoga, not that I want to be more flexible (which is true) but that I need to do it to continue to run regularly.

I couldn't figure out why I didn't have these aches and pains in 2015 when I trained for my first marathon.  Ignoring that I was 2 years younger, I had started out my training with a lot of yoga.  I didn't keep it up but I did it faithfully for about half my training and then sporadically for the rest.  I did no stretching during my training this year, no wonder I developed a hip and knee issue. 

So that may be my biggest goal of 2018, stretching to prevent injury so that I can run.

I also want to PR my half and full marathons.  The older I get the harder this will be to accomplish, but if I can train for a full marathon following the training exactly, I have no doubt I could PR it.  My initial thoughts were to start working on speed work once the Last Chance Half was done, but with my knee pain, I'm happy to just run right now.  I will work on speed when I know that I won't hurt my knee more. 

And finally, I want to work on losing the weight I gained in 2016 after I sprained my ankle.  I'm not going to lie, I was really hoping that marathon training this year would "melt" it off, but it didn't.  Probably because I didn't do a good job at training this year.  And also because I'm over 40 now.  Oh, and I've developed an afternoon high calorie coffee habit.  I won't lie, I love looking at pictures of me from 2015 when I was marathon training, I was at my smallest, healthiest self, and my most confidant, and I love seeing that.  I want that back. 

Right now I'm fluctuating at 150-155, which is 5 to 10 lbs heavier than I want to be, and 10-15 lbs heavier than I was in October of 2015.  I'm not going to lie, this is the hardest goal I have.  I feel like I don't eat poorly.  And I didn't go overboard at all this holiday season, yes, there was more sugar than a normal month, but that is not unusual for me, and I didn't gain any additional weight.  I just need to figure out how my over 40 yr old body will lose the weight. 

I did lose a little weight in 2017, at the end of 2016 I was hovering above 155 and January 2017 I was at 158, so seeing 150 in November was nice, but I am above that again.  I'd like to be back in the 140's, and ultimately in the low 140's.  I haven't seen "14-" since June 2016, a month after I sprained my ankle. 

I know that my struggle is with food.  Afternoon coffee is not a good thing.  I also have been eating out for lunch a lot more often, and that isn't a healthy thing either, while it's not fast food, it's still not my old "leftovers for lunch" routine.  And if I'm totally honest, it probably has some to do with my wine drinking.  I don't think I drink excessively, but on nights when I have 2 glasses (or more) I snack more. 

This last week since my last half marathon, I've taken it easy in regards to running.  I ran 3 miles on the treadmill at the gym on Thursday, then 3 miles outside on Saturday.  My knee didn't bother me at all after, or during, either of those runs, so I ran 5 miles on Sunday outside.  My knee started bothering me at mile 4 and more at 4.5, but there was no where to go by then, I was already headed home, so I just finished the run.  It didn't hurt at all yesterday evening and still doesn't today.  So I'm good with that.  Last Monday after the half, it bothered me a lot.

I moved my treadmill inside on Saturday.  Chris needs to exercise more, and one way we thought that could work is if the treadmill came inside from the garage.  That way he could walk and watch TV.  We'll see if it works, I have a feeling he won't use it much, but maybe I'll get on it to walk in the evenings when I'm not running.  I can already feel the calling of it (not for running though, that's so boring).