January 2015 Review

Hard to believe January 2015 is already over. That went quick! It seems as you get older, the time really does fly by!

January did not go as well as I had hoped. Not by a long shot. I didn't make a single goal I set for myself. As a review, here are the goals I set for myself in January:

Here's a breakdown on each:

1. Lose 7-8 lbs: Gained 1.6 pounds
2. Run 48 miles: 16 miles {32 miles under goal}
3. Follow meal plan: Not 100%, but actually not too far off. Some nights swapped a meal from later in the week. Ate out a few times more than we should have, but overall stayed on track better than usual.
4. Read 10 books: 9
5. Post Eastern State Penitentiary photos: Still on camera

I will say that I missed a whole week of runs due to my back the first full week of the month, so I knew I wasn't going to hit that 48 miles for the month. But, then I just lost total motivation. I couldn't bring myself to go out and run. Some of it had to so with snow, some of it had to do with my work schedule changing around, but mostly I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I lost the desire to go out. I don't know what happened, but this whole running thing just wasn't it this month.

Kinda annoyed I missed my reading goal by one book. Bah! Last January I read 19. Guess that's tied to that whole I lost the desire to do it this month. 

Not sure why the photos didn't come off the camera. I honestly thought about it many times. It just never translated into me actually doing it. Maybe this month?

So, I guess February is a new month and a new start. The monthly meal plan is written out. I do need to go over goals for the month, but at least I kept the one positive thing going...the meal planning.

How did your January go? Did you meet your monthly goals?       

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Motivational Monday ~ Halfway Point for 2014

Today is the last day of June and that means half of 2014 is gone. Wow. Seems crazy! I still feel like I'm waiting for another snow storm to hit and for me to freak out because my little car doesn't handle snow.

But, since we're at the half way point, I want to look back on the last 6 months and see where it all went.

January we received the bad news that our sweet little Higgy cat had cancer. It was devastating news as we had lost Higgy's brother Pooka just 6 months earlier.

January and February brought a ton of snow! I don't know what happened to us this year, but we seemed to be covered in snow most of the winter. I love winter, cold weather and generally snow, but this year was a bit much.

March saw us celebrating Higgy's 16th birthday! When he was diagnosed with cancer in January none of us thought he would see it. But, he did! It was epic too.

March also saw two races being run! Ran my favorite race of the year at the St. Patrick's Day 5k in Baltimore. It just has an amazing view of runners in the first quarter mile as we all run downhill in a sea of green. At the end of the month I ran the inaugural The Love Run Half Marathon in Philadelphia. It was a nice race which I ran exceedingly slow, but until the last mile I had a good time with. What made it memorable was it rained/down poured literally all 13.1 miles + the before and after. I met a wonderful runner who I ran the last four miles with. She was struggling as we ran, but we kept at it. When I struggled in the last mile because my hands hurt so badly, she kept me going and refused to leave me. It was a great experience - rain and all!

April brought the Sole of the City 10k in Baltimore. Hubby and I have been running this race since it started three years ago. They changed the course up a bit this year and I really enjoyed the run around Fells Point. It was my first time there. It looked fun and we swear we will go back!

April also was the month a sprained my ankle pretty badly. I started the C25k program earlier in the week and went to the Y to finish week one. Afterwards I went to take some images around the city and walked too close to an area of sidewalk that was uneven. I went down hard. Positive is my fancy camera didn't hit the sidewalk. (I'm still dealing with ankle pain from this injury!)

May brought me to tears as we had to say good bye to my sweet Higgy. He had been having some issues around his back legs/tail and during the last couple weeks of April and the beginning of May he went quickly downhill. When we brought him into the vet's office, even he said he understood why we made the decision we did. It was again one of the worst things I've ever had to do in my life.

May (hopefully) brought relief to hubby. He had surgery on his calves to stop the pain he's been having in his calves. For a couple weeks he was pretty much immobile and I did everything. During that time I realized I'm not good at being everything to everyone. LOL!

June had me running my first (and only) Color Run. I was supposed to run it with a friend, but he stood me up. I was very lucky in that I ran into a co-worker on the course and we finished the race together. It was really nice as I don't interact with her much. That really made the race a much better experience.

June also had me running the Glow Run 5k in Harrisburg with another co-worker (who really is a good friend). We had a blast! Such a difference from the week before. We just went out, had fun, ran when we could & walked when we couldn't. We encouraged each other and laughed at each other (in the good friend way). The race was so great we weren't even finished the first mile and we talked about doing it again next year!

June brought us the finishing touches to the deciding factor on our deck project - we were approved for our loan and we agreed to a contractor. We started the process in February, so it made me really happy to have it all decided!

Wow. It's been a pretty eventful six months. It didn't go the way I would have wanted it to overall, but there were some wonderful things that I am glad I had a chance to do.

And now it will be July and the next six months are before me. What will they hold? How will they unfold? Can I continue to make changes in my life to make me happy? Here's to the next six months of 2014! May they be fruitful, fun, happy, and educational!
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A fun few answers

I was going through my blogs (which are tending to be running related recently) and Christine of Dream BIG Runner posted a few questions reviewing her running in 2012. I thought it would be fun to answer the same.

Best Race Experience:

This is going to sound like an oxymoron, but I would have to say the Spartan Race in July. Yea. I know. I felt like I was going to die on that race. It took me over 5 hours to finish. But, here's why I say it was my best race experience. For the first time in my running career (really, is it a career?) I got to run a race with hubby. He promised to run the whole thing with me. I knew I would be holding him back, but he said he wouldn't leave me. And we ran all 5 hours together. He encouraged me and didn't make me feel like I was the worst.runner.ever. It was an amazing feeling having someone beside me the whole time.

The other reason I say it was my best race experience is because it showed me that I am better than I thought. I did 150 burpees, but you know? That means I missed 5 obstacles, but I did all the rest. I managed to climb all the walls (well, alright not the traverse wall), but all the walls that you had to go up and over. I had no illusions I would get over those. I knew I would be doing burpees after them and yet, I got over them. I had help from hubby and other racers, but I got over them. I completed the Spartan Race up a mountain and organized as a mini Beast. Me. The person who can't run a 10 minute mile. I did it. It really is my best race experience for what it taught me about myself.

Best Run:

I have a feeling a race isn't necessarily what this means, but I will be honest this run is the best run I had all year. I had a goal for the Shamrock Half Marathon of running it between 3:05:00 and 3:10:00. Nothing too crazy, between a 5 and 10 minute faster pace than Philly in November. On the run, I realized I was going to smash my goal. I can't even tell you what a good mood I was in during the last few miles of this race. Miles 10-13.1 were amazing. I've never felt so happy and excited to run those miles as I did in this race. I crossed the finish line feeling like I could run another several miles. I was in such a great mood. I came across the finish line at 2:51:15. Yes, I completed this race over 25 minutes faster than Philly in November. I crushed my goal for the race by 14-19 minutes. Insane. I still think about this race as the best I have ever run. Oh and did I mention I ran the 8k the day before? And during that realized about halfway through I needed to slow down because I was running faster than I thought and didn't want to mess up my half the next day? It was a fantastic run.

Best New Piece of Gear:

Ummm...Honestly, I have no idea on this one. I didn't get new piece of gear that transformed my running this year. I got a few new pieces of running clothes, but no piece of gear that I feel did much for my running. I suppose I'll go with my new sneakers. I had to trade in my Brooks Adrenalized in September due to shin splints and moved onto Asics. So far, so good. Used the for a few training runs, then AC Half Marathon, and now onto Shamrock Half Marathon training. I will probably get a new pair before Shamrock in March, but for now the new gear I got this year are these Asics.

Best piece of running advice you received:

Most Inspirational Runner:

My friend Kim. In 2011 she had to undergo basically emergency hip surgery in September. Then wait months to get the go ahead to exercise again. Small steps in her recovery had her on a bike and doing strength training workouts. Eventually, she was cleared to start running this spring. And then she kicked ass! She worked her way up from 5ks to 10ks to ultimately half marathons, winning age group medals along the way. She didn't let her injury stop her from doing what she loves. She spent hours/weeks/months healing her body so she could go on. She didn't let her injury stop her and she didn't let those who said "Why would you run again after it broke your hip?" influence her. She kept going and realized she had to live her life by her loves. She is incredible and I admire her dedication to her passion. She is the best role model for running I know.

If you could sum up this year in a couple of words, what would they be: Break throughs and reconsidering life

How about you? What would you say? How was your year?