A New Year of Challenges

A lot of people feel that New Year's Resolutions are a waste.  I've heard many complaints from these non-believers... They are annoyed by goal-setters that lose their motivation after only a week, crowding their machines at the gym or filling their facebook page with an endless list of status updates with lofty hopes. These cynics question why  it takes January 1st to get people on the path towards change.  Why don't they just change right now?  (Sometimes I wonder if these people are just using excuses so that they don't feel guilty about not setting their own goals)

  

 In my opinion, the New Year gives us a fresh start.  It gives us the chance to officially classify our failures and bad habits as part of the past. We can examine our past and look to make ourselves better people. I love the challenge towards self-improvement. I know that I am far from perfect as a wife, daughter, runner, eater, etc., but the New Year gives me a sense of hope that I can always do better.  That my past won't hold me behind. 

(Geesh, this is beginning to sound like the "speech" I give my students at the start of each trimester!)

Anyhow...

This year my goals are really geared towards getting healthy. If I want to run a marathon and start a family in the future, I need to be a healthier me.

Here are my goals for the New Year:
1. Run my first marathon- An obvious one, but definitely my most challenging.  It's my loftiest goal and also the one that will have the biggest impact on me if I fail.  But that is not going to stop me from trying.  I hear that famous quote ringing in my ears by John Bingham, "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."


2. Eat better-   I am a JUNK FOOD Lover.  I can't help it. My husband has great genes. He can eat whatever he wants and still look great. I, on the other hand, can step on the scale and see my weight fluctuate 3lbs in one day.  I love to exercise, however, I have no will-power when it comes to food. If my husband brings out a bag of chips, I can't stop myself from having a handful or two or four.  So, this year, I am determined to eat better.  I am not going to deprive myself of the foods I love (chocolate, pizza, mashed potatoes-yum) but I will stop and make healthier choices while grocery shopping or making dinner.  Whole wheat, more veggies, calcium/dairy... and less fatty food.

3. Drink more water.  - I'm determined to drink less pop (yes, I said pop) and drink more H20. No carbonated sugar water for me unless it's a night out or a pizza night.  Other than that, it's milk for dinner and water at all other times.

4. Take a vitamin every day. -I'm determined to fight the nausea and get all those wonderful nutrients in my body one way or another.

5. Be a better wife -My good, hard-working husband deserves a great reward for putting up with me sometimes.  I want to show him how much I love him by being more positive and by decreasing the nagging.  But first I have to find out a way to get him to do his chores the first time I ask. :)  No really, I married a wonderful, thoughtful, intelligent guy and he deserves the best. 

I'm going to stop at five goals.  There are a 100 more things that I could improve on, but I'm all about accomplishing my goals and well, I have a short memory span. So, I will limit myself to five. And maybe post them to my fridge:)

So, I wonder, do you believe in New Year's Resolutions?

This is it...

Day 1 of Training...

My schedule is posted on the wall, just waiting to be completed.

This works wonders, it really does. It totally helped me accomplish last year's goal of running my 1st half marathon.

There is just something so satisfying about highlighting my workouts as I accomplish them. Plus, it's right next to my t.v.  So when I'm having a lazy, sweatpants, junk-food kinda day, the schedule will be there staring me down and making my fat ass guilty butt get off the couch.

I can't believe that I took what felt like a giant step last year. From being a casual jogger to a determined 1st time 1/2 marathoner.  I wasn't sure if I could do it. But I wasn't going to just give up without trying. 

Now I'm going all the way.  Am I crazy? Probably.  But I'm just going to take it one step at a time. 

Literally.

And Day 1 of training?

Is a rest day.  

Yea, that's right. Way to grab me when the motivation is high, Hal Higdon.  

Don't worry, I cross-trained and weight lifted at the gym.:)

Pre-Training

Thanks for stopping by as I begin my journey towards completing my 1st Marathon.  The tabs above will give you a little introduction to who I am and what my goals are.  But if you find yourself  a little impatient (I think we all do this time of year), you can dive right in below.

I like to call this time of year when I sit on my butt and watch cheesy holiday movies, while stuffing my face with the many sugary Christmas treats given to me my colleagues, Pre-Training.  Of course, don’t forget to throw in my occasional 6 mile weekly runs and that’s where I’m at right now.

I’m following the Hal Higdon Marathon Training schedule, filled with 18 weeks of running bliss, so I figure I have until January 1^st to really get into gear.  According to his plan, my casual weekly runs of 6 miles are exactly what I need when I approach the rigorous schedule set out by his book.  I want to be ready, but I also don’t want to start the schedule too soon and get bored by the time May rolls around.

So, with my body on the casual, but steady route to getting ready (minus those cookies I had at my husband’s work Christmas Party), I figured that what I really need to focus right now on is getting my mind ready. 

26.2 miles.  Yes, you read that right. For all your casual runners, this may seem like 23 miles too long. For all you serious runners, this may seem like a piece of cake.  And for all you non-runners, well, this number will probably not mean much to you unless you time it on your speedometer the next time you find yourself driving to work. 

To me, well, this number has taken on different meanings over the past year or so.

Last year, I would have thought running 26.2 miles was an impossible feat.   

“My body is not made for running that many miles,” I exclaimed to my sister-in-law, who having ran quite a few marathons in her life, was attempting to rope me into the fad.  Heck, I never thought I could run more than 5.

But then I ran a 10 mile race and loved it. So I challenged myself to a ½ Marathon as my New Year’s Resolution.  And I enjoyed that too (although if you had asked me at the hill on Mile 11, I may have replied
with a few curse words differently).  When I approached the ½ Marathon’s finish line, I ran across it like I had just came in 1^st place!  It was an incredible feeling of accomplishment.

That moment opened up a new field of possibilities.   I thought to myself, Maybe I can run more than 13.1 miles. But 26.2? I still don’t know about that. That’s insane.

Then in June, my father was emitted into the Hospital with Congested Heart Failure. He stayed there all summer, being poked and prodded, getting test after test, and procedure after procedure.  He was placed on the transplant list and we waited.  And waited. Feeling scared and anxious. Praying and hoping.  But my dad stayed courageous and strong through it all. And he received his new heart and feels better than ever before.

This event made me rethink a lot of things in my life, and I began to reevaluate what is truly important in the short time we have on earth. One of the things that crossed my mind was that if my dad could endure all the waiting and pain and unknown, then I could certainly muster up the strength and courage to push myself to my own limits, both physically and mentally.  I want to run this race for my dad, to show him how much I admire his strength, optimism and faith. To prove to myself that I am a little like him. And to do what so many people with heart conditions cannot; RUN.

So here I am, getting myself mentally prepared.  What better way to do this than to write a blog?  I want to tell my dad’s story. I want to educate others about Heart Disease and Organ Donation. I want to share my joy of running. I want to challenge myself more than I ever have.  I want to find my own courage and strength. But I will need support from friends and family, and people who have found themselves once before in my shoes; tying up their own laces,  filling up their water bottles, and getting ready for an incredible adventure.

So please join me on my journey to a place where at the moment I can only imagine myself being- the finish line after 26.2 miles.