Updated Goals for 2013

LMS found this bunny at Kohls on clearance after Christmas- it was a Christmas ornament, but all she saw was that it was a stuffed bunny, and that it needed to be added to her collection of stuffed animals. It's kind of cute, don't you think?

I last updated my goals in June, and I've accomplished most of them so now's a good time to make new goals/update the ones I didn't make as much progress on. I'm keeping the same categories since I think they worked well.

A few goals under Health:
1. Stick to GAPS
Resist the temptation to eat things I shouldn't or to add things in before we're ready.
2. Train for and run at least 6 races by the end of 2013 (at least one half marathon, preferably two)
I've run 2 races already, one of them a half marathon. I'm registered for a third race in February.
3. Consistently cross train and strength train
Start cycling again and add in a strength training routine.

A few goals under House:
1. Clean up drips and do the final touches in each room
I've done the ceilings and walls, but there's cleanup work to be done as well as finishing touches, artwork to be hung, and so on.
2. Build and install shelves in all closets
Make the closets more efficient
3. Build homeschool cabinet
Can't wait for this one- I'm still working out the design details.
4. Build kitchen table
I already built one, but I used pine and I'm not happy with how the top is wearing. We'll move it out to the shed for use as a worktable, which should work out very well.

A few goals under Homeschool:
1. Continue to be consistent at keeping to the schedule
This includes getting an earlier start to the day.
2. Be more present
Don't multi-task quite so much, especially during classes.

A few goals under Habits:
1. Practice the piano and violin consistently
Self-explanatory :)
2. Index several batches every week for FamilySearch
I have not been consistent with this.
3. Have more meaningful daily scripture study (start journaling as I read)
Find a journaling method that works for me.

How did you do with your goals this month?

December Goals Re-cap

LMS reading "Calvin and Hobbes" in front of our new bookshelves before I rearranged them.

Since I wrote down some new goals, I thought I should track my progress at the end of each month. So here's how I did in the month of December:
(November's progress report can be found here)
(October's progress report can be found here)
(September's progress report can be found here)
(August's progress report can be found here)
(July's progress report can be found here)
(June's progress report can be found here)

A few goals under Health:
1. keep strengthening my knee and start running for longer periods of time/distance
I'm running regularly and increasing my mileage. The next thing to do is be more diligent with my strength training.
2. train for and run at least 4 races by the end of 2012 (at least one half marathon)
I ran 5 races this year, the first of which was a half marathon.
3. be more careful with my eating and lose some weight
We stuck with GAPS for the first part of the month, but did some cheating around Christmas. Now that we're back from Disney, we're buckling down again.

A few goals under House:
1. finish painting all the rooms
I still haven't managed to finish the details on the master bath and kitchen, but they're coming along.
2. do the family room ceiling
Paneling is up, spackled, sanded, primed, and painted. The crown is repainted and reinstalled, so I'm calling it good.
3. finish building built-in shelves in the library
I made and painted 9 more shelves and ended up using 7 of them. The books are all on the shelves and organized, though I'm thinking of tweaking one portion of the shelves. I also need to figure out a bit of "styling"- mainly to keep books in place on the shelves that aren't full.

A few goals under Homeschool:
1. stick to the schedule I've worked out, as much as possible
We're still doing pretty good. I'm really liking the 3 weeks on/1 week off schedule that we've been doing- no time for boredom or burnout.
2. be more consistent with violin practicing
Since we started school we're doing better because it's in our school schedule. In thinking about this particular goal, I think I meant more consistency from LMS and myself. We've been really good about making sure LMS is practicing, but I still haven't been, so now I need to be more consistent with MY practicing. Like a lot of other things, though, it won't happen till after Christmas.

A few goals under Habits:
1. practice the piano more frequently
Still haven't had time. Realistically, with the schedule I've imposed on myself, I won't have time until after Christmas. I'm ok with that.
2. index several batches every week for FamilySearch
I slacked off completely this month.
3. have more meaningful daily scripture study (start journaling as I read)
I've bought a topical journal, but haven't quite gotten it broken in yet.

How did you do with your goals this month?

Disney World Half Marathon

tail end of the fireworks starting corral A- I was in corral C

Saturday I ran the Disney World Half Marathon again (here’s last year’s re-cap).  Despite not training as much as I’d have liked, I felt better prepared than I did last year. I had a 9 mile long run, as opposed to a 6 mile long run, my knee hasn’t been giving me any problems, and I had a great, fast 5k on New Year’s Day.

Since it was so cold last year, we made sure we were prepared this year: fleece pants and jacket for LMS, as well as an extra jacket for layering, and I brought a $3 fleece from Goodwill that I could wear and take off when I got warm, leaving it on the side of the road to be donated back to Goodwill.

So naturally it was on the warm side. Unseasonably warm, in fact, and they were warning us to make sure we stayed properly hydrated and not over-exert ourselves.

Cinderella's castle during the race. Mr M wasn't able to get a pic of me running past because of a very rude person's incredibly bad timing just as I ran past.

This year I managed to figure out how to use my Garmin (I haven’t used it much because I’ve been doing more treadmill running than outdoor running) and was able to accurately track my pace and split times. And according to it, I actually ran 13.23 miles, not 13.1 miles J

Because I love comparisons and seeing my progress, here’s how I did this year, compared to how I did last year:

	2013	2013 average pace per mile (min:sec)	2012	2012 average pace per mile (min:sec)	How much faster I was this year (min:sec)	How much faster my average pace per mile  was this year (:sec)
5k split (3.1 miles)	36:15	11:42	36:43	11:51	:28	:09
10k split (6.2 miles)	1:11:40	11:34	1:12:50	11:45	1:10	:11
15k split (9.3 miles)	1:48:20	11:39	1:51:33	12:00	3:13	:21
Finish time (13.1 miles)	2:32:28	11:38	2:37:27	12:01	4:59	:23

Overall, I was faster, and I managed to keep my pace up even as the race went on. Last year my pace slowed as the race progressed, and my overall speed was slower.

And the damage? Just two small blisters- one on each foot, though I didn’t notice them till I took my shoes and socks off, as well as some {not unexpected} sore muscles. I did the same basic prep as last year (BodyGlide, etc) and carried the same items, though I ditched the Fuel Belt pouches in favor of the RooSport pocket I picked up at the prerace convention.

convention craziness

I know you’re not supposed to try new things during a race, but I was fairly confident it would work better than the Fuel Belt pouches I used last year. This proved to be the case: I loved it! So much easier to get stuff in and out of, and it felt more secure. It uses strong magnets that hook it securely to your waistband. You put the pocket inside your pants/shorts/capris/whatever, and it doesn’t bounce around (the Fuel Belt pouches did a lot of bouncing). Wonderful! 

The only potential problem I saw was that the pocket holds a lot, and overloading it could cause your pants/shorts/capris/whatever to sag down a bit. The easy fix is to not carry too much. I had two packages of ShotBlox, my clip-on sunglasses, and my chapstick in it during the race. Towards the end of the race I moved my iphone from the pocket in the small of my back in my capris into the RooSport pocket because there was only a couple ShotBlox left. This weighed it down more, but it still felt secure.

I had half-hoped to beat my previous PR of 2:29:46, but I missed that mark by 2 minutes and 42 seconds. If I hadn’t been sick all week, I might have made it. Despite that, I am pleased with how I did- I finished almost 5 minutes faster than last year. I may be getting older, but I’m getting faster!

	Race	Date	Finish Time
First	Disneyland Half	Sept 2007	2:59:18
Second	Top of Utah Half	Aug 2008	2:29:46
Third	Disney World Half	Jan 2012	2:37:27
Fourth	Disney World Half	Jan 2013	2:32:28

I brought my travel size foam roller and used it, which helped keep everything looser. I can definitely tell a difference in my knees and hips when I’m rolling. Going to physical therapy last year really made a huge difference in my body mechanics. I learned which parts of my body need more work to stay loose and how to keep things better aligned. They also gave me pointers on improving my running form (focus on shorter strides and forefoot strikes rather than longer strides and heel strikes).

LMS caught a cold while at a play date on New Year’s Eve and she was kind enough to share it with me. By the time race day came around, she felt fine, with just an occasional phlegmy cough. I, on the other hand, have been fighting a fever and a nasty cough since last Tuesday. If I coughed, my lungs hurt, but if I didn’t cough, I couldn’t get the phlegm moving. It was a conundrum I don’t want to have again.

I felt bad enough that I stayed in the hotel room Thursday afternoon while everyone else hit up the Magic Kingdom (and it only bothered me a little to miss out, if that tells you anything). I kept dosing up with broth, Advil, and Airborne and took detoxing baths and by Saturday morning I felt well enough to run, but knew that I was definitely not at a hundred percent. Experimental coughs did not yield good results, so I determined to make sure I avoided future coughs if at all possible. Thankfully, I didn’t need to cough, and my lungs cooperated. I was really afraid that the air would be cold and would cause me to start coughing and have my lungs seize up while I was running.  My lungs did not feel good before or after the race, but they held up throughout the race, and the warm air didn’t aggravate them.

Mr M's brother, LMS, and I pre-race

Other than that, I ran strong and my legs felt good. I kept a fairly steady pace, but I had to work harder the second part of the race to keep my pace up, since I was trying to break 2:30. The heat ratcheted up the last mile or so and my body started telling me it was really feeling the effects of the cold virus and not appreciating what I was demanding of it. Consequently, I had to stop and walk several times during the last mile (I’d only stopped to walk 3 times before that). Physically I just couldn’t push my body enough to shave off that extra 2 minutes and 42 seconds. On the other hand, I beat last year’s time by just under 5 minutes!

Mr M's brother and I post-race

I was able to run the first 8.3 miles without stopping- a personal record for me, since I tend to do the run/walk thing, even on training runs. I was still feeling pretty good at the 10k mark (that’s 6.2 miles, for those wondering), so I think I’ll try to run at least one 10k this year to see how I do.

I'm definitely happy with how I did in my fourth half marathon and am now planning out my race schedule for the rest of the year. So many races, so little time....

Me and my cheering section after the race

New Years Day 5k

look! my sparkle skirt matches my shoes!

(or my shoes match my sparkle skirt, since they're newer)

I know I said I wasn't going to be posting again for a bit, but I can't help myself on this one.

Yesterday morning I ran a 5k hosted by the local running club. It was pretty low-key (and cost a lot less as a result): no shirts or fancy things. We parked in a farmer's field and ran an out-and-back course on country roads. It was fairly flat, with no steep hills- just some gentle hills that weren't too horrible.

There's two reasons I'm excited about this race:
1. I ran the entire course without stopping, which is not how I've been running races the last few years.
2. I finished in under 30 minutes! 29:36 to be exact. I haven't done that since high school. Maybe in college I managed it, but I don't have a record of those times, so I'm not sure. I know that in the last 5 or so years since I started running races again I haven't completed a 5k in under 30 minutes. This is super exciting for me :)

So why did I finally break the 30 minute barrier? I figure it's a combination of things:

• I have increased energy and am physically feeling better since going gluten free and free of all the other foods that cause problems for my body.
• Since I'm training for a half marathon, my mileage is higher than it's been for previous 5ks. It's not as high as I'd like, but I'm making progress. Saturday I did a long slow 9 mile run, and I think that made a huge difference for my endurance yesterday.
• I've lost 20 pounds- less weight being carried around is definitely easier on the body and exercise takes a bit less effort.
• GAPS is helping my body heal, and nutrients are getting absorbed much better, so I have fewer injuries, more energy, and am more healthy overall.

I did run this race hard- I haven't put that much effort into a race in a long time. Not pushing LMS in the jogger helped my speed and endurance :) I haven't done a lot of speed work so I used this race as a good last speed workout before the half marathon. I'd like to say it was a tempo run, but at this point, I'm not capable of maintaining a 9:30 pace for 13.1 miles. My last two half marathons were 2:37:27 (in 2012) and 2:29:46 (in 2008), and my goal for this one is under 2:30, which would be about an 11:30/mile pace (much more manageable than a 9:30 pace). A PR would be great, but I'm not stressing too much about it since there's a lot of variables I don't have control over that could affect how I feel physically that day.

How did  you start the New Year?

November Goals Re-cap

four random broccoli (cauliflower?) plants that somehow survived the scorching summer and crappy soil- I found them when I cleaned out the garden and prepped it for winter.

Since I wrote down some new goals, I thought I should track my progress at the end of each month. So here's how I did in the month of November:
(October's progress report can be found here)
(September's progress report can be found here)
(August's progress report can be found here)
(July's progress report can be found here)
(June's progress report can be found here)

A few goals under Health:
1. keep strengthening my knee and start running for longer periods of time/distance
I'm running regularly and increasing my mileage. The next thing to do is be more diligent with my strength training.
2. train for and run at least 4 races by the end of 2012 (at least one half marathon)
I ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, giving me 5 races for the year, the first of which was a half marathon.
3. be more careful with my eating and lose some weight
We started following the GAPS diet at the beginning of November. We're feeling good and hopefully making progress with the health of our intestines. I lost the weight I gained last month plus some, and am now down 20 pounds from where I was in August. Yay!

A few goals under House:
1. finish painting all the rooms
I worked on the guest bedroom and master bath, but didn't finish them. I did finish the trim and doors in the entry way and living room. I also finally hung some art on the walls- pics to come.
2. do the family room ceiling
Paneling is up, spackled, sanded, primed, and painted. The crown is repainted and reinstalled, so I'm calling it good.
3. finish building built-in shelves in the library
I got the books sorted and organized and placed on the shelves, only to realize I underestimated how many shelves I'd need. I've made some more, but still need to paint them.

A few goals under Homeschool:
1. stick to the schedule I've worked out, as much as possible
We're still doing pretty good. I'm really liking the 3 weeks on/1 week off schedule that we've been doing- no time for boredom or burnout.
2. be more consistent with violin practicing
Since we started school we're doing better because it's in our school schedule. In thinking about this particular goal, I think I meant more consistency from LMS and myself. We've been really good about making sure LMS is practicing, but I still haven't been, so now I need to be more consistent with MY practicing. Like a lot of other things, though, it won't happen till after Christmas.

A few goals under Habits:
1. practice the piano more frequently
Still haven't had time. Realistically, with the schedule I've imposed on myself, I won't have time until after Christmas. I'm ok with that.
2. index several batches every week for FamilySearch
I only indexed once or twice this month- I need to be a bit more diligent with this.
3. have more meaningful daily scripture study (start journaling as I read)
I wasn't loving my topic journal that focused on people in the Book of Mormon, so I tweaked it so it would be more of a summary. I will probably end up buying a topical study guide (I've found one that I think will work out) and using that before attempting something on my own again. This is not a strongpoint for me, so I'm willing to take any help I can get.

How did you do with your goals this month?

Turkey Trot

terrible picture taken just before the race, but it's the only one I have

Thursday I ran the Turkey Trot that we did last year and the year before.

LMS decided not to run the kids' run this year, and I didn't push it. The kids' run is not easy- 1/4 mile down hill followed by 1/4 mile back up the hill to the finish. I'm hoping her energy levels will increase as her intestines heal so she'll feel up to doing more things.

Since Mr M is out of town, I pushed LMS in the jogger as I ran. I've decided this is the last year LMS gets to ride in the jogger :) It's still doable, but it's getting harder. The first two miles I managed about a 9 minute pace, but then I ruined it by taking almost 20 minutes to run the last mile. I had to stop and walk three times because of all the hills. That last mile is brutal! I ended up finishing in 37:58, and had a good strong kick at the end, which I was pleased with.

The weather was perfect for running too. It was about 32 degrees when we arrived, but it warmed up a few degrees while we waited to start. While we were waiting, it was chilly, but once we got going it was great. I never over-heated or got super sweaty, which would have happened in warmer weather since I pushing LMS up all those hills.

I've only been running on the treadmill, but I made sure to include some hill work since I knew the race contained hills. While there are some local races in December, I don't think I'll do any of them. I might do one on New Year's Day, but I haven't decided about that yet. My next race after that is the Disney World Half Marathon in January.

My training will now focus on distance (my mileage is not as high as it should be), with some speed work and hill work thrown in.

October Goals Re-cap

LMS finished another soccer season- yay!

Since I wrote down some new goals, I thought I should track my progress at the end of each month. So here's how I did in the month of October:
(September's progress report can be found here)
(August's progress report can be found here)
(July's progress report can be found here)
(June's progress report can be found here)

A few goals under Health:
1. keep strengthening my knee and start running for longer periods of time/distance
I'm still struggling to exercise on a regular basis. I finally started getting my sleep schedule back on track at the end of the month, but I'm not prioritizing my running enough- I'm allowing the zillion other things going on to get in the way. With the Disney Half drawing nearer, I have to re-prioritize and get my rear (legs?) in gear.
2. train for and run at least 4 races by the end of 2012 (at least one half marathon)
LMS and I ran the Halloween 5k last weekend, though I can't say we trained properly for it. This was my fourth race of the year, and my fifth race will be the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving- and I will be better prepared for it.
3. be more careful with my eating and lose some weight
I didn't do so great this month. I allowed myself to indulge in Halloween candy and ended up gaining back the 4 pounds I lost last month :( The reason I allowed myself to indulge was because I knew it was going to be the last chance to do so for a long time- this weekend we're starting the GAPS diet in an effort to heal our intestines, and we won't be eating candy any time soon. I'll write a post soon about the GAPS diet and why we decided to do it.

A few goals under House:
1. finish painting all the rooms
I've painted the living room and entryway and am now working on the doors and trim in those areas. Up next: the guest bedroom, the master bath, and finishing the kitchen. My goal is to get all the painting done before Christmas.
2. do the family room ceiling
Paneling is up, spackled, sanded, primed, and painted. All that's left is to get the crown repainted and reinstalled.
3. finish building built-in shelves in the library
I FINALLY finished painting all the shelves. I really hope we don't need more shelves to fit all our books, because I really don't want to have to go through this again. The shelves have been curing the last few weeks and I hope to get the books on them this weekend.

A few goals under Homeschool:
1. stick to the schedule I've worked out, as much as possible
We're still doing pretty good. I'm really liking the 3 weeks on/1 week off schedule that we've been doing- no time for boredom or burnout.
2. be more consistent with violin practicing
Since we started school we're doing better because it's in our school schedule. In thinking about this particular goal, I think I meant more consistency from LMS and myself. We've been really good about making sure LMS is practicing, but I still haven't been, so now I need to be more consistent with MY practicing.

A few goals under Habits:
1. practice the piano more frequently
Still haven't had time. Realistically, with the schedule I've imposed on myself, I won't have time until after Christmas. I'm ok with that.
2. index several batches every week for FamilySearch
I finally got FamilySearch downloaded to my new computer (operator error, I'm sure) and was able to index several batches two weeks out of the month. Progress!
3. have more meaningful daily scripture study (start journaling as I read)
I've continued my topic journal, focusing on people in the Book of Mormon. I'll admit it's taken some getting used to- it's quite different from how I've read and studied the Book of Mormon in the past.

How did you do with your goals this month?