Look Back at 2013 Goals

It's been a year since I've put these goals down on paper (hit publish, same thing). A lot of the goals became somewhat moot as I took some time off of running and then have spent the last 6-7 months changing my form instead of just trying to get FASTER (aka broken, if you're me). Some of these will certainly be do-overs for 2014!

Running

• PR a half marathon.  No way Jose. After switching out my running form in May, I haven't been able to put in the speedy miles to get back in to PR chasing shape. This will definitely be a repeat goal in 2014!  
• PR a 10k.  See above. 
• Run a sub 7 minute mile.  
• Run 100 miles every month. Uff. Nope.
• Run a 5k a day.  
• More buddy runs.  Yay! I succeeded at this one! This goal has by far helped the most with getting out of my running funk. I'm very lucky to have running friends that are willing to run along slowly with me, but I've promised some that we'll be speeding up soon!

Fitness

• Continue to attend circuit weights.  Well, 3 weeks after the new year, I started a new job so I no longer had a lunch time circuit weight class on campus so, fail.
• Attend yoga at least 1x a week.  Nope.
• Get my eating habits more in check. This will forever ebb and flow I'm afraid. 
• Jessica Alba abs for strong runner awesomeness vs looking good shirtless.  Part of this was fueled by Vegas, but I did a pretty good job of solid core work once my running started to pick up in late spring.
• Learn to change a flat on my bike.  OMG I DIDN'T EVEN RIDE MY BIKE IN 2013, I'M THE WORST.

Life

• Read 100 books.  Uh... yeah... knocked this one out of the park. I'm knocking on the door of 200....

• Finish my grad program with a 4.0.  Grr. Dang you cataloging.... 3.9 is still pretty good I suppose.... 
• Nab my dream job.  Yay! I snagged this one right out of the gates of 2013!
• Obtain another pug bestie for Ollie.  Still TBD. 
• Make a decent attempt at my remaining items on my 101 in 1001 goals. Decent attempt? yes!
• Spend some time and money (ugh) making our apartment (or future apartment/house, our lease is up in May) feel more homey.  Kyle hung up all of my decorations finally! Win! We also bought stuff to make a scarf hanger thingy. 

One 2013 Goal Done

No sooner then I had drafted my 2013 goal blog post, and scheduled its publish date, did I receive a phone call with the potential to cross one of the goals off of my list:

• Nab my dream job.  Or one that will lead to my dream job.  I love my job as a library assistant at an academic library, but my passion is within the public library, working with children.

Without setting out to do so, I received a phone call asking if I'd like to be considered for a position I had interviewed for, and heartbreakingly was not offered, last February.  And with six short looooooooooong days of worrying, obsessing, willing the phone to ring, I received the offer.

Cue franatic freak out.

I accepted the position, and today is my last day at my current job.  I never thought I'd want to work in an academic library, but I was willing to try my alma mater to see if academia would change my mind.   I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, particularly helping students with research (I mega puffy heart love research) and interacting with college kids.  But I know that my passion lies in helping the greater public, and eventually, hopefully children and youth.

So goodbye Augustana College, and hello public library world. 

2013 Goals

I am taking some of the pressure off of myself in 2013, but I still think it's important to set some goals.  Even if I may have bombed most of them (running-wise, at least) for 2012, doesn't mean I can't accomplish some of them this year.  And maybe I'll actually look at them more than once in June as a check in (not likely, but we'll see).

Running

• PR a half marathon.  I've already stated I'm going to have a heavy half schedule this coming spring.  I have been chasing (literally) sub 1:50 for quite some time, but have been doing it amidst marathon training where my body is incapable of high mileage and speed work.  Focusing on JUST the half marathon should allow me to add in some necessary speed work and finally nab this goal.  
• PR a 10k.  With some half marathon speed, should come some quality speedy tempo runs.  I set my 10k PR during one of my best rounds of marathon training, and should be able to dip under 49 minutes if I can stay healthy.
• Run a sub 7 minute mile.  There aren't many mile races around here, and I don't know that I'd fork over the money to do one, but a friend is trying to run a super speedy mile, and I thought it sounded like fun.  So Ang, I'm joining your goal, hope that's ok!  Only official timed mile non-HS is a 7:11.  I don't think I'll get anywhere near my HS PR of 6:07.  #ouch
• Run 100 miles every month.  I failed this one in 2012, and would like to give it another go.  I'm hoping with less injuries, it'll be more feasible.  25 miles a week is not very daunting, or it shouldn't be, and I need to get back to being a more consistent runner, and this goal will help with that.
• Run a 5k a day.  Not literally.  If there's ever a day that I do NOT want to run, I want to try to encourage myself to get out there and at least do an easy 5k.  This'll help keep me on track with my 100 miles a month, and consistent training.  5k a day = 1131.5 miles for the year, which is pretty close to my 1200 from above.  That would also be close to my yearly mileages from 2010-2011 where most of my PRs were set.
• More buddy runs.  Try to run with friends a couple of times a month as time allows.

Fitness

• Continue to attend circuit weights.  Try for 3x a month, including ab work and pushups in addition to the class.
• Attend yoga at least 1x a week.  I've found a new love of bikram yoga, and would love to practice that more often.  Other forms of yoga will also help with my stress level from school and running health.
• Get my eating habits more in check.  If I want to nab a couple of PRs this year, I need to get closer to my weight while setting my previous PRs.  Nothing crazy, 5-10 pounds would have me at my peak running shape, and should be obtainable with slightly better eating habits, and slightly less beer.  Sad face.
• Jessica Alba abs for strong runner awesomeness vs looking good shirtless.  As a result, look good shirtless.  I did zero shirtless runs this summer, and it was the hottest summer of my life.  I also barely ran in June and July because it was too hot to run with clothes on.  Can turn down the heat on South Dakota summers be a goal for 2013? Do I have control over that?  Anyone? Bueller?
• Learn to change a flat on my bike.  Thanks for the suggestion Megan.  No more BCBBC half centuries spoiled by this lack of knowledge.

Life

• Read 100 books.  I read 113 in 2012, so it should be doable, especially because I'll have 5 months of GRAD SCHOOL FREE reading at the tail end of 2013.  :D

2013 Reading Challenge

Jeri has read 7 books toward her goal of 100 books.

hide

7 of 100 (7%)

view books

• Finish my grad program with a 4.0.  Still going strong.  Spring will be the most trying on this goal.  If I can make it through cataloging, I should be home free!
• Nab my dream job.  Or one that will lead to my dream job.  I love my job as a library assistant at an academic library, but my passion is within the public library, working with children.
• Obtain another pug bestie for Ollie.  We'll see how possible this is towards the end of 2013.  :)
• Make a decent attempt at my remaining items on my 101 in 1001 goals (to wrap up on my 30th birthday, eeps!)  Will do some sort of follow up post on this in the near future methinks.
• Spend some time and money (ugh) making our apartment (or future apartment/house, our lease is up in May) feel more homey.  We've lived in our new place since May.  We have most of our (my) artwork still propped up against the wall in which it needs to be hung.  The only room that is really decorated is the spare bedroom which is essentially my old bedroom put in this one.  Ha, oops.