2017 Goals

I love making a list and crossing off things as I complete them, so it should come as no surprise that I love making goals, especially for the new year. Without further adieu, here they are:

Running

• Run 1000 miles.
• Run a Sub 2:05 half.
• Run a Sub 2 hour half.
• Run a sub 25 minute 5k (I'd take under the 8:02 pace if the course is short, I'll probably do the summer Parks and Rec 5ks again, and they are always short!).

Life

• Rescue another pug.
• Read 175 books.
• Eat breakfast more.
• Cycle 500 miles.

Yoga

• Find an additional yoga teacher opportunity and partnership that I'm excited about.
• Handstand!
• 30 day sadhana
• Minimalist Challenge. 

Resolutions Revisited + Long Shweaty Run

Miss Aron always does a great quarterly check in with her resolutions to make sure she's still running along in the right direction (get it? that's a running pun....).  And I wanted to jump on board for the 1/2 way there check in.  So let's see where I am at, shall we?


Running and Fitness Goals
Complete a marathon 5.16.10

Break 1:50 in a HM (current PR 1:53:09) --Didn't even stand a chance during the 1 HM I did this spring. It was a joke.
Run a new race distance 3.16.10 5 mile, 5.16.10 marathon, 10 mile this fall (hopefully), and maybe still a 10k
Run under 23 minutes for a 5k (current PR 23:55)
Break the 4 hour mark in a marathon (we'll see in December!)

Run 1500 miles for the year (at 723.6 1/2 way thru the year. With HM training followed by marathon training, this should work out well)

Stay injury free--We'll give this one 3 stars. I've had some "tweaks" here and there that needed resting, but nothing that sidelined me for more than a few days. Just my body's way of asking me to slow down.


Try a yoga studio Yay! I went to a studio like a big girl.


Operation: Alba Abs (aka do ab work consistently)--It comes in spurts, but I am doing ab work much more consistently. Just making sure I stick with it.

Lift weights at least once in 2010 (sometimes I like to start small, sue me!)--Technically I did Jillian's 30 day shred w/water bottles so we'll count it!
Personal Goals


Find a volunteer opportunity I'm passionate about--Found some.  No implementation yet.
Look into Masters of Library Science program at St. Kate's

• Not only have I looked into Master's programs, but I have a ridiculous comprehensive spreadsheet to narrow down the online options.  And have a plan of attack.  Heck yes, me.

______________________

Since I'm heading out of town this weekend (and not racing for the first time in....uh....weeks) I had to get my long run in during the week.  I work late on Thursdays, so that seemed like the logical choice.  About a week agoI won a sweet running hat from Kovas*, and was beyond excited to try it out on my long run!  I have what you call "a large forehead" and also a bit of a "sweating problem."  Combine the two, and my sunscreen is long gone 10 minutes in to my run and my forehead does not need freckles to draw more attention to it thankyouverymuch.  I didn't think I looked like too much of a goober (no more than normal anyway).  So it got the cute check of approval from me.


For some reason I thought a bite of a Larabar would be sufficient fuel for an 11 mile run.  Hi my name is Jeri.  I used to be a smart runner, but I seem to have misplaced my mind.  I started out on the run, and was super happy with the weather.  Mid 60s, insanely humid, but bearable because of the low temp and slight breeze.  The run was going great until I started feeling hungry.  I took a GU about 4 miles in (about 1.5 miles sooner than I wanted to) and realized I probably should've brought 2 along with me.  I *was* smart enough (go Jeri!) to bring along my handheld water bottle, and managed to fill it up 2 times along the route to keep myself hydrated.  Jeri: 1 Running:  17.  The last few miles I was simply out.of.gas.  I normally like to kick up the pace the last 2-3 miles, and today it was a struggle just to put one foot in front of the other.  Lesson learned (I feel like I'm saying that a lot lately...). 

At least I'm getting all of the stupid mistakes out of the way early on right?  Positive outlook people...that's what I'm all about here. :p  I did manage to sweat through my entire new hat.  Don't act like you're not impressed.


I did 11 miles in 1:45:50 for a pace of 9:38, which is almost identical to Wednesday night's pace.  Crazy.


1. 9:22

2. 9:35
3. 9:38
4. 9:37
5. 9:39
6. 9:44
7. 9:36
8. 9:29
9. 9:42
10. 9:44
11. 9:44


And after the non-stop weekend racing, and run run running of this week, my legs are more than craving a relaxing Friday and Saturday.  And I think they deserved it.  Phew!
*Speaking of Kovas, check out his CEP compression sock giveaway!!

New Years Resolutions

I realize that I've dropped the ball on posting my resolutions (or posting at all for that matter) [Get it? Drop the ball?! That's a New Years reference! Me funny....], but better late than never, eh? Uncoincidentally, (apparently not a word according to my Mac) Stop Procrastinating is NOT on my list.  (For the record, neither is to stop writing 1/3 of my posts in parenthesis.)  Phew.  Without further ado, and in no order of importance here are a few of my resolutions and goals for the year 2010 ie:  The Year of the Jerbear.

Running and Fitness Goals

• Complete a marathon
• Break 1:50 in a HM (current PR 1:53:09)
• Run a new race distance
• Run under 23 minutes for a 5k (current PR 24:02)
• Break the 4 hour mark in a marathon (not even attempting on #1, don't worry)
• Run 1500 miles for the year
• Stay injury free
• Try a yoga studio
• Operation:  Alba Abs (aka do ab work consistently)
• Lift weights at least once in 2010 (sometimes I like to start small, sue me!)

Personal Goals

• Find a volunteer opportunity I'm passionate about
• Look into Masters of Library Science program at St. Kate's
• Read more educational books.   Reduce the fluff to smart book ratio
• Be more patient
• Practice "going with the flow" more often
• Surround myself with positive people and the people that bring out the best in me
• Become a better listener
• Play my guitar (this is the one resolution I failed to meet from last year, just need to get those callouses built back up!)

Prior to heading out of town to celebrate NYE, I hit up the ol' gym to get in a tough tempo run.  I couldn't decide whether I wanted to do a 6 mile run or a 7 mile run.  I finally settled on 6 but 5 at a tempo pace, perfection!  I walk until my heart rate goes down after runs on the treadmill, so it seems silly to waste 2 miles doing a warm up and cool down.

I did 6 miles in 50:56 for a pace of 8:30 and my tempo miles were right around 8:19.

1. 9:28
2. 8:15
3. 8:19
4. 8:19
5. 8:19
6. 8:13


It felt soooo good to get in one last hard workout before the new year, but before I had even gotten in the shower post-run my right booty/hip area started hurting.  (Luckily it was below zero alllllll weekend long and I didn't get a chance to run, so it was a-ok by the time Monday's run rolled around.)

After the run it was off for some NYE fun.  I definitely started off my year the right way.  I rang it in with an old great friend, as well as a bunch of new friends.  We had dinner, we had drinks, we had ridiculous dance moves, and we had waaaaaay too late of bed times.  I took soooo many photos, but 99% of them are horrendous.  I'm talking baaaaaaaad.  I blame the 99 degree basement we were in, along with horrible basement lighting, because there's no way I looked BAD on NYE, right?  Right.

The one salvageable photo of the evening.  And yes, his hand is larger than the whole upper half of my body.

Also, the boy can accessorize.  Gotta give extra bonus points there, no?  To be honest, I almost couldn't get this off of his wrist post-photo and may have almost started to cry because it's my favorite bracelet in the world.  Crisis averted, no worries.  (Ok, now I think it's slightly weird that my two NYE photos both feature hands....we'll go with it though, right?)

The rest of the weekend was spent re-watching the first and part of the second season of The Office, cranking up tunes, drinking, sleeping in late/napping to make up for the nights spent drinking, jump starting my car because of very very cold temps, missing my family's Xmas AGAIN b/c of said car issues, watching a ridiculous amount of movies, eating an entire bag of peanut butter M&Ms, reading, eating my favorite dessert, watching the Vikes win, and watching the Packers DOMINATE.  All in all, a great start to 2010.

New Year's Resolutions

Every year I make resolutions (like most people) and I actually do a fairly decent job of accomplishing them, or at the very least trying my darndest to accomplish them. I even like to revisit my previous year's resolutions to "evaluate" myself prior to writing my new set. Yeah, I'm cool like that. So here are my unofficial resolutions, keeping in mind that most of these I've been trying to make a solid effort at accomplishing for the past 3 to 6 months.

1. Start writing more (ie: anything. at all.) I've never been an amazing writer, but it's something that I actual enjoy doing. At the very least, it's just nice to get thoughts down on paper, and be able to revisit them in the future. That is the one downfall of the new j-o-b. No writing. At all. Except signing my name on paperwork. Hopefully having this blog will get some of my creativity a-flowing yet again. Maybe my mind will be able to generate new music again, because it's been a long while before I've written anything new. Which brings me to my next resolution...

2. Play music more. Luckily for me, my madre passed along the musical gene to me, and music has always been a pretty big part of my life. Unfortunately, once I entered college, most of my playing ceased. Now that I have my very own apartment, and no roommate to annoy/bother with my singing and guitar playing, I have no excuse not to get strummin'. Also, I bought myself a harmonica as my graduation gift almost 3 years ago, and still can't play the darn thing. Maybe by the start of 2010 I'll be a regular one (wo)man band.

3. Continue to read. Since graduating I've been on reading over-drive. There were 4 years worth of books that I hadn't read because I was busy reading (or not reading) textbooks, so of course many of these books have been pretty "fluffy." I try to read something of substance every 5th or 6th book, but oftentimes it ends up being every 10 or 15.

4. Practicing yoga. I've had an on again off again relationship with yoga, and am currently in the on again stage. I have found myself doing it very regularly for the past 3 or 4 months and love how it makes me feel. I think yoga is the anaerobic version of prozac. Plus I'm starting to get some intense guns. Look out!

5. Run Jeri Run. This is on my list every year, and it's the one I suck the most at. I usually give myself a yearly mileage goal, and then get annoyed when I'm no where near it. I think for this year, I'm going to concentrate on doing a lot more 5ks and 10ks. I was reminded after my half marathon this fall that I'm actually a fairly quick runner, so I think it would be good to actually train for one of the shorter races, rather then using them as training runs for my 1/2. Plus my pal Matty is going to be my running buddy, and I have to run a bit faster to keep up with him. PLUS one of these days I will convince Taylor to do a race with me, and I refuse to let him beat me. :)

6. Lead more of a vegetarian-esque lifestyle. Being the tree hugger that I am, I can't help but read all the reasons to ditch meat, dairy, eggs, etc. from your diet. Although I don't think I'd be able to eliminate everything, I do see the benefits for the environment, animals, and your body. Ironically the one item I would have the hardest time giving up to be a true vegan would be dairy. This is ironic because I'm lactose intolerant and usually get violently ill after I eat my favorite foods (ie: cheese, ice cream). Seriously. Why would you continue to eat something that makes you sick? I'm an idiot.

7. Cook more. Strangely cooking has become one of my new favorite hobbies. I love looking for a new recipe. I love shopping for the ingredients to make the recipe. I love making the item. And more importantly I love eating it. Of course this goes pretty hand in hand with #6 because it's hard to be conscious of what goes in your food unless you're the one making it.