Glitter Stars Galore

You might remember this old post where I wrote about how I like to give myself stars when I finish a planned workout as a motivational tool / reward system.

Monday night as I was putting a star on my calendar after finishing my strength training, I realized that as long as I did Tuesday's planned run, then I would have completed every single workout I had scheduled in January.  Every. Single. One.

Well, there was no way I was going to blow the opportunity to accomplish that, so of course I gladly hopped on the treadmill on Tuesday, and after my 3 miles I gleefully placed my last star of the month on the calendar.  Check out all those stars!

This never happens - I'm great at planning out a training schedule, but some (most) times I'm not so great at following through on the schedule... so it's a HUGE achievement, especially considering I had both work and personal travel throughout the month!!!

I'm so proud of myself that I still haven't flipped the page over to February yet, just so I can glance over and see all those glittery stars.  

New Goals...New Hope???

Okay, it's a brand new year.  2016.  People are making New Years Resolutions and setting new goals.  I'm not big on resolutions, but I do like goals.

I recently realized I didn't set any finite goals for 2015...and looking back on my year, it definitely shows a lack of focus, for sure.  Without motivation, I piled on even more unnecessary weight, my eating habits went to he**, and my running "training" (if you can even call it that) slacked off terribly.  About the only area of my life where I can say I truly found success all year long was in my work life - which is awesome - but it's definitely time to start focusing on ALL OF ME again.

Ok. Soooooo....   My running friends and I are discussing setting the "2016 in 2016" goal for groups of us.  I figure my contribution can safely, and should be, at least 500 miles.  This is a personal goal I had set for the last several years and I like having a number to work towards all year long.

So there it is.  500 miles in 2016.  Plus of course, the standard "lose weight," "eat better,"  "keep up with the blog," ... yadah yadah yadah.  All of which will be important, but for the beginning of the year I'm going to strictly re-focus on getting my training back on track and then let the rest follow.  Lots of hope attached to this one.

Buckling Down and Streaking

If I had a dollar for every time I've said "I need to do something to change this" over the last year, I'm pretty sure I'd have a good chunk of next month's mortgage.  I have gotten entirely too complacent with my training - barely following a plan and settling for "good enough to get me through" for months and months on end.

Somthing's GOT TO change.  SERIOUSLY.  Time to buckle down and RUN.

I'm not big on follow through.  I'm great with the grand ideas...that tend to fizzle out in execution.

So, when Runner's World posted their annual #RWRunStreak Challenge, I was tempted because it would be a great way to force myself to get back on some kind of plan - but, would I actually get past day 2 or 3?

Then a friend announced her commitment and she and I talked, and decided to be #StreakBuddies, so between the plan, the need to prove to myself that I can do it, the accountability of having a buddy, and the need to just do something, I think I've got my goal - and it's attainable.

The plan starts with a Turkey Trot today, Thanksgiving Day.  So I'm toeing the line, literally, in downtown Austin for their annual 5-miler.  Day one, check!

#RWRunStreak Training Plan

Declare It Day

Based on my races at WDW Marathon Weekend, this NEEDS to happen.  Pictures, chip times, and post-race aches and pains don't lie.  Got to get my rear back in gear and concentrate on getting back in better running shape.

Seeing Stars

As y'all know, I'm a planner.  I loooove to plan things - trips, travel, workload, training, anything and everything!  I have a wall calendar that I use for laying out my training & racing plans every year.  I color code it for short runs, long runs, races, cross-training, strength training, etc.  I have a couple different places to hang it throughout the house.  Sometimes it's on the wall next to the treadmill, sometimes it's on the bedroom door, sometimes it's on the fridge downstairs (although that doesn't happen much anymore - it tends to hang out upstairs these days).  The location of the calendar in the house depends on how much motivation I'm needing.  It's current spot, hanging on the bedroom door, means ***YOU MUST PASS ME AND LOOK AT ME BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BE A TOTAL BUM AND CRASH IN BED WITHOUT DOING A WORKOUT***   Yes, it really does mean that!

Yes, I did flip over to September for the pic - fresh & clean!

While the calendar is a great organizing and motivational tool, it's also a reward system.  When I do a planned workout I have a stash of glittery stars (yes, like teachers use on kindergarten papers) that I put on that day.  It's a silly little thing, but those stars really do give a little feeling of accomplishment!  I get a little warm fuzzy when I give myself a star after a workout (yeah, could also be feeling a little nauseated, but hey, we'll go with the positive on this one).  

It's also a simple way to get a feel for how well (or not) I'm sticking to training.  For instance, July had only five - yep, five - stars in the whole month.  That's just Saturday long runs and one mid-week walk.  Yikes!

So I'm pleased with how the second half of August is looking - yes, I already bailed on one mid-week workout last week, but 4 out of 5 in one week ain't bad - and certainly better than I'd been doing - and I loved the feeling of giving myself those stars almost every day!  I even gave myself an extra-special star on Saturday after I did both a run and a bike!

So, just for the heck of it, Last Week:

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - Short, slow run - 2miles 

Wednesday - 30 min bike (5 mi)

Thursday - Skip 

Friday - Rest

Saturday - 9 mile run, 30 min bike (5.2 mi) 

Sunday - 30 min bike (5.3 mi)

Photo Recap of the Double Weekend

FIRST ...  SPRINGFIELD, IL

The group in front of Lincoln's Home.

BFF & me with the Lincoln statue at the Illinois Capitol Building

Lincoln group pre-race (It was freezing that morning!)

RP, Nikki, and me finishing Lincoln.

Lincoln group post-race in front of the old state capitol building.

Nikki and me, post-race in Springfield.

Lincoln medal! 

AND NOW...ST. LOUIS!

"Holy Hill" on the Go! St. Louis course means you get a sprinkling of holy water from a priest at the beginning of the ~2 mile hill!

RP, Nikki, and me post-race in St. Louis.

St. Louis group post-race.

Go! St. Louis medal.

The two races together.

Being touristy - going to see the Gateway Arch!

 Going up in the arch!

Building our version of the arch at the St. Louis Science Center.

Who's Up for Another Challenge?

There have been a few requests to revive last year's RunHalfway December Challenge, so we're doing it again this year and we'd love to have you participate!

The guidelines are basically the same as last year:

1. Pledge to run or walk at least one mile every day of December 2013.  (Yes, this must be running or walking - biking/swimming/other cardio or strength training do not count toward your daily mile for this challenge.)
2. Share the Challenge badge on FB, Twitter (follow @RunHalfway and use #RunHalfwayChallenge), or your blog.
3. Run or walk at least one mile every day!  Yes, EVERY day!  No skipping or make-up days.  You can make time for a mile every day, and you'll be so proud of yourself when you're done!
4. After you've logged your daily mile, check Facebook, Twitter, and this blog to record your mileage and get each day's badge to share.  (I will try to start a new post every day in the FB event for recording purposes - please post your mileage as a comment to that post, not as an individual post, thanks!  It'll help keep things organized.)

I'm looking forward to challenging myself and y'all again this year - can't wait to hear about everyone's great work!

26.2 For Boston

Late Monday night the following message appeared in my inbox.  At that point I had already run what I have started to term my "healing run" and written my blog post about it.  I'd seen many friends post about their runs and plans to run 4.09 miles the following day.  And then I read this from our Galloway Program Director (it's a little long, but I think it's worth the read):

Dear Jenny, My first goal when I became a runner was to finish a marathon. Receiving that finisher's medal was an indescribable honor, and sharing the experience with my family was the highest high I could imagine. Like almost every marathoner, I soon set my sights on getting faster, with a goal of someday qualifying for Boston. Galloway Training is well known for helping non-runners become runners and helping runners become marathoners and half-marathoners, and I am proud of us for being the world leaders in bringing people safely into the sport.. What non-Galloway folks may not realize is that Jeff Galloway's Run/Walk/Run method is also AMAZING at helping people get fast. My wife actually qualified for Boston with a massive Personal Record the very first time she tried walk breaks. Eventually I qualified too, and we have enjoyed two Patriots' Days together running the historic course with 20,000+ of our friends. We joke about running with thousands of friends, but it really is true. In a large part, the running community is made up of thousands upon thousands of friends who don't know each other yet, but as soon as we recognize a race shirt or backpack in the airport or grocery store, we strike up a conversation and we know how kindred our spirits really are. This is why today hurts so much. Whether we have qualified or not, whether we have run Boston or not, whether we have even run a marathon or not, we are all runners, and a part of us soars whenever we see our brothers and sisters fly down Boylston Street. Always that flight should be in joy, but today it was so much different. All of us in the running community mourn this attack on our peaceful sport, and our thoughts and prayers are with those who suffer. Please join me in dedicating the next 26.2 miles you run, whether they be all at once or one 4-mile training run at a time, to the people of Boston. Run in peace, Chris So there you go.  The idea has been planted.  The next 26.2 miles (which for me will happen one training run at a time) are dedicated to Boston and the marathon.  I hope you'll join me in doing the same.  There's even a Facebook event for it: Run 26.2 for Boston. I've got 2.1 miles down, 24.1 left to go. ETA: Someone has put together a Google Doc where you can log and share your #RunForBoston miles.  Check it out here.

2013 Mini Goals: April: Spring-Clean Your Gear

"April showers bring..."  It seems particularly appropriate that as I'm writing this they're calling for some big spring storms to roll through here tonight.  Spring means showers and spring cleaning.  The Runner's World article "A Month-by-Month Guide to a Fitter, Faster You" lays out monthly mini goals for the year and April's is to Spring-Clean Your Gear.

APRIL: Spring-Clean Your Gear 

We're not sure if running and hoarding have a symbiotic relationship, but many runners do seem to have a hard time getting rid of stinky shoes, sweat-stained shirts, and sagging shorts. Here's help. 

Shoes: The guideline of 300 to 500 miles per pair is a good generality, but Michael Aish, co-owner of the Boulder Running Company Denver Tech Center, is more concerned with how hard you wear the shoes. "If you hit the ground with a clomp and run mostly on concrete, your shoes will have a much shorter shelf-life than if you barely hear your landing and you spend a bunch of time on the treadmill," says Aish. 

Socks: If the elastic is so worn that the sock bunches up, you risk getting blisters. Extra-thin fabric on key pressure areas—under the ball of your foot, say—means you're missing out on cushioning. "Fit is key with socks," says Aish. "If your heel isn't fully covered because the fabric is stretched out, you're asking for trouble. Get rid of them." 

Sports bras: High-impact exercise accelerates the stretching of all the components of the bra that provide support. "A good general rule is that a bra lives for no more than a year if you wear it three to four times a week," says LaJean Lawson, Ph.D., an exercise scientist and expert in sports bra design. D cups may need to be replaced earlier. 

Bottoms: You might need to toss your bottoms if the elastic in the underwear liner is slack; if the words on the care label are so faded you can't read them; if you have to use the string in the waistband to keep them up—or if the string is MIA. 

Smart Readers

So you've weeded through everything, but how do you organize your clothing, shoes, food, and accessories for easy, neat access?

Last fall I organized a lot of my running gear - and realized that I have entirely too much.  Part of the problem is that I have my "fat" gear, my "normal" gear, and my "hope to fit into sooner rather than later" gear.  So I need to sort through what I have first of all, and then determine what I use and what I don't need.  There's going to be some definite spring cleaning going on this month, lol.

Q4U: At some point this month I'll post pics and descriptions of my organization system.  In the meantime, I'd like to hear what you readers use - care to share in a comment?

2013 Mini Goals: March: Build an Injury-Proof Body

"March Comes In Like a Lion" and yes, the lion is here!  The Runner's World article "A Month-by-Month Guide to a Fitter, Faster You" lays out monthly mini goals for the year and March's is to Build an Injury-Proof Body.

MARCH: Build an Injury-Proof Body

"'The knee accounts for about half of all running injuries,' says Robert Gillanders, P.T., D.P.T., O.C.S., a physical therapist with Sports + Spinal Physical Therapy in Washington, D.C. 'But knee problems are usually indicative of a weakness in the hips, glutes, and core. If those areas aren't solid and able to stabilize you as your foot strikes, your knees take the brunt.' Gillanders is a fan of simple exercises you can do anywhere... "  Read the rest of the article here.

The one nagging joint problem I've always had was my knees, even before I became a runner - but once I started running, unbelievably my aching knees stopped aching!  Guess all that exercise really helped (this is also one of the reasons I scoff at people who tell me that running is bad for my knees - they were worse before I was a runner!)  As for other ailments, fortunately for me, I had a very minor stress fracture in my right foot that I got when I was training for my first half, but I haven't had a running-related injury since (knock on wood!).  And I definitely want to keep it that way!  So I'm a big proponent of cross-training and strength training to supplement my running schedule.

Last month I re-started one of my most effective/favorite exercise videos: Chalean Extreme which involves slow and heavy weight-lifting, and finished the "Burn" circuit at the end of the month.  The "Push" circuit is up next, and what I'll be concentrating on during March.  So it's my own way of strengthening my joints, my legs, and my core.

I'm also going to try to make up for missing February's mini goal and try the whole cooking thing again...hopefully I'll have a much better showing this time than last...smh.

Q4U: Do you supplement your running with cross training and/or strength training and/or core work?  What do you do?

February Wrap-Up

Remember my rose-colored-glasses post about committing to cooking for the month of February?  EPIC FAIL.

Work was absolutely nuts with lots of late nights and weekends at the office and life caught up with me big time so there was very little actual cooking going on in my kitchen this past month.

There were, however, an embarrassing amount of protein drinks,  yogurt, and microwave frozen meals consumed over the course of the month.  SMH.  Well, when tired and pressed for time, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...

The one victory I can sort of claim for the month was an attempt at "cooking" a healthy and balanced breakfast most mornings - my new favorite thing is southwestern style egg beaters microwaved in a coffee mug and then stuffed into a half of a whole wheat pita pocket.  It's a good balance of protein and fiber, all in a portable little pocket!

So, February's mini-goal didn't turn out so well...be watching for the next post about March!!!

February Wrap-Up:

• 43.5 total miles run/walk, including:
• Hot Chocolate 15K
• Disney's Princess Half Marathon
• 5.5 miles bike
• Completed the Chalean Extreme "Burn Circuit"

Q4U:  Did anyone else attempt the February Mini Goal?  How did you do?

Not-So-Lean and Kinda-Mean Fifteen (K)

Saturday morning started with an almost "Disney early" wake-up at 4:15 am, and then my friends Lindsey and Jennifer and I headed down to Fair Park for the Dallas Hot Chocolate 15K at 5:15am.  Lindsey really wanted to run this race, and since she and I are running the Princess Half together in two weeks, the 15K fit perfectly into our taper plan of 8-10 miles this weekend.  Jennifer is a fairly new runner who had never gone as far as 15K before, but Lindsey convinced her to run with us, so together we were quite the motley crew.

The race had a 15 min/mi maximum pace requirement, which, to be truthful, I was kinda nervous about.  I've been concentrating so much the last 18 months on distance and endurance for my marathon training that my speed has suffered.  Even on our most recent "long" runs (fewer than 10 miles) we've only been averaging 14:30-15 min/miles.  Because of that I already had some pre-race jitters going, it turns out that we were in the LAST corral, and it certainly didn't help that we had to wait about 2.5 hours before our race started to add to the freak-out factor.

I had quite a few other friends that were running the 5K, and another friend running the 15K.  Somehow we missed meeting up with ALL of them!!!  Craziness.  Finally at 8:30 we were in our corral and taking off.  I wanted to start us off with a good pace to build in a bit of a buffer, knowing that we'd have to walk up a couple of the hills that Lindsey said she saw on the elevation plan (I really had not been paying attention to the race - I just signed up and showed up), and that we'd probably slow down towards the end of the race.

Our first few miles we averaged a 13:20 pace, and were feeling good - and then the hills hit.  I still don't think of Dallas as being particularly hilly, but man oh man, I think they found every one in the vicinity of Fair Park and made us run up it.  Fortunately they were in the middle miles of the race, and Lindsey knew that once we finally finished with the hills it was mostly either flat or downhill the rest of the way.  So we slogged on through those hard hilly miles, and at the end of the hills I did some quick math, and amazingly we were still well under a 14 min/mi pace!  Wow!  It was a great feeling to know that even if we slowed down significantly we still should be under the 15 min pace requirement.

And after that 6 mile mark, every step took Jennifer further than she'd ever gone before, so that was a huge motivator for all three of us.  After pushing ourselves at that pace for the early miles, we were all getting tired, but just kept going.  We just kept up the intervals and ticked off the miles.

As we hit the 8 mile marker and had Fair Park in sight, we were ... not struggling ... but flagging, definitely.  I just kept pushing us, though, and if looks could kill I'm pretty sure the ones I was getting from Lindsey's direction would've had me falling dead right there on the course, lol.  The 9 mile marker we'd seen earlier that morning while walking from the car was a very welcome sight - just 0.3 miles to go, which meant only 4 or 5 more run intervals - wuhoo!  And then we saw the 3 mile marker for the 5K - just 0.1 miles!  We came up with our game plan for crossing the finish line - hands clasped together and raised over our heads.  Right after we crossed, I checked my Garmin - and it showed a 13:43 average pace!!!  AWESOME!!!

Our official time was 2:08:08, for an average pace of 13:45.  I was so excited that we did that great and Lindsey and Jennifer were equally as happy!

Post-race euphoria!

So after a quick pic it was time for the post-race goodies.  I'm not a big chocolate fan, but I did enjoy dipping the pretzels and marshmallows in the chocolate fondue (unfortunately they'd run out of bananas), and since it was cool and windy the cup of hot chocolate was wonderfully warm and pleasantly yummy!  

Post-race goodies.

We got home, and after Lindsey and Jennifer left and I showered, I was still feeling so great.  It felt a little silly to be proud of a time that was "normal" for me just a couple years ago, but still - I felt GREAT!  And, as an added bonus, it turns out that my finish time was a default PR because (who'd've guessed) I'd never run a 15K before!  YAY!

I feel like this shines a giant ray of hope on my secondary goal for the year - which is to get faster as a result of "finding the fun" and concentrating on shorter distances.  I'm loving that old feeling of working hard and pushing myself for this kind of breakthrough, and as a result I am looking even more forward to running Princess in a couple weeks than I already was!

Q4U:  What was your most recent fitness breakthrough/revelation?  Have you had a great success recently? Is there a "moment"/goal that you're still trying to reach?

2013 Mini Goals: February : Commit to Cooking

The Runner's World article "A Month-by-Month Guide to a Fitter, Faster You" lays out monthly mini goals for the year and February's is to Commit to Cooking.

FEBRUARY: Commit to Cooking

Although good shoes and a healthy dose of motivation help you improve as a runner, there's another set of tools you should use: an oven and a stove. Eating food you prepare at home guarantees you know exactly what you're eating (no chicken breast prepared in butter) and keeps your calorie count down. "According to the USDA, you eat 134 calories more per meal eating out compared with meals at home," says Cassie Dimmick, M.S., R.D., a sports dietitian in Springfield, Missouri, "Plus, when you eat out, you eat fewer whole grains, fruits, and vegetables and more unhealthy fats and sodium." 

Plan ahead. Spend a half-hour on a weekend mapping out your meals for the week—both what you're going to make and what nights you're going to cook. "You don't make good decisions when you're tired and hungry," Dimmick says. 

Become a prep cook. On the weekend, tackle prep work: Cook meats, prep salad dressings, cut vegetables and fruits. "If I'm browning meat, I do two packages," says Dimmick, "and use one and freeze one." 

Rethink your idea of a home-cooked meal. "Certainly a hot, freshly cooked meal is great, but a PB&J, some baby carrots, and a glass of milk is so much better than going out," Dimmick says.

Eating at home isn't the problem in this house - it's pretty much a given.  Restaurants are kind of a rare treat, and lunches are almost always packed, even if it's just a frozen Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine entree with some fresh sides.  For us, it's the diversity of items eaten at home that's a bit of a problem.  I love to cook, but really only if it's for large groups.  Cooking for only one or two people is not interesting for me, and cooking larger amounts always leads to too many leftovers for us.  As a consequence, my everyday meal repertoire tends to be rather limited, and a bit boring.

So my personal spin on February's Mini Goal is to branch out and cook different and more exciting meals.  The article includes 3 yummy-sounding recipes that will be good go-to's.  The first part of my plan of attack is that this weekend I'm going to pull out my plethora of dust-collecting cook books and pick out some relatively easy/fast and healthy recipes to try out over the next four weeks.  Planning's the easy (and fun) part.

The challenge will be, of course, to follow through with actually shopping for the ingredients and preparing the meals and not falling back into our boring food routine.  I like Runner's World tip to prep more food at once and freeze for easier cooking later on, so I'll definitely be using that method.

I look forward to indulging in my culinary mojo and reporting back my results over this month!

2013 Mini Goals: January : Plan Your Race Year

The Runner's World article "A Month-by-Month Guide to a Fitter, Faster You" lays out monthly mini goals for the year and January's is to Plan Your Race Year.

Putting a race on your calendar now is one of the best ways to get and stay motivated. You commit to a goal. But staring down a year of race options, you may feel excited or daunted—or both—especially if you've never raced before. Should you tackle a first 5-K? A mud run? The annual mega-10-K all your coworkers sign up for? Aim for a PR in a half-marathon? Here are some guidelines to help you figure out what event—or even better, events—to sign up for in 2013. ... (read the rest of the article here).

Since my main goal for the coming year is to find the fun in running again, I'm trying to cut back on my race schedule a bit, and the longest distance I'm registering for is half marathons - no fulls for a while!

Of course, the temptation of new and exciting races means that my spring racing schedule is perhaps a little fuller than it should be, but I'm really excited about it!  Each race will be with friends and family and in fun and exciting locations, so I couldn't pass them up!

So here's what 2013 has in store for me:

• January 13: Walt Disney World Marathon - Orlando, FL
• February 9: Hot Chocolate 15K - Dallas, TX
• February 24: Disney's Princess Half Marathon - Orlando, FL
• March 23: Firefly 5K - Plano, TX
• April 28: Big Sur 10.6 - Carmel, CA
• June 22: Rock'n'Roll Seattle Half Marathon - Seattle, WA
• July 20: Moo Cow Mini Marathon  - Dallas, TX
• October 12: Baltimore Running Festival Half Marathon - Baltimore, MD
• November 28: Turkey Trot - Austin, TX
• December 8: Dallas Relay - Dallas, TX

Q4U: Have you planned out this year's race calendar yet?  Is it full of races or does it only have a select few?

Run Halfway Challenge COMPLETE!

WE DID IT!!!  Way to go everyone - I'm so proud of each and every one of you that traveled this journey with me and completed your own personal 1-Mile-A-Day Challenge in December 2012.

As we ring in 2013 today, take a minute to reflect on all your accomplishments of the past year.

This Accomplishment Badge is yours, and it will be available to share on both FB and Twitter!

• Get your Facebook Accomplishment Badge HERE.
• Tweet this badge and your accomplishment using #RunHalfwayChallenge!

Don't forget that TriandTrue and Running Halfway Around The World are co-hosting a new January Challenge!  Get a jump start on the New Year! Pledge to log at least one running or walking mile every day in January - yes, every day!

Join the Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/JanuaryJumpStartChallenge/

Running Resolutions: A Month-By-Month Guide

Runner's World - January 2013

As I said in my last post, 2013 is going to be about finding the fun again in my running.  Boy oh boy is that a big, fat, huge goal that needs to be better defined.  Which is why I love the idea of breaking down a large yearly goal into more manageable monthly ones, like in the article in the January 2013 Runner's World magazine entitled "A Month-By-Month Guide to a Fitter, Faster You."  

Although a "fitter, faster me" is not my actual running goal for 2013, I certainly wouldn't mind if it happens to be a by-product of finding the fun again.  And small, mini-goals can help me get to my "fun" goal.  Therefore I plan to use the monthly guide as a go-by for my upcoming year, because I like the concepts presented in it a lot (make sure you read the whole article):

January: Plan Your Race Year
February: Commit to Cooking
March: Build an Injury-Proof Body
April: Spring Clean Your Gear
May: Sneak in Speed
June: Strengthen Your Brain
July: Overcome Aches and Pains
August: Rediscover Your Mojo
September: Master the Long Run
October: Go Gadget-Free
November: Stay Fit Through the Holidays
December: Share the Love

See?  It's all logical, simple stuff that when spread out across the year should be manageable.

So there they are, in black and white.  My 2013 New Year's Running Resolution(s).

What have you committed to for 2013?

Don't forget that TriandTrue and Running Halfway Around The World are co-hosting a new January Challenge!  Get a jump start on the New Year! Pledge to log at least one running or walking mile every day in January - yes, every day!

Join the Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/JanuaryJumpStartChallenge/

Revolutions Lead to Resolutions

365 earthly revolutions make a year and we're nearing the end of this one.  Which means it's time for ... resolutions!  The start of a new year gives us a clean slate with a bright shiny new beginning.

2012 taught me that I can run marathons, but that I prefer halfs.  That I can go the distance, but that I don't need to.  And, sadly, that I sacrificed  the fun in the pursuit of a few big goals.  Running stopped being enjoyable this training season, and I want that fun and enjoyment back.  Don't get me wrong, there were some fun times to be had while running this year.  But running itself was not fun anymore.

While I'm not normally a huge fan of New Year's Resolutions, I do like the idea of a new plan and a new goal for a new year.  And for me, that means my goal for 2013 will be a goal that's not centered around a particular length of race or even a certain number or type of race.  

2013 for me will be about finding the fun in running again.  

Which is a very broad and sweeping resolution, I know.  So I do need to commit to some smaller and more concrete goals for the year.  While reading an article in Runner's World on the plane ride home to visit my family a couple weeks ago I came across the perfect way to do this.  Anyone else read the January issue and already know what I'm talking about?

Well, I'm leaving you with a cliffhanger here, and I'll follow up in my next (non-Challenge-related) post.  In the meantime, I've got a couple questions for you:

• Reflecting back on your 2012, did you have running triumphs? Running regrets?
• What are you looking to change next year?
• Have you started thinking about your 2013 New Year's Resolutions yet?

Tell Me About Your 2012

Fellow blogger H Love over at Keep on Keeping On had a great post earlier this week about recapping her year of running with a short survey: Tell Me About 2012.  I liked the idea so much I asked if I could do the same.

So here's my 2012:   

Best race experience? There were SO many good ones this year.  But I think I'll have to go with the obvious, which was my FIRST MARATHON!  The Disneyworld Marathon in January validated me as a runner.  A marathon runner.  It was hard, there were tears, there were friends, there was family, and there was Mickey bling.

Dad, BFF, & me after Mickey 2012

Best run?  Again, so many good ones to choose from. Too many, really.  So, I'm going to go with a really general "run" - training runs with my Galloway Girls.  My pace group helped keep me motivated and on-track, helped keep me moving on the hard runs, and kept my mind occupied on the boring ones.

"Lost in Pace" after our 21 Miler

Best new piece of gear?  Well, this one honestly couldn't be more obvious, lol.  It's gotta be my SparkleSkirts.  LOVE. THEM.  2012 was the year I started running in SparkleSkirts, and I've said it before and I'll say it again - there's nothing better for a long run!  They're fun, functional, and stylish!

Berry Smoothie SparkleSkirt

Best piece of running advice you received? "Start out slow and back off."  This is a joke from my friend Megan (remember her blog?), but still it strikes a chord with me.  She said it prior to what we knew was going to be a tough race, and it takes me back to that moment when running was about the company and not the miles or the pace.

Megan & Me at The Patriot's Challenge

Most inspirational runner? My friend Allison.  She was new to our running group this year and fit right in.  Allison was diagnosed with breast cancer just before her big goal race this fall, which she didn't run, and immediately started treatment.  Her positive outlook and determination during this fight, which she partially attributes to her running journey, are a true inspiration to us all.  And she's already planning her running comeback once she's in remission! 

Celebrating Allison's Bday with the Galloway Girls

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be?  Friends & bling.  That's truly what this past year of running has been about for me.  My running friends - both in "real life" and online - have kept me going and have helped me do more than I dreamed this year.  And 2012 was the "Year of Bonus Bling."  LOTS of bling this year - and I love it all!!!

So that was my 2012 in a nutshell.  I'm looking forward to what 2013 brings - stay tuned for more on that!

Want to do a "Tell Me About Your 2012" of your own?  Post a link to your blog post about it in the comments below - I'd love to read about your year!

January Jump Start Challenge

The RunHalfway Mile-A-Day December Challenge is going very well, but is coming to an end.  So my friend Kim over at TriandTrue and I are hatching a plan for a January Jump Start Challenge.

Get a jump start on the New Year! Pledge to log at least one running or walking mile every day in January. Part of the Challenge is fitting the activity into your daily life, so no skipping, BUT - everyone gets one (1) "Grace Day" at any time during the month to miss a mile without breaking your streak!

It's super easy and follows basically the same rules as the December Challenge with one new little twist.  Kim's triathlon training calls for us to include biking as an option for January's Challenge - so trading 3 biking miles for your daily running or walking mile is acceptable in this one.  

So, are you ready to pledge your mile a day?  If so, here's how:

1. Join the FB group here.
2. Share the Challenge badge on FB, Twitter (follow @RunHalfway and @TriandTrue and use #JanuaryJumpStart), or on your blog.
3. Complete at least one mile on your feet every day. If you choose, 3 biking miles can occasionally be substituted for running or walking a mile.
4. After you've logged at least a mile each day, check into the Facebook group to record your mileage and get each day's badge!
5. Visit both blogs for motivation and updates throughout the month!
   - http://triandtrue.net/
   - http://www.run-halfway.blogspot.com/