Goals check in

Yikes, it's almost the end of August and I haven't taken a look back at my goals for the year.  Given that I hadn't come up with goals until March, I guess that makes sense.  But I think things are progressing pretty well.  Here's where I am currently.

1.  720 miles for the year.  I'm currently at 438 miles and should be at around 460 by the end of August.  That's about 20 miles short of where I need to be but that makes sense given that I couldn't run for part of June due to my back and for part of July due to being sick.  But I'm back in half marathon training so hopefully I can make up the extra miles by the end of the year.

2.  Train hard for speed - I think this has been going well.  I was close to hitting my pace goal in my June 10k (and did hit the goal if you consider the heat during the race) and I'm continuing to incorporate speed work into my training.

 

The Annapolis race is always beautiful

3. Read 6 non fiction books - This one is going pretty well too and I've already finished 5 of the 6.  I read Becoming by Michelle Obama, The Incomplete Book of Running by Peter Sagal, Factfulness:Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling, Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr, and In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri. 

 

                                      

 

4.  Continue cooking at home.  This has been going well too.  It helps that I've been working on meal prep for the work day meals.  And with learning to cook vegan, the Washington Post had a great 12 weeks series of recipe ideas we've been using.  And occasional help from Sun Basket meal delivery kits as well.

Veggie Bibimbap from Sun Basket

So that's how my goals are going.  Overall, I'm pretty happy with progress at this point.  We'll see how the rest of the year goes.

2019 Goals

I just realized it's already March and I haven't even talked about my goals for the year!  Part of that is because I wasn't really sure what I wanted to try for this year.  But here's what I've decided on.

I'm joining in with Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday link up.

 

 

1.  720 miles for the year.  I was at 690 last year so I think I should be able to do this.  It averages out to 60 miles for month, which I got in January.  I only got 40 in February but I'm pretty sure I can make that up when I'm back in training.

 

2.  Train hard for speed - I don't want to say I'll try for a PR as I'm not sure that's in the cards at the moment.  But I just want to stick to goals that are in my control.  So I'm going to go with training consistently and diligently and hitting my speed work paces.  I have a 5k race in May, a 10k in June, and then I'll find a half marathon in the Fall (probably Richmond or Philadelphia). 

 

 

Beautiful views at the June 10k in Annapolis from couple years ago, looking forward to this year

 

3. Read 6 non fiction books - I really liked this goal the last couple years.  I'll read a ton of fiction but rarely read non-fiction without this goal. I've already finished Michelle Obama's book so that's the first one for this year.

 

 

 

 

4.  Continue cooking at home.  This was a good goal last year and really helped with getting my eating (and spending) at a more reasonable level.  I want to keep doing that for this year too.

 

 

Savory oatmeal for breakfast this week

 

So those are my 4 goals for the year at the moment.  I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead of them!

Friday Five - 2018 Goals Update

I'm back from Florida!  We had a great trip and got home around midnight on Wednesday night.  For those of you not following me on Instagram, I was able to finish the Disney World marathon while I was down there.  It was an amazing trip and a great race, and I hope to have my recap up next week.  In the meantime, I realized that it's already mid January and I haven't looked at my 2018 goals yet.  So here's a recap of how my goals for last year went.  I'm joining in with Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday link up.

1. Sub 3 hour half marathon - This did not come anywhere close to happening.  My Spring half marathon ended up being a DNS due to tendinitis.  I was hoping to do the Nationwide Columbus half marathon in the Fall since its flat but my travel schedule didn't work out and I did the Baltimore Running Festival instead.  The hills killed me on that one.  I also did Race 13.1 Baltimore, which was nice and flat, but I was deliberately keeping it at an easy pace for most of that one and finished in 3:11: 15.

Baltimore Running Festival

2. Get back to body pump - This went really well!  I was able to keep up with going to Body Pump at least once a week for the most part and made it twice a week some times. 

3.  700 miles - I didn't quite make this one but I'm happy with where I ended up for the year given that there were 5 weeks I was in an ankle brace and couldn't run at all.  I ended up with 691 miles for the year.

4.  Read more non-fiction (6 books) -  Another one that I got close on.  I finished 5 non-fiction books in 2018.  I read a Mindy Kaling biography, a book about cat evolution, and a book about the future of humanity in the first half of the year.  In the second half of the year I read Trevor Noah's Born a Crime and Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  I didn't quite get in 6 as I kept getting distracted by fiction from the library.

5.  Cook more at home -  I was better about this for most of the year.  Getting the Hungry Harvest box was really helping for most of the year.  Though as marathon training ramped up, we went back to cooking tried and true simple recipes at home.  The Instant Pot also helped with quick and easy weeknight recipes we could make at home.

Lentil Tortilla Soup

So that's how last year went.  I'm pretty happy with how most of the goals went, given that there was a point in Spring where I couldn't run at all.  I'm not sure what my plans for this year will be yet.

Friday Five - Goals Update

I hope everyone had a great week!  I've realized it's been months since I joined the Friday Five so I'm excited to be joining up again.  It's a wonderful link up hosted by Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness.  We're more than half way through the year so I'm going to check up on my goals again and see how things are progressing.
 

1.  1. Sub 3 hour half marathon - Well, my running related goals have hit an obstacle due to the tendinitis I was dealing with earlier this year.  My Spring half marathon ended up being a DNS.  But I still have a half coming up in October.  And the Nationwide Columbus half marathon is nice and flat.  I'm just going to be diligent about training and see what happens, but I don't want to push too hard and risk injury again.

All smiles after my PR half from December 2016 

2. Get back to body pump - This has been going well!  Again, a little bit of a set back because the doctor had said no body pump when I had the tendinitis but I've been going again and really enjoying it. 

3.  700 miles - I'm behind on this but still hope that I can make up the difference on the back half of the year, fingers crossed.  I'm only at 250 miles so far and I should be at more than 350 by now.  So we'll see what happens with this one.

4.  Read more non-fiction (6 books) -  I've read 2 and am working on a third, so I think I'm on track for this one.  I read a Mindy Kaling biography and a book about cat evolution.  I'm currently reading a book that's speculating about the future of humans but this one is taking me a while.  Part of it is because I keep getting distracted by fiction but part of it is that this one just isn't interesting me as much as I thought it would.

5.  Cook more at home -  I've been better about this as well.  Getting the Hungry Harvest box is really helping.  It kind of forces us to cook since we have fresh produce being delivered to the house every two weeks.

Roasted vegetables from a dinner party earlier this year

So that's the progress on my goals.  Several of them were impacted by tendinitis but we'll see what happens the rest of the year!

Friday Five - 2017 Goals

2017 has flown by and it's almost the end of the year!  I can't believe how fast it happened and it seems like January was just a couple weeks ago.  It's also time for the Friday Five 2.0 link up with Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness. I figured this was a good time to do an update on my 2017 goals.

1. Train for a marathon - Yes!  This one was my main goal for the year and it's pretty much done.  I had my 20 mile training run last weekend and I'm tapering now.  The race is the first weekend in January and I hope it goes well but it's really the training that feels like the main accomplishment.

Picture from my 20 miler and a partially frozen stream we crossed a bridge over

2. Two new types of workouts - Done. There was a deal on Class Pass earlier in the year and that allowed me to try out some new things.  I tried out a class at Zengo Cycle, which I really enjoyed.  I tried out yoga and barre at a new studio.  I had done yoga and barre before at other studios though.  And I started doing pilates with free you tube videos. 

3.  Try a challenge race - Done!  I had a lot of fun at the Infinity Gauntlet Challenge in Disneyland.  And doing a half the day after a 10k really didn't feel too much harder than just doing a half, so that was good news :)

4.  Read more non-fiction (6 books):  Almost done.  By the half way point in the year I had read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell (an interesting look at Hawaiian history), and Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly.  Since then, I read (actually listened to) A Giant of the Senate by Al Franken and I'm working on Dark Money by Jane Mayer.  I have Super Freakonomics on tap next but not sure I'll get to it by the end of the year. 

5.  Be more fiscally responsible:  Kind of?  This one is hard to quantify.  We had definitely been doing better at the beginning of the year but November and December were a bit off plan with vacation and the holidays, plus the January Disney trip coming up.  But I feel like there was some good progress here as well. 

So those were my goals for the year and I'm pretty happy with how they went!  I'm not sure yet what my goals for next year will be.  It's kind of hard to look past the marathon at the moment but hopefully I'll have a better idea after the race.Hope everyone else has had a good year too and a great year to look forward to in 2018 :)

Friday 5 - 2017 Goals update

This week has flown by but that makes sense since I only had two work days this week.  And now it's almost time for the weekend again!  Which also means it's time for the Friday Five 2.0 link up with Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness. Since we're halfway through the year I figured I'd take this time to see how my goals for the year have progressed.


1. Train for a marathon - This one is on track.  I registered for the Disney World marathon and I've chosen a training plan which starts in September.  I've also managed to convince one of my running friends to do this as her first full marathon too!  Yay for company on this journey :)  I've been spending the Summer working on building up my base and increasing to 4 runs per week instead of 3.

2. Two new types of workouts - Well, I still need to get moving on this one.  I have started heart rate training this year, which is something new, but I do really need to get out of my comfort zone and try a completely new type of workout.

 

I've enjoyed new things I've tried in the past, like aerial yoga

3.  Try a challenge race - This one is on track too!  I have registered for the Infinity Gauntlet Challenge at Disneyland in November.  This will be a 10k Saturday morning followed by a half marathon Sunday morning.

4.  Read more non-fiction (6 books):  On track for this too.  I've read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell (an interesting look at Hawaiian history), and Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (was inspired to read the book after seeing the movie).

5.  Be more fiscally responsible:  We're working on this.  We've definitely been better this year than last year and have started up monthly finance meetings where we can review our savings and spending for the past month and things to change moving forward.

So that's how things are moving with the goals for the year.  I'm pretty happy with my mid-year progress but I've definitely got to remember to try some new workouts before marathon training starts in September.

Friday Five - 2016 Goals

Well, it's the last Friday of the year!  That makes it a perfect time to link up with Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0 to talk about my 2016 goals and how I did with them.



So how did I do?  Only ok.  But I think part of that is just not choosing the right goals for the year.  I tried to choose 5 fitness goals and that resulted in having some goals that I just didn't care enough about.  I will definitely keep that in mind when I choose my 2017 goals.

1.  3 half marathons - Yes, 3 half marathons accomplished in 2016!  It started with RnR DC, then RnR Vegas and last was Race 13.1 Baltimore.

RnR Vegas

2. Run a 5k without a walk break - I got close on this one but ended up deciding I didn't care about it that much.  I got to the 2 mile mark running with no walk breaks.  But I learned that I actually end up with slower average times without the walk breaks.  So I've decided that the run/walk method works for me and will stick with it.  Another issue was just that I haven't really done a lot of 5ks the second half of the year.  I had my PR 5k in May and then there was one super hot 5k in the Summer.

Semper Fi 5k

3. Tracking all runs, including treadmill runs - Ugh... I did horribly on this one after March or so.  This was another goal that it appears I just didn't care about that much.

 

4. New fitness activities - I didn't get this one done either :(  And sadly, this was one I do care about.  But the new classes just never seemed to take priority.  I got really comfortable with my mix of running, budy pump and yoga, and just stuck with that.  I do want to try to get more variety in my workouts next year.

5. Cooking - This was a 2 part goal in that I wanted to try a new recipe every month and put it on the blog.  I've actually been pretty good about trying new recipes and cooking more at home, I just haven't been blogging about them.  I'm still satisfied with this one because my main purpose was to cook mroe at home and that was accomplished! 

 

 

Watermelon salsa I made for a party earlier in the year

So that's the result on my goals for 2016.  It wasn't so successful but I feel like the main goals that I cared about the most were accomplished.  And it was definitely a lesson learned about goal setting that I'll keep in mind for 2017!

Did you have any goals for 2016 and if so, how did it go?

Friday 5 - 2016 goals check in

I hope everyone had a good week.  It's been a bit up and down for me but I'm glad that the weekend is almost here.  And that means that it's time for the Friday 5 link up with Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney.  Since we're past the half way mark in the year, I figured I'd take a look at the goals I wanted to work on this year and any progress made toward them.

1.  3 half marathons - I've only done 1 so far but I have one planned in November and one planned in December.  I know I'm leaving them until late in the year but I don't deal well with the heat so it seemed for the best.  So I'm still working on this one and it should be accomplished.

RnR DC, my one and only half so far this year

2. Run a 5k without a walk break - I'm getting closer on this one.  I've been managing to get to the 20 minute/2 mile mark on hilly 5ks before taking a walk break.  So I think I should be able to get to this one too.  But it's on pause during the Summer as well.  I'm adding the walk breaks back in for now.

Ben's Run was hilly and rainy but I got to about 20 minutes before taking a walk break

3. Tracking all runs, including treadmill runs - I've been doing horribly on this one.  I just haven't been taking the time to go back in and manually put the information into the Garmin site.  It hasn't felt like a priority, but I wanted to make it one mainly for the purpose of tracking miles on my shoes.

4. New fitness activities - This is another one I haven't made progress on yet.  But it's Summer now and this is generally the time I look for more indoor activities to try out.  So I'll make it a priority to try some new things in the upcoming months.  I think Orange Fitness or a cycling class is at the top of my list.

5. Cooking - This was a 2 part goal in that I wanted to try a new recipe every month and put it on the blog.  I've actually been pretty good about trying new recipes but I've been bad about blogging about it afterward!  I did it January through April but nothing in May or June.  I'm still happy because the main part of the goal, getting excited about cooking again, was accomplished.  However, I will try to be better about blogging about the food for the rest of the year.

 

 

The last new recipe I blogged about was cheesy polenta with tomatoes and spinach

So that's the update on my goals.  There are several that still have a lot of progress to be made but I think I'll accomplish most of them.  The tracking my mileage goal seems like a lost cause at this point though.

Friday 5 - 2016 goals

I hope everyone has had a good week!  It's been crawling by for me but it's finally Friday.  Before we get to the weekend, it's time for the Friday 5 link up with Mar, Cynthia and Courtney.  Since it's January and I've already talked about how I did with my 2015 goals, I'm going to go ahead and talk about my fitness goals for 2016.

1. 3 half marathons - I ran my first half marathon in 2014, trained for 2 in 2015, so it's time to keep moving up the ladder with 3 in 2016.  I'll talk about which races I've picked out later this month but I'm excited about my races for this year.

Half marathon number 2 of 2015, that ended up being more like a quarter marathon

2. 5k without walking - I do pretty much all my runs using run/walk intervals.  I want to keep them for longer runs and races but I think I want to work on getting to the point where I can run a 5k without walking.  So I'm going to work on that this year as well and hope it leads to another 5k PR.

My 2015 5k PR for May

 
 3. Tracking all runs, including treadmill runs - I've been bad about this so far but I'd like to have the more accurate data so this is one of the things I want to remember to work on this year.

4. New fitness activities - I tried a lot of different types of classes and fitness activities in 2015 and I want to continue that in 2016 with trying at least 2 new things.  I've been intimidated by cycling classes so I want one of the new things to be a cycling class.  We'll see what the other one ends up being.

Stand up paddle boarding was one of the new things I tried in 2015

 5. Cooking - Cooking has definitely fallen by the wayside recently.  It hasn't all been take out but I've been concentrating on easy regulars to pull together at home.  And that's fine because that's what we've needed to do to avoid take out.  But I want to get back to experimenting a bit more in the kitchen so my goal for 2016 is at least 1 new recipe per month and posting it on the blog.

So there you have it, my goals for 2016! I'm looking forward to a great year and hope that it turns out to be a wonderful year for all of you as well.