January Goals Recap

So time to reflect back on how January went. 

First a quick word on January. It's a lot, am I right? We all come in all hopeful that things will be better this year and we will be better this year and then BAM, we are smacked right in the face with the fact that January is cold and dark and basically just YUCK and thus sapping all of our forward momentum. It's tough to keep moving forward in the face of that. And yet we optimistic individuals solider on. Yay us! We all deserve a huge pat on the back for not giving in. And some warmth and sunshine.

So quick reminder, here were my January goals:

Here's how I did:

Renew CPR Certification. Big ol CHECK! I scheduled a class with the Red Cross that was a hybrid online/in person on January 26. First I had to watch 31 videos with practice activities to learn (or relearn) all the course materials and then go into the Red Cross facility for another 2 hours to demonstrate all of the lessons on the demonstration mannequins (I even kinda bonded with my infant mannequin, Tilly but alas, she had to stay behind to help educate others). And I passed, yay! I am certified Red Cross Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED for the next two years!

Next up, Pass my RRCA Certification. Well... I technically haven't passed YET. I am hoping to today, however. And it is not that I have failed, it is just that I haven't yet completed my test. I took the RRCA Coaching Certification class last weekend (Jan 29-30) but you have 30 days to complete the 100 question test, and tbh, with all the running info running through my brain these days, I needed a small break (and to ya know, do some things around the house and what not) so I haven't rushed to complete the test. Currently, I have 40 questions answered and I feel pretty confident about how it is going so far. UPDATE: I PASSED!!!!!

Dry January. Well, this one I am also giving myself a partial credit for. I actually did have 2 beers in January, but at the very end. On the Saturday after sitting in my RRCA class all day long, I got a message from some friends that they were checking out a place near my house and to come meet them. Long story short, the place (Carolina Brewing Supply) was pretty amazing and they had all the nanobrew beers. I had one called Elvis's Sandwich (Peanut Butter and Banana beer) and a Grapefruit IPA that was pretty amazing. So technically I did fail Dry January, but again, I went most of the month and I did cut WAAAAAY down on the amount of beer I drink. It was a good reset. And I play to keep my consumption much lower in the future as well.

Whole Food Detox week. I plan to do an entire blog post on this, but yes, this one was a total success for me. I spent a week following a plan from Fit Girls Guide to basically from scratch prepare every single thing I ate from real, whole foods for a whole week. In a future (very near future hopefully) blog I will provide a full review of the week in detail. But this is a big CHECK!

15 Burn Boot Camps. Another big CHECK! 15 exactly! I am on course to hit my year goal of 175 camps.

Me, January 31, hitting 101!

100 Running Miles. On Monday evening after work, I logged onto my Strava to check my miles for January and I was at 99. So you know what I had to do! I changed into my running gear and hit the neighborhood. I actually run 2 just to make sure, but this one is another bigh CHECK. I ended January with 101 miles run. I needed to actually be around 105 in order for me to be on course to finish my year at my 1256 mile (or 2022 km) goal, but I plan to make up some miles later in the year. Y'all it is just HARD to get out there an run in the cold. Especially since this January was particularly brutal. We had snow/ice storms 3 weekends in a row! And they are calling for maybe another this weekend! I promise, I will make it up in July. But for now, as long as I don't get too far behind, I am okay being a bit short for the year. And a side note, I am honestly considering changing this goal as my priorities have been sort of shifting as of late so I am not sure cranking out massive mileage is really what I want to focus on in 2022. I may try a more quality over quantity approach. But for now, I'll keep moving forward.

Yoga every Sunday. Big ol CHECK here as well. Each Sunday morning, I did a 30 minute Beginner Yoga class each Sunday (with the exception of Jan 30, I was rushing to get to my RRCA class so only did a 20 minute class) via YouTube. My cats were very interested in my progress, which, alas I will say felt very minimal. Maybe I need to do it more often to see results, but y'all I am stiffer than a board and don't seem to be getting any better at stretching. I plan to keep on doing the Yoga going forward. Here's hoping for any progress in the future.

Two Blog Posts. Yup and Yup. You can see the 2 blog posts that I wrote in January here:

https://runnerdgirl.blogspot.com/2022/01/starting-off-2022-right-goals-edition.html

https://runnerdgirl.blogspot.com/2022/01/from-sunglasses-hoarder-to-knocksquad.html

So I guess that is that! A mostly successful January.

I am hoping to sort out my February goals this week and get those up and posted soon. In the meantime, what do you have going on that you want to get accomplished in February. Or even for the rest of 2022? Let me know in the comments below. 

2021 Word of the Year

 

My Word of the Year for 2021 is REBUILD. I’m getting my other knee rebuilt this month and will spend the year rebuilding my strength and fitness after.

My goal is to be back to a sub-2 hour Half by year’s end with the focus being on achieving this at the 2021 Rock n Roll Savannah Half Marathon.

I’ll focus on rebuilding some non-running aspects as well which I will go into more detail throughout the year.

Do you have a 2021 focus? Tell me all about it in the comments below. I'd love to cheer you on this year.

In Between Times

Summer Running = UGH

So I am at that weird part of the year where I just don't have an upcoming race to train for. My next race that I have registered for is Rock N Roll Savannah on November 3rd, which I am super excited for, but until then, nada. I mean there are a few races here an there that I plan on signing up for but have yet to, but they would be all for shorter  distances, the longest of which I am considering is a 15K the last weekend of Sept. 

Since it is a bit too early to officially kick off my training for Rock N Roll Savannah, I'm now in this weird "in-between time" where of course running is going to happen, but with no real tangible goal in mind. Well, at least not a race goal that is. I still have my 1009 miles for the year goal (which I am currently sitting at 605 miles or 60% complete) so that is keeping me moving. As far as runs though, I have just been running whatever I feel like as long as I meet my weekly minimum (19.4 miles). 

With all that said, it's not a terrible thing to no be racing right now. After all it is summer which means it is crazy stupid hot out. And this year, it's been a lot tougher on me because unlike previous years where I did a lot of morning runs in the summer, I've been doing most of my runs at or near the hottest part of the day. Since I joined Burn Boot Camp in November, I pretty much go there in the mornings instead of running and the only other available time to go out is during my daughter's taekwondo classes which are at 4:30 and 5:30 pm. Just think how fast I'll be in the Fall though... 

The good news is I don't have much longer to wait. I officially kick off Rock N Roll Savannah Half Marathon Training the first week of August. But until then, I'll keep plodding along in this nebulous time putting in my miles haphazardly. 

What about you? What's your next race that you are registered for? Want to join me in Savannah? Register here: http://www.runrocknroll.com/savannah/register/ and use code “RNRBRP2018” to save $15 on the Marathon or Half Marathon. 

Or maybe you have a race to suggest for me to sign up for. What are your recommendations for an Aug/Sept/Oct race? 

Cool Summerfest

This year's York Summerfest Road Races were nice and cool with a starting temp in the low-60s, despite having Summer in the the name. These races are an event during the annual Summerfest in York, SC.

This is an annual local race that I have known about for years, but never raced before. This year I was able to make the time in my schedule and signed up about 2 weeks prior to the event and was still guaranteed a tech shirt which was pretty great. Pre-event, the race management kept in great contact, often posting on social media and sending out email updates leading to the event. You could pick up race packets in 3 ways, in York prior to the race, at the Fleet Feet Sports store in Fort Mill prior to the race, or on site the morning of. I opted for the Fleet Feet pick up. The bag contained a tech shirt, bib, sponsor odds and ends like pens and magnets plus vendor ads. I walked in and right out again no problem - well except my daughter spent several minutes petting the FFS mascot dog.

The morning of the race I easily found the location and parked at a municipal building parking lot right next to the race start. The weather was perfect for a race day, low-60s and there were several local vendor tents set up (including my Fleet Feet Sports team) and ample port-a-potties. 5 minutes prior to the start, which was on the road in downtown York, a local ROTC group displayed the colors for the National Anthem and the race started. Both the 5K and the 10K started at the same time and would follow the same route for about 2.5 miles where they split with the 5K heading back to the finish (which was the same place as the start) and the 10K veering off for the remainder of their route before doing the same. The course was extremely well marked with several volunteers and police along the route for assistance. I ran the 5K and passed a water station around 1.5 miles in. I was told their was a 2nd water station on the 10K route as well. The route went through residential neighborhoods with a few challenging hills and there were a few spectators here and there. The last .1 mile back to the finish was a decent sized hill, but there were a lot of people there cheering you on so it didn't seem so bad. 

I crossed the finish line under my 30 min goal and was pleased with my time. Live time race results were posted on a monitor at the finish line and was even more please to find out I placed 3rd in my age group!

After the race there was lots of water bottles on hand and Fleet Feet Sports had a huge cooler of Nuun for the racers. There was a big table full of fruit, crackers and granola bars as well. I stuck around to cheer on the other runners as I had several friends on the course for both the 5K and 10K races. There were no finisher medals for either distance.

Awards were presented in a nice ceremony where medals and certificates were give to overall and AG winners 1st, 2nd and 3rd in 5 year increments. I believe overall winners received gift cards. There was even podium blocks set up for winners to stand on. I placed 3rd in the Female 40-44 AG. After awards, there were about 10 or so door prizes drawn from bib numbers. Overall, it was a great, well organized local race that I would highly recommend.

Overcoming Self Doubt - Or At Least Pretending To

I haven't posted again since my first post because I was in a kind of bad place motivation wise. See, I am not to most optimistic girl on the block, and I had a HUGE goal race this past weekend. One that would determine my running course for the rest of the year. And I had little confidence I would make it and was letting that self doubt affect everything else in my life. Long story short - I needed to hit a 10K time of or below 58:13 to qualify for a race team that I've really really been wanting to make. And this was it, last chance. Plus the last qualification timing I missed by 7 seconds. 7!!!

Long story short... after all the doubt, up to and including a mini breakdown at the start line where a friend let me cry on her shoulder, I did it. I ran it in 56:49. I'd like to say I had a dig deep moment and convinced myself I could do it and that fueled me, but the truth is, on the course even I was so convinced I'd miss the mark I actually stopped on one hill for a few seconds and sobbed a little before forcing myself to keep going. That little negative voice inside is my weakness, but being stubborn keeps it a bit at bay - I know this about myself and will struggle with it forever I think.

So how about you? What do you do when it seems like you'll fail? At one point I joked that I refused to miss the mark by seconds again, that instead, I'd lay down flat on the road when it was obvious I wouldn't make it, and just be done then and there. Luckily my stubbornness won out in the end this time. This time...