Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts

Friday, January 28, 2022

Winter Runfessions

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Time is just flying by, isn't it? At least that's a good thing this time of year. As much as I love playing in the snow, I'd much rather be playing on the lake. Is that a runfession? It's that time again and Marcia's got the runfessional open so we can cleanse our soles! Mine have been full of snow and that's a good thing. 

How about you? What do have to runfess?

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Coffee Talk and January's Book Reviews

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Let's catch up over coffee! I've got Allegro Organic Hardwired brewing; this bag of coffee benefits the National MS Society through the Team Left Hand's Bike MS Team. Bike MS is the largest fundraising bike series in the world. I do love me a cup of socially conscious coffee! Mine has a splash of half and half and a scoop of GLG Collagen

Friday, January 1, 2016

2016: Goals, Resolutions, and Intentions #AMRresolutions

Happy New Year everyone!

I've written a few posts recapping my year on the road and reviewing my goals from 2015. Now it's time to talk about my goals for 2016!

Dimity and Sarah from Another Mother Runner are once again hosting their annual declaration of running resolutions. Actually, they call them intentions. Being the goal oriented person that I am, I'm still all about making my resolutions, goals, intentions, or whatever you call them to be measurable and attainable. So here we go....


You may have already read my post a few weeks ago where I've declared 2016 to be my Year of the Destination Races! I shared some of my plans and ideas about how I'd like this to go down. How fun is this going to be? I'm not sure how my husband feels about this, but I'm both excited and nervous about what's to come. Dimity and Sarah say they want this to be about pushing out of our comfort zones. In that post, I wrote about that too.

Ok, then, I'm in.

If you look at the races I have picked already and the ones that I'm considering, there is one common theme here...these races are all about the experience. These are destination races, they are run on beautiful courses, and for me, are not about time goals. Or as I like to say, "it's about finish lines, not finish times!"

Yep, this year I'm going to try to tamp down my competitive urges and enjoy the ride.

Do you realize how hard this will be for me? I love to race and I love to run fast. I'm deliberately taking this year to try to slow down and breathe. I go at 150 mph from the moment I get up in the morning until I lay down to go to sleep. I thought you were supposed to mellow with age, but that hasn't happened to me yet. Can I make it happen? We'll see.

That's not to say I won't try to challenge myself at all this year. I mean come on, it's me we're talking about! I do love me some speed...

On with the goals...


My main goal for 2016 is to slow down and enjoy the ride.

What else do I want to accomplish in 2016?

Stay injury free. Can I have a repeat goal from 2015? Let's make it an ongoing goal. I'm going to continue to be smart about my training with low, meaningful mileage and lots of cross-training. That means for my spring marathon, speedwork on the treadmill and heat training...on the treadmill. For this race, I'll need to do some hill training too. I'll continue to work with Becky on strength training and whatever else she throws my way. It's been a formula for success. I'll also do yoga at least twice a week, once in the studio and the rest at home. I'm going to try to get on the bike at least once/week, weather permitting.

Be more mindful. As I said above, I go full speed every day, and I get overwhelmed pretty easily. There's too much multitasking in my life. Yesterday on my run, I turned around at the halfway point and headed back home. As I stepped gingerly over an icy patch on the path, I realized that I didn't even remember crossing it the first time. My bright yellow running shoes have a big brown mud spot on them now and I have no idea where the heck it came from! I have to work harder at staying in the present moment. This means slowing down and breathing. My family, friends, and co-workers would probably appreciate that too. This also means not attending to every message and text as soon as it comes in. Pranayama (breathing exercises) and mindful meditation. More yoga. Less media.

Meet up with blogging/running friends in real life! One of the best things that's come out of this blog is getting to meet all the fantastic people who I've gotten to know through blogging. If any of you reading this are going to be at a race that I'm planning on running please reach out to me. I love meeting my virtual friends!

Continue to grow the blog. I focused a lot of my energy on Facebook and Instagram this year, and was really rewarded with followers! So now it's time to learn more about Pinterest, which is a huge source of followers for a lot of bloggers. I still don't quite get how Pinterest works, and so I'm going to do some homework to figure out how it fits in with the blogging scheme. I've mostly been using it to store memes and recipes. My Pinterest boards make me look like a hoarder. Time to get organized.

No matter what I do this year, I'm still all about putting out quality content. I won't write just to make a sponsor happy. The blog will always be all me, all the time.

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Finally, I wanted to make a comment about setting an intention. Most often at the beginning of yoga class the instructor asks students to set an intention, either for the class, for the day, or in general. Setting an intention isn't goal setting. An intention is more of a guiding principle for how you want to live or guide your life. The intention doesn't stop when you get off the mat. You should carry your intention with you throughout the day. Intentions are heart driven. Intentions can be broad--you might want to be a better person. Or maybe you want to become more kindhearted. By consciously setting an intention, you can actually turn your thoughts around. Kind of like using a mantra during a race.

For me, I've decided that I want to live more joyfully. At times, I find myself getting bogged down in negativity and I don't like the way that makes me feel. This will be a tough challenge, but it is something that I really want to change.

Yes, this is my oldest son at age 2!
If you need help with intention setting, here's a great article to get you started.

Have you set your goals for 2016? Do you ever set an intention? What is the one thing you want to accomplish in 2016?

I'm linking up with the DC Trifecta aka Courtney, Mar, and Cynthia for Friday Five! I'm sure there will a few resolutions, goals, and intentions over there...












And with Jill Conyers for her brand new Fitness, Health, and Happiness link up!












Tuesdays on the Run aka Marcia, Erika, and Patti are also hosting a link up for 2016 goals! Let's do this!