All is well with me.  Had a great couple of weeks filled with holiday fun and I even got all of my runs in with the exception of one long run.  Not too shabby.  My office friend and I have decided to up our lunch runs to 4 miles (which we started a couple weeks ago actually) and it’s been great!  I’m excited to see what this new year brings!

In the meantime, I saw this quote on a friend’s Facebook status and loved it… so I’m just going to put it right here so it’s easy to find:

Five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.
3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less from people but more from yourself.

Extra lunch run yesterday and today’s normal lunch run but with an extra mile! :-)

2011 was a phenomenal life altering year for me filled with so many accomplishments and milestones.  So much energy went into developing and easing my way into a new life that I think mentally I was kind of exhausted by it.  Now that 2012 is coming to an end, naturally I’m in a reflective mind set thinking of how this year went.  I had initially thought that this would be the year that I hit my goal weight, but that didn’t pan out.  Through it all I have not given up.  And, if anything, knowing that I was able to basically maintain my weight —even though I wasn’t exactly on point— makes me feel like I’ve at least figured some things out.  

Which brings me to the last couple weeks.  I mentioned I started goal planning again with my friend and this has helped me tremendously.  I know that I was avoiding goals because I just wasn’t mentally committed to following through.  The fire just wouldn’t ignite.   But with a new year on the horizon that little spark has ignited again.  I have given myself ample time to settle into all the changes I made in 2011 and I’m living them.  Now I want 2013 to be another year filled with milestones and moving forward to more new things. Part of the reason I chose now, is because I want to already be on the ground running with a head start by the time January comes.    

Last week I set goals for myself and I’d say I was about 90% successful. Even though this seems like a failure on the surface, I think this was actually a culmination of small accomplishments that just weren’t quite perfect.  Every time I even just simply try, it’s like a hunt for treasure because every attempt — even if imperfect— is like discovering a piece of me that allows me to move forward towards who I want to be.  The biggest lesson I have learned throughout all of this is patience and understanding with myself.  There were moments when I thought about how much time has passed and how many things I could have accomplished and why didn’t it happen — but all this led to was self-hate, and as it turns out self-hate is not something that ignites fires but rather blows them out.  

So 2013 I’m coming for you!!!! You will be my year that milestones are reached and goals are accomplished! 

I love runs where you just randomly decide which way to go and before you know it your intended 3 miles becomes a hilly 4.5 miles. :-) Lunch run done!

So I haven’t fallen off the planet, just been generally busy.  Got in 6 miles with Rita on Sunday — woo hoo!  Then on Monday my friend and I were talking about working out and making goals in general.  I’ve been getting in my 3 runs lately but nothing else (my goal is to workout 6 days a week), she mentioned she had wanted to start getting back into the fitness groove so I asked if she wanted to do a workout pact. Thankfully for me she agreed.  So we created a shared Google doc where we can put in goals and cheer each other on… it’s working so well for me this week.  I’m so excited to be back on track and it’s fun to have someone else to share it with directly.  Tumblr works well too, but sometimes it makes you more accountable when you know there is only one other person that is aware of your specific goals and remembers whether you’ve stayed on track.  It helps so much to have a visual daily checklist of what I want to accomplish and my day-to-day victories — even if it’s just passing up dessert. Turns out this pic is too small to read any detail but gives a very tiny blurry glimpse of our shared doc.  ;)

Yet another reason I love coldish weather, it makes me go faster! I was super happy with my overall time but shocked when I saw mile 3 was in the 9 minute range! First time seeing a single digit in any mile I’ve ever run! Woohooo!

Thankfully, today only my feet hit the pavement! ;)  

Also, got my 6 mile long run on Sunday in with Rita but both of us forgot our watches so there was no visual proof. 

I’ve added caution tape around this run because what you can’t see is the instant replay of me tripping on a part of the sidewalk that was raised up about maybe half an inch and me then going ass over tea kettle—and I mean that literally —my forward momentum was stopped suddenly by my shoulder digging into the ground which caused my rear end to go up in the air… and at some point in the middle of that my pinky got smooshed under me and is now a bit sore…of course the only ice cubes I have in the office are made of coffee (which I use for my iced coffee in the morning) …but hey overall I walked away unscathed — except for my dignity —lost when all the people waiting for the light to turn green got to watch the live action version. ;-) LOL! Regardless, lunch run done topped with a funny story!

Yesterday, I saw this quote:

“I’m not where I want to be, but I’m not where I was”

It couldn’t have come at a better time.  It’s been awhile since I woke up in the morning and my first thoughts were negative and unhappy with myself.  Luckily, I have learned to quickly identify this feeling.  A not so distant version of myself would have taken this opportunity to have a food filled day with no limitations, but my present self knows the better solution is a combo of a good work out and opting for healthy food.  I told myself that I had two options — give in to the downward spiral that was rapidly approaching or fight…I chose to fight… 65 minutes on the elliptical…and now I feel much better. :)  

My week so far…running group finally met on Sunday for a long run after a two week hiatus…Chuck surprised me at work last night so we took Rowdy for a sunset walk at the beach… today I got to take my long overdue new pair of shoes out for their inaugural run!

:) 

Watch was dead but this app worked great as a back-up plan! Perfect running weather today!

Lunch run done!

Interesting technique to help me lose my appetite My Fitness Pal…put a cockroach running around in the ad on my food log… does make me wonder what information in my browser history made them think I wanted to virtually smash cockroaches for a very remote chance to win an iPad2 while entering my food intake.  YUCK!!!!

P.S. I’m suffering from sticker envy… I think “I voted” stickers should be included with mail-in ballots!  ;)