This year is now well on its way. I do hope those of you who made New Year’s Resolutions or Goals have been able to see some progress. And for those of you that have seen them go sideways, it is never too late to start over.
So far, I’ve been able to stay on track with most of the major public and private goals I have decided to focus on for this year.
Running, of course, tops my list. My goal of staying healthy throughout 2013 as well as for years to come is important to me. I started this year off like last year with the Polar Bear Dive 5K into Lake Washington.
As January progressed, I found myself running my first ever 15 miles training for the Pasadena Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. I must say, it was hard. If I had had the energy after I completed those miles, I would have shouted for joy. Instead, I just grinned all weekend to myself. I followed up my winter training by doing the Pasadena Half in February where I posted a personal record of 2:45:10.
Just in these first two months of 2013, I’ve run just a little bit over 170 miles out of the 800 miles I want to run this year.
Besides the benefits of training for half marathons, what I consume each day is just as important. I have been reading more about what to eat and not to eat but I must admit half the time I’m totally confused. Though I do tend to eat mostly on the healthy side, I decided to record what I ate for several weeks. I found I was eating a lot more carbohydrates than I should be even though I am “in training.” I have been able to eliminate most of the “bad” carbohydrates and whatever processed sugars I do eat from my diet. I must admit that the sugar has been hardest as I love chocolate and ice cream.
I have decided to book my Amtrak’s Coastal Starlight for July. It should be a great time to take the train as there will be lots of daylight to see the beautiful Pacific Coast.
I continue to work on streamlining my clothes and will be donating about 4 bags of clothes to the Queen Anne’s Women Shelter. Though I do try to discard two pieces of clothing whenever I buy a new piece, somehow the closet never seems to get emptier. It’s like little clothes’ gremlins add new items to my closet without me knowing it. But I have to admit that sometimes I just find it hard to get rid of something I haven’t worn in a while as I just like the item.
To keep me on track with what I’m spending especially with online spending (I love to read and Amazon makes it so easy to buy a book), I have started to track all of my spending with my Neat Software and Scanner. I think it would be interesting to see what I do spend on running, books, clothes, food, etc…throughout the year. I have tried to do this in the past but somehow I lose steam by the second month. I’m hoping that by putting it out here, I can do much better this year.
Recording what I’m most grateful for each day has been an experience. I have found myself stopping to really look at the world around myself. The squirrels that run up and down the trees outside my office are a constant amazement. I never realized that they can hold on so well with their feet while they are upside down though one almost did a face plant as it slid off the branch to the ground below.
Those are my major public goals I am focusing on for this year.
For those of you who did make goals, how are you doing so far this year? For those of you whose goals have gone by the wayside, you can re-start them now.
Write them down, post them, or tell a friend or two. You will find you will accomplish what you want. And remember, it is never too late to just begin right now. No one ever said you had to start at the beginning of the year.