Despite the weather, 2014 is off to a fabulous start. I ran a LOT of miles in the first few months: 144, 115, 200! There was some creative managing and I ran way more miles on the treadmill than, well, ever, but in the end, I pretty much nailed my training. I maxed out at a 54 mile week and had a total of 5 weeks over 40 miles. I even managed to run two faster than I thought I could half marathons, despite very little fast running at all.
My confidence level going into the five half marathons in five days is way higher than it was for last year’s event. Note to self: don’t get cocky. It’s still a lot of miles.
Since it feels like I’ve done nothing but run for the last three months, it’s time to evaluate all my goals.
Running
- Finish another five half marathons in five days. A week from now we hit the road. I’m ready. I can’t wait to do this again!
- Run 14 16 half marathons in 2014. Two down! (RNR USA and Caesar Rodney) #3 is in two days and then 4-8 are just over a week away.
- Run half marathons in 4 new states and one new country. Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Ireland. Bam!
Fitness/Physical Health
- Keep moving our whole family down the path towards healthier eating and more movement.
Yeah, didn’t happen. This winter was so cold and awful that I really just gave up. - Move on the days I’m not running – a minimum of fifteen minutes. I was active, but pretty much no upper body work. I managed one Pure Barre class and a couple of pushups and planks, but it’s time to get back at ti.
- Get back to a point where I’m comfortable in all of my clothes. I didn’t gain weight with this training, but my jeans aren’t any looser than when I started. But high mileage does not equal weight loss for me.
Work
- Consistently work the number of hours each month that I’m supposed to hit. Meh.
- Keep building my skills with Google Apps, especially in creating Google Sites. I’ve gotten pretty darn good manipulating Sites. It’s still one of my favorite parts of my job.
Personal
- Actually attend a BURP (homebrewers/beer lovers) event. Does hanging out with the members at various events count?
- Take a trip with Beer Geek. Hello, Riverboat Series. I’m so ready for a vacation.
- Be more social. In 2013, I was thinking I need a “social” job because I was becoming too isolated working from home while the kids are at school. Now, I realize I need to make my money at my real job and just add in some social to my life. So, here’s my plan: Oddly, I did end up getting a social job. I now work at the reference desk at the public library on occasion. I also got hired to work a race, which I enjoyed quite a bit (other than the cold rain…)
- Continue to run at least once a week with the ladies of MRTT – nope, winter messed with this, but I did meet up with them for a variety of events and a few runs.
- Run at least once a month with a non-MRTT friend – nope. I managed one run in 3 months. Need to get better about this.
- Do something social at least once a month in the evening: go out with friends, have a couple over for dinner, attend an event… – This I rocked. We were surprisingly social this winter.
- Reach out at least once a week via email or phone to a friend I haven’t talked to much lately – I think I managed once a month. Better than nothing, but still…
All in all, I’d have to say that the first quarter of 2014 was pretty awesome. The second quarter will include 11 races, so I expect it will be a whole lot of fun. I can’t wait to see what the next few months brings…
How are you doing with your goals? Have you added any new ones? Made any big changes?
((makes notes and may follow suit in that SOCIAL JOB!))
The Social Job is pretty much awesome.
test
My 2014 didn’t start out as planned, running wise, so my goal is to slowly regain my running fitness after dealing with a stress fracture. Looking forward to a better 2nd quarter.
Glad to hear your are back out running. Wish I could have joined you all today.
since you do high mileage I wonder how LHR training would work, that might make a difference in the weightloss? Just a thought since you’ve mentioned that as a goal.
Do you feel more ready for the 5 this year??? I can’t believe you are crazy enough to do it again!!
Trust me, I ran a lot of slow. How else could I read when I was stuck on the ‘mill?? ;o)
I think you have had a great first quarter!!!
I didn’t know you were running a race in Ireland this year – very exciting!!
I need to work on the social thing – we tend to go in spurts and most of our social stuff involves hanging out with friends at the boys activities!!!
Holy wow, that’s a lot to pack into just a few months! I have been a total slacker so far.
You did accomplish a lot this year already!! Amazing. So excited for you and your 5 races. And I need a social job!! Working from home is great but sometimes I do miss having work colleagues around.