Throughout the month of December, I’ll be participating in #reverb13: Reverb is a way to reflect on the past year and project into the next year with a prompt a day for 31 days.
Day 6 – Blowing Out the Candles
You’re another year older! How did you celebrate the passage of another year? Did it turn out the way you had hoped?
My birthday wasn't too exciting this year. I finally posted about it here. The highlights were an early 8 mile run with my running buddies.
I actually ended up working kind of late. Instead of running home from work, which I was doing most days in late August as I was all about marathon training, I got picked up by my husband, who had also gotten stuck at work late. Acutally, reading my birthday recap post about why he was late just made me sad -- remembering that poor guy who lost his legs. Yikes. I wonder whatever happened to him.
Anyway, for dinner that night, we went out to dinner at one of my favorite casual restaurants, a pizza place. And one of the coolest parts was that my husband didn't object at all when I picked out appetizers and salad to share (they don't do invidual options there) that I know he hated but I loved. And then I got an awesome pizza, bundt cakes from my accounting buddy, and the next day, a Sprinkles cupcake from my husband.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
#Reverb13, Day 5: Challenge
Throughout the month of December, I’ll be participating in #reverb13: Reverb is a way to reflect on the past year and project into the next year with a prompt a day for 31 days.
Day 5 – Challenge
Did you take on a new challenge? What was it? Is there a challenge you deliberately avoided? What do you want to do to challenge yourself in 2014?
The theme for my 2013 was a marathon time goal challenge. In many ways, this wasn't a new challenge, though this particular time goal was. I know I've posted before, but I definitely started off running marathons much more slowly, in fact, hourSSSS slower than I do now. So there was a long series of time goals ... breaking 5 hours, breaking the 11 minute mile, beating Oprah (like Aimee did!), breaking the 10 minute mile, breaking 4 hours, getting a BQ, etc. But each one is a new challenge, and you take them one at a time (though sometimes of course you aim for one and get two goals (again, like Aimee, aiming for Oprah and then ending up even faster and breaking the 10 minute mile).
Hmm... I suppose it is time to think about challenges for 2014. Ideally, I figured I'd take the step toward doing a full Ironman in a few years if I hit my marathon goal. But yeah, I still have unfinished business with the marathon. I don't know if I'm going to go for the same time again. In reality, I should. Technically, I have a full marathon in about 5 weeks in Houston, but I'm not in shape to hit my goal time there. In reality, I really should keep trying. I certainly had to take MULTIPLE shots at the goals listed above. Fock, that sub-4 was elusive. My first shot at it was a horrible year in Chicago when the temps were in the 90s, they ran out of ambulances, and they cancelled the marathon right in the middle of it. But you know, I kept trying. I didn't get it on my second attempt either, but again, I kept trying. The problem is, many "experts" posit that the majority of adult-onset runners improve for 7-8 years before they gradually start to slow down. Which is one of the reasons that for long term running, you're NOT supposed to compete against yourself. At some point, older you won't be able to beat younger you. So that can't be your motivation.
Long way of saying... I haven't committed to it wholly yet, and it will largely depend on when exactly we take our 2014 Dubai-India-Nepal-Maldives vacation extravaganza ... but yeah, I very well might take another shot at this marathon goal.
Other challenges likely on the 2014 horizon -- learning some basic phrases in Hindi, Nepali and maybe Arabic. Some unexciting financial challenges. Maybe something like learning to swim for real?
Day 5 – Challenge
Did you take on a new challenge? What was it? Is there a challenge you deliberately avoided? What do you want to do to challenge yourself in 2014?
The theme for my 2013 was a marathon time goal challenge. In many ways, this wasn't a new challenge, though this particular time goal was. I know I've posted before, but I definitely started off running marathons much more slowly, in fact, hourSSSS slower than I do now. So there was a long series of time goals ... breaking 5 hours, breaking the 11 minute mile, beating Oprah (like Aimee did!), breaking the 10 minute mile, breaking 4 hours, getting a BQ, etc. But each one is a new challenge, and you take them one at a time (though sometimes of course you aim for one and get two goals (again, like Aimee, aiming for Oprah and then ending up even faster and breaking the 10 minute mile).
Hmm... I suppose it is time to think about challenges for 2014. Ideally, I figured I'd take the step toward doing a full Ironman in a few years if I hit my marathon goal. But yeah, I still have unfinished business with the marathon. I don't know if I'm going to go for the same time again. In reality, I should. Technically, I have a full marathon in about 5 weeks in Houston, but I'm not in shape to hit my goal time there. In reality, I really should keep trying. I certainly had to take MULTIPLE shots at the goals listed above. Fock, that sub-4 was elusive. My first shot at it was a horrible year in Chicago when the temps were in the 90s, they ran out of ambulances, and they cancelled the marathon right in the middle of it. But you know, I kept trying. I didn't get it on my second attempt either, but again, I kept trying. The problem is, many "experts" posit that the majority of adult-onset runners improve for 7-8 years before they gradually start to slow down. Which is one of the reasons that for long term running, you're NOT supposed to compete against yourself. At some point, older you won't be able to beat younger you. So that can't be your motivation.
Long way of saying... I haven't committed to it wholly yet, and it will largely depend on when exactly we take our 2014 Dubai-India-Nepal-Maldives vacation extravaganza ... but yeah, I very well might take another shot at this marathon goal.
Other challenges likely on the 2014 horizon -- learning some basic phrases in Hindi, Nepali and maybe Arabic. Some unexciting financial challenges. Maybe something like learning to swim for real?
#Reverb13, Day 4: 20/20
Throughout the month of December, I’ll be participating in #reverb13: Reverb is a way to reflect on the past year and project into the next year with a prompt a day for 31 days.
Day 4 – 20/20
Hindsight is the one thing we never benefit from in the present. Is there one moment you wish you could do over?
Hmm, maybe not a particular moment, but on various training runs when the going got tough and I allowed myself to let off the gas a bit. But let's think of things other than running.
Dinner at the French Laundry! I'd love to do that 5 hour moment over again and again -- not that I'd do anything different!
Haha, I suppose this is supposed to be about things that we would do differently...
I wish we'd left our hotel in Munich earlier in the morning one day so we would have had time to go see Eagle's Nest, one of Hitler's headquarters.
I wish I'd taken the time to go home over the summer to see my grandpa after his stroke, I can't wait to be home in 12 days to see him.
I regret not taking a phone charger and some "cash money" to Oktoberfest in Germany since those things would have made life much easier.
I regret taking this very trip to Philadelphia. Our settlement conference busted and now I'm stuck here for who knows how long due to the horrible weather in Dallas. I had a million things I wanted to do at home to get ready for the holidays, and most of all, I want to be with my sweet husband who has been working crazy hours lately and is off all day today -- while instead I sit in an airport on standby with tons of other people in the same boat.
But overall, no real regrets this year or particular moments I'd do differently. I suppose that's good!
Day 4 – 20/20
Hindsight is the one thing we never benefit from in the present. Is there one moment you wish you could do over?
Hmm, maybe not a particular moment, but on various training runs when the going got tough and I allowed myself to let off the gas a bit. But let's think of things other than running.
Dinner at the French Laundry! I'd love to do that 5 hour moment over again and again -- not that I'd do anything different!
Haha, I suppose this is supposed to be about things that we would do differently...
I wish we'd left our hotel in Munich earlier in the morning one day so we would have had time to go see Eagle's Nest, one of Hitler's headquarters.
I wish I'd taken the time to go home over the summer to see my grandpa after his stroke, I can't wait to be home in 12 days to see him.
I regret not taking a phone charger and some "cash money" to Oktoberfest in Germany since those things would have made life much easier.
I regret taking this very trip to Philadelphia. Our settlement conference busted and now I'm stuck here for who knows how long due to the horrible weather in Dallas. I had a million things I wanted to do at home to get ready for the holidays, and most of all, I want to be with my sweet husband who has been working crazy hours lately and is off all day today -- while instead I sit in an airport on standby with tons of other people in the same boat.
But overall, no real regrets this year or particular moments I'd do differently. I suppose that's good!
Friday, December 6, 2013
#Reverb13, Day 3: Brave
Throughout the month of December, I’ll be participating in #reverb13: Reverb is a way to reflect on the past year and project into the next year with a prompt a day for 31 days.
Day 3 – Brave:
What was the bravest thing you did in 2013?
Is it weird that nothing comes to mind? I can think of a few things at work -- walking away from a decent deal in the hopes that I'd be able to get a better deal.
In some ways I guess convincing my husband to spend $5k or whatever to base our entire fall vacation around my marathon was kind of brave. At one point before he bought plane tickets, he had to confirm with point-blank that we would be taking this trip even if I broke my leg a month before we left, or a week before we left. We'd have to go even if I couldn't run. But obviously the marathon was the primary purpose for the itinerary we chose. That's staking a lot on something months in the future, but such is life and it worked out well.
Sorry my answer to this one is so lame!
Day 3 – Brave:
What was the bravest thing you did in 2013?
Is it weird that nothing comes to mind? I can think of a few things at work -- walking away from a decent deal in the hopes that I'd be able to get a better deal.
In some ways I guess convincing my husband to spend $5k or whatever to base our entire fall vacation around my marathon was kind of brave. At one point before he bought plane tickets, he had to confirm with point-blank that we would be taking this trip even if I broke my leg a month before we left, or a week before we left. We'd have to go even if I couldn't run. But obviously the marathon was the primary purpose for the itinerary we chose. That's staking a lot on something months in the future, but such is life and it worked out well.
Sorry my answer to this one is so lame!
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