Another year lies ahead and I need to have some plans, goals and resolutions to hopefully make it a productive, happy, healthy and successful year.
I've pondered about a billion options. Some of my ideas:
Flossing?
Medical power of attorney and living wills and wills for both of us?
Try eating at a dozen new-to-me Dallas restaurants? We don’t eat out tons any more, and I tend to default to old favorites, but I should branch out more.
Running all of the best races (aka my faves) in Dallas?
Some kind of professional development resolution could work. Arguing before a court of appeals (even less likely in my current job than it was in my prior jobs), being the point person on a new project or different level, whatever.
Financial ones are always good. Paying off debt, increasing savings, increasing yield, reducing costs, diversifying, making more of an effort to make moral investments (choosing companies I believe in) whatever.
Reading more fiction? I read tons of non-fiction but am thinking about making an effort to read some good fiction next year.
Cutting out or down caffeine?
Eating vegan X days per week? I'm thinking of starting with 1.
Spending X hours per week or month doing charity work? More time spend helping those in need. Charity time, not just money.
Learning or practicing a previously learned foreign language?
Working out with heavier weights?
PR goals are always good too. Marathon PR in 2012 is unlikely, but I may work on 4m, 5m, 10k, 15k.
Working out with heavier weights?
Taking the stairs whenever available?
Weekly phone calls specifically to nieces/nephew?
Weekly phone calls to faraway friends?
Incorporate more glitter into my life. Literally. Glitter. That stuff was so awesome when I was little, why don't I play with it every day now? Or at least every week.
Something on the spiritual side? Prayer, bible, going to church, whatever. I’ve been doing a lot of yoga recently, but maybe something more substantive.
Thorough evaluation of our insurance needs? Life, disability, but also renters/homeowners with property inventory, valuation and all.
Decluttering and organizing is always good, would have to quantify this somehow.
Try a new sport or a new organized team sport?
Meeting more neighbors?
Something for the environment or greater good like starting some kind of recycling program at home or work?
Committing to mentoring, even just email mentoring (there's a program for that here) someone in high school, college, or even law school (less mentoring, more talking about what you do, diff options, etc.)?
Donating blood?
Hmm, what about something relating to email in-box contents? Like having it down to 1 screen at one point during the month? Mine sometimes is out of control w/ messages that need attention and it's nice to get it to a manageable level on a regular basis.
That's just proof that I'm taking this seriously. Hence no list of resolutions quite yet. Soon.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
2011 Resolutions Review
It's that time of year, time to look back and see what we did or did not get done in 2011, and to make plans for 2012.
Here's a link to my original resolutions, with some description of each and some explanation of why I chose it, or what it meant to me.
1. Italian at home (evenings on the second floor (where the kitchen and living room are)).
Result: Big resolution failure. We did well through about February, but I had a job interview and then an offer, and hubby and I had lots to discuss about those big life changes. So marital communication took priority over Italian practice. But there's really no good excuse for why we never picked it back up. Maybe I was just lazy. Maybe I'm frustrated that my husband speaks so much better than I do -- and it's hard for me to be taught by him. The good aspects of this resolution though were that all year we continued to attend an Italian conversation class (the class where we actually met), so at least I spent 1.5 hours speaking or listening to Italian most weeks. And when hubby is watching the news at home, he frequently watches RAI, so maybe it's seeping into my consciousness a bit? When we were in Italy, I'd say our communication level was average. It's always tough though, no matter how much we study, because most of his family speaks dialect, which is frustrating.
2. Follow at least one ambitious marathon training program to the best of my ability (with this eventually leading to a marathon PR in 2011, either in the spring or the fall or both).
Result: Success! I trained very hard last spring and ended up with a PR in Boston by a few minutes -- fast enough to requalify to run Boston next year, which was nice, though I don't plan on running it again anytime soon. I did not train as hard for my fall marathon (San Antonio) and in some ways, it showed in my results. But I'm torn, because I think the horrible weather would have doomed me even if I'd had the best training of my life, so maybe it's best that I didn't waste the effort? Hard to say.
3. Log at least 1400 miles of running.
Result: Success! And I'm actually over 1700 miles! That's a big increase for me. 2009 = 1284 miles. 2010 = 1400 miles (just over). 2011 = 1700 miles and change. Wow.
4. Attain a new 5k PR.
Result: Failure. Getting the soleus injury in August kind of derailed my plans, but it's hard to lay the blame there completely. It's very hard to train for distance and speed at the same time, and my 5k PR is already near the top of my ability I think, so this was an ambitious goal, though technically, I only want to break it by 2 seconds. This resolution may reappear on my 2012 resolutions list, though possibly in a modified form.
5. Entertaining at home -- similar resolution to last year's in terms of quantity, goal is to host several people we did not host last year.
Result: Success! We had several dinner parties, one brunch party (actually, that was just my party, hubby was working), and then several nights where we cooked for just another couple. I think I broke bread with at least 24 different people in our home in 2011 (not counting book club) for formal meals. That's awesome and I love it. I may make this a resolution for the third year in a row now.
6. Flossing five days per week.
Result: Failure. Just didn't happen. I think I flossed more than usual, but I wasn't close to five days per week. My dentist will no doubt be very disappointed in me.
7. Operation: Fit-Closet (moving toward having everything in my closet fit me and be things I wear).
Result: Partial success. I got about 10 skirts altered, and I picked out 10 pairs of pants and 1 dress that I'd like to have done, but instead of doing them, I gained some weight in Italy and haven't lost it yet. And I don't want to have them altered until I do. But my closet organization is pretty good, I did well at varying my outfits at work, and I wear most of what is in my closet. But I need to purge as I have so much more than I need.
8. Book Research.
Result: Failure. I guess I made some progress in 2011, but there the research process can be never-ending, and I've devoted less time to research given work, yoga, and all the other things that I spent time doing this year. The big step in 2011 was probably when I changed jobs I got the research a bit more organized, rearranging emails and setting up folders, etc.
So there you have it, my 8 published resolutions reviewed. A mixed bag. But I had some unpublished ones that even out the score a little -- particularly the job change and some financial ones. So I'd say it was a 50/50 year. No complaints here! I think I'm ending the year marginally healthier and happier than I started it, so that's a good year in my book.
It will probably take a few more days to come up with my 2012 list, but I'm giving it some thought. I love resolutions, so I don't want to take them lightly.
Here's a link to my original resolutions, with some description of each and some explanation of why I chose it, or what it meant to me.
1. Italian at home (evenings on the second floor (where the kitchen and living room are)).
Result: Big resolution failure. We did well through about February, but I had a job interview and then an offer, and hubby and I had lots to discuss about those big life changes. So marital communication took priority over Italian practice. But there's really no good excuse for why we never picked it back up. Maybe I was just lazy. Maybe I'm frustrated that my husband speaks so much better than I do -- and it's hard for me to be taught by him. The good aspects of this resolution though were that all year we continued to attend an Italian conversation class (the class where we actually met), so at least I spent 1.5 hours speaking or listening to Italian most weeks. And when hubby is watching the news at home, he frequently watches RAI, so maybe it's seeping into my consciousness a bit? When we were in Italy, I'd say our communication level was average. It's always tough though, no matter how much we study, because most of his family speaks dialect, which is frustrating.
2. Follow at least one ambitious marathon training program to the best of my ability (with this eventually leading to a marathon PR in 2011, either in the spring or the fall or both).
Result: Success! I trained very hard last spring and ended up with a PR in Boston by a few minutes -- fast enough to requalify to run Boston next year, which was nice, though I don't plan on running it again anytime soon. I did not train as hard for my fall marathon (San Antonio) and in some ways, it showed in my results. But I'm torn, because I think the horrible weather would have doomed me even if I'd had the best training of my life, so maybe it's best that I didn't waste the effort? Hard to say.
3. Log at least 1400 miles of running.
Result: Success! And I'm actually over 1700 miles! That's a big increase for me. 2009 = 1284 miles. 2010 = 1400 miles (just over). 2011 = 1700 miles and change. Wow.
4. Attain a new 5k PR.
Result: Failure. Getting the soleus injury in August kind of derailed my plans, but it's hard to lay the blame there completely. It's very hard to train for distance and speed at the same time, and my 5k PR is already near the top of my ability I think, so this was an ambitious goal, though technically, I only want to break it by 2 seconds. This resolution may reappear on my 2012 resolutions list, though possibly in a modified form.
5. Entertaining at home -- similar resolution to last year's in terms of quantity, goal is to host several people we did not host last year.
Result: Success! We had several dinner parties, one brunch party (actually, that was just my party, hubby was working), and then several nights where we cooked for just another couple. I think I broke bread with at least 24 different people in our home in 2011 (not counting book club) for formal meals. That's awesome and I love it. I may make this a resolution for the third year in a row now.
6. Flossing five days per week.
Result: Failure. Just didn't happen. I think I flossed more than usual, but I wasn't close to five days per week. My dentist will no doubt be very disappointed in me.
7. Operation: Fit-Closet (moving toward having everything in my closet fit me and be things I wear).
Result: Partial success. I got about 10 skirts altered, and I picked out 10 pairs of pants and 1 dress that I'd like to have done, but instead of doing them, I gained some weight in Italy and haven't lost it yet. And I don't want to have them altered until I do. But my closet organization is pretty good, I did well at varying my outfits at work, and I wear most of what is in my closet. But I need to purge as I have so much more than I need.
8. Book Research.
Result: Failure. I guess I made some progress in 2011, but there the research process can be never-ending, and I've devoted less time to research given work, yoga, and all the other things that I spent time doing this year. The big step in 2011 was probably when I changed jobs I got the research a bit more organized, rearranging emails and setting up folders, etc.
So there you have it, my 8 published resolutions reviewed. A mixed bag. But I had some unpublished ones that even out the score a little -- particularly the job change and some financial ones. So I'd say it was a 50/50 year. No complaints here! I think I'm ending the year marginally healthier and happier than I started it, so that's a good year in my book.
It will probably take a few more days to come up with my 2012 list, but I'm giving it some thought. I love resolutions, so I don't want to take them lightly.
Friday, December 30, 2011
The Problem with Evening Workouts
I mentioned that I started up another month of yoga on Wednesday night. And when I thought about it, I was thinking that I might be able to go for 3 weeks every single day. That's a huge commitment, but when I did my last month of yoga, I had a commitment on Thursday nights (and something else Thursday mornings (running) and during the day (work)) so I had to miss one day per week. But my Thursday night commitment won't begin this year until Jan. 19.
I was psyched to go to class last night at 6:30.
I'd been having computer problems at work. The IT had told me last week that he needed an hour or so to fix it, so I said, sure, Tues or Wed of this past week. He never came to my office on Tuesday. So I emailed Wed. and he basically said "tomorrow."
Then yesterday he said it was going to take too long and it would be next week. Well, I've been very frustrated not to have this particular program working on my computer, so I asked if I could start the process myself and then he could fix it in less time.
He basically said I had to remove all these programs and then reinstall them. So at 3:30 or so yesterday, I started doing that. I had to reboot after each program was removed. It took a while. At 4:20, all the programs were off and he'd said to reinstall.
He didn't say from where, and of course he'd left for the day.
Lovely.
Eventually, using someone else's computer, I was told to download from microsoft.com. Well, after downloading 2 of the 4 replacements, I ran into problems that stopped the process in its tracks (something about needing to turn on or off windows features, but of course it didn't tell me whether they should be ON or OFF, which would be useful).
As the hours crept by, I changed into yoga clothes in my office, knowing I needed to be out the door by about 6:10 to make it to the 6:30 class.
At 6:00, I realized the computer wasn't going to be fixed (the IT guy kept emailing to my co-worker's email, but wouldn't pick up the phone to call me, so she had to keep bringing me his non-sensical messages). I started to shut down my computer to go to yoga.
Installing update 1 of 6. Do not power off or unplug computer.
And of course, I needed to do exactly that since it was Thursday and I work from home on Fridays.
And then the IT guy called when it was on update 4 of 6. And it at that point was already after 6:15.
Finally the updates ended, the IT guy said he'd try to talk me through it this morning, and I shoved my computer into my bag and bolted for yoga.
Fortunately not much traffic on the highway since so many people are off this week. I exited at 6:28, and figured I had about 4 more minutes to get there.
But there was an accident of course and the road was down from 3 lanes to 1. I parked and ran in at 6:38 and it was too late to join the class.
Argh! I wanted to yell, scream and cry in frustration -- can you tell I really needed that yoga class??!! I was so pissed. I'd wasted hours at work doing the IT guy's job for him, and then after all that, I'd missed the thing I wanted to do most that day.
Sure, I'd done my morning run and gotten in a workout, but since I have morning workout plans, and I can't leave work for 2 hours during the day, the only option for yoga is at night.
And as with any evening workout plan, it's far more easily derailed than a morning workout.
For probably 2 marathon training seasons, I ran at night. One season was almost all my weekday runs on a treadmill (which left me ill-prepared for the marathon), and the other season I at least ran outside, but it was in the evening. And I usually was able to make most of the runs, but there were some where other things got in the way -- getting caught at work, getting caught in traffic, having another commitment that seemed more important, etc.
In the morning, I just don't have that many excuses. No one else seems to want my time at 5 a.m. And if the weather is completely atrocious, there is always the option of trying to wait until the evening (though that's rare, I use a weather-related excuse to delay or cancel a workout maybe once a year on average).
When I count on doing some class in the evening, if I miss it for whatever reason, the chance to do it that day is completely gone. At least with running, if I'm a few minutes late, I can just run solo or something, but with a class, if I'm late, that's it. No more chances until tomorrow.
So my lovely yoga streak ends with a single day.
I will go today. I actually only have to work a half day, and I started very early (wanted to catch the IT guy before he got distracted), so I'm already almost done. My plan is to eat a nice big early lunch, then go see War Horse with hubby and our neighbors in the afternoon, and then I'll let my neighbors bring hubby home and I'll go straight to yoga after the movie (I'll just wear my yoga clothes underneath or have them with me).
I'll survive. Missing one day of course is no big deal. It just pissed me off. Especially since I risked life and limb trying to get there on time, and I felt like it was things out of my control that prevented me from making it.
If only I could do it all before work -- go to boot camp, go for a run, go for 90 minutes of yoga -- but that would hardly leave me in any condition to work all day, plus trying to do too much so close together would likely mean poor performance across the board.
Just venting today!
I was psyched to go to class last night at 6:30.
I'd been having computer problems at work. The IT had told me last week that he needed an hour or so to fix it, so I said, sure, Tues or Wed of this past week. He never came to my office on Tuesday. So I emailed Wed. and he basically said "tomorrow."
Then yesterday he said it was going to take too long and it would be next week. Well, I've been very frustrated not to have this particular program working on my computer, so I asked if I could start the process myself and then he could fix it in less time.
He basically said I had to remove all these programs and then reinstall them. So at 3:30 or so yesterday, I started doing that. I had to reboot after each program was removed. It took a while. At 4:20, all the programs were off and he'd said to reinstall.
He didn't say from where, and of course he'd left for the day.
Lovely.
Eventually, using someone else's computer, I was told to download from microsoft.com. Well, after downloading 2 of the 4 replacements, I ran into problems that stopped the process in its tracks (something about needing to turn on or off windows features, but of course it didn't tell me whether they should be ON or OFF, which would be useful).
As the hours crept by, I changed into yoga clothes in my office, knowing I needed to be out the door by about 6:10 to make it to the 6:30 class.
At 6:00, I realized the computer wasn't going to be fixed (the IT guy kept emailing to my co-worker's email, but wouldn't pick up the phone to call me, so she had to keep bringing me his non-sensical messages). I started to shut down my computer to go to yoga.
Installing update 1 of 6. Do not power off or unplug computer.
And of course, I needed to do exactly that since it was Thursday and I work from home on Fridays.
And then the IT guy called when it was on update 4 of 6. And it at that point was already after 6:15.
Finally the updates ended, the IT guy said he'd try to talk me through it this morning, and I shoved my computer into my bag and bolted for yoga.
Fortunately not much traffic on the highway since so many people are off this week. I exited at 6:28, and figured I had about 4 more minutes to get there.
But there was an accident of course and the road was down from 3 lanes to 1. I parked and ran in at 6:38 and it was too late to join the class.
Argh! I wanted to yell, scream and cry in frustration -- can you tell I really needed that yoga class??!! I was so pissed. I'd wasted hours at work doing the IT guy's job for him, and then after all that, I'd missed the thing I wanted to do most that day.
Sure, I'd done my morning run and gotten in a workout, but since I have morning workout plans, and I can't leave work for 2 hours during the day, the only option for yoga is at night.
And as with any evening workout plan, it's far more easily derailed than a morning workout.
For probably 2 marathon training seasons, I ran at night. One season was almost all my weekday runs on a treadmill (which left me ill-prepared for the marathon), and the other season I at least ran outside, but it was in the evening. And I usually was able to make most of the runs, but there were some where other things got in the way -- getting caught at work, getting caught in traffic, having another commitment that seemed more important, etc.
In the morning, I just don't have that many excuses. No one else seems to want my time at 5 a.m. And if the weather is completely atrocious, there is always the option of trying to wait until the evening (though that's rare, I use a weather-related excuse to delay or cancel a workout maybe once a year on average).
When I count on doing some class in the evening, if I miss it for whatever reason, the chance to do it that day is completely gone. At least with running, if I'm a few minutes late, I can just run solo or something, but with a class, if I'm late, that's it. No more chances until tomorrow.
So my lovely yoga streak ends with a single day.
I will go today. I actually only have to work a half day, and I started very early (wanted to catch the IT guy before he got distracted), so I'm already almost done. My plan is to eat a nice big early lunch, then go see War Horse with hubby and our neighbors in the afternoon, and then I'll let my neighbors bring hubby home and I'll go straight to yoga after the movie (I'll just wear my yoga clothes underneath or have them with me).
I'll survive. Missing one day of course is no big deal. It just pissed me off. Especially since I risked life and limb trying to get there on time, and I felt like it was things out of my control that prevented me from making it.
If only I could do it all before work -- go to boot camp, go for a run, go for 90 minutes of yoga -- but that would hardly leave me in any condition to work all day, plus trying to do too much so close together would likely mean poor performance across the board.
Just venting today!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Feeling Like I'm 90
My body is hurting right now, but I'm trying to tell myself it's in a good way.
Last week Sunday, I did my longest weighted run so far -- 3.1 miles, and then I followed it up with a couple more miles of walk/run. My total distance was 5.7 miles. Quite exciting.
Last week Monday, per usual, went to boot camp. It included about 1.5 miles of (unweighted) running. Average workout. Felt fine afterward.
Last week Tuesday, a run day as usual. I slept in a little because I was w/o running buddies that day. I went 3.5 miles total (weighted), and I tried doing run/walk intervals of 4 minutes running, 1 minute walking. I think there was one mile that was downhill so I skipped the walk interval and just ran the 9 minutes straight, but then took the next walk break.
Then last week Tuesday, we flew home in the early evening.
And there was pretty much no exercise the entire time I was home. I went for a walk one day with some of my family and the dog, but I think it was less than 2 miles and it wasn't a strenuous pace or anything (I walk here in Dallas with my next door neighbor all the time and she walks fast, so it's strenuous walking).
Flew home on Monday and on the plane, knowing I'd land around 4:30, I fully intended to see if my husband would join me for a long walk -- like 5 miles or something. But then I landed in Dallas and it was raining and I'd checked luggage and of course it took about 45 minutes to show up, then by the time we got home, it was wet and late enough that I had no interest in walking.
But Tuesday morning I tried to jump back into my routine. 2.5 weighted miles, running the whole time. I was winded. Felt out of shape.
Yesterday I went to boot camp in the morning and it was tough.
It was an indoor camp. We basically warmed up, then started a pyramid -- there were 6 exercises, 60 reps each, to do in 6 minutes (of course no one finished), then running 6 laps (not full size track laps, just mini-laps) in 3 minutes.
The 6 exercises were weighted shoulder press, weighted jump squats (or weighted calf raises for me, I don't like jumping with weights), weighted tricep extensions, weighed split squats, weighted push-up rows, and the "super cherry pickers" (like a burpee but with no push up and with a knee tuck on the jump).
After the first set of 60 reps of each in 6 mins, followed by 6 laps, we dropped the first exercise completely (so started with jump squats), dropped the reps down to 50 and the time to 5 mins, then 5 laps in 2:30. Then we dropped the prior first exercise (so started with triceps), dropped the reps to 40, time to 4 mins, laps to 4 in 2:00. You get the idea.
It was tough but not killer. Felt good.
Then last night I jumped back into another month of yoga. First class back in nearly a month! The heat felt somewhat overwhelming -- I thought I might pass out on about three separate occasions. But I felt like I managed pretty well.
This morning I did another weighted run, this time with hubby. We ran and walked about half a mile, then ran 4 miles, then ran and walked another half mile or so.
And now I feel like I can barely move. Boot camp and yoga have completely caught up with me and I have the delayed onset muscle soreness that I love and hate at the same time.
Typing and working is nice since I barely have to move at all.
It's crazy how out of shape my body seems to get after just 6 days with no activity. I can't imagine that's normal?
Either way, it's going to be a long road back to my routine where working out 6 or so days a week usually feels fine and I'm rarely excessively sore.
Hopefully the month of yoga will help again too!
Last week Sunday, I did my longest weighted run so far -- 3.1 miles, and then I followed it up with a couple more miles of walk/run. My total distance was 5.7 miles. Quite exciting.
Last week Monday, per usual, went to boot camp. It included about 1.5 miles of (unweighted) running. Average workout. Felt fine afterward.
Last week Tuesday, a run day as usual. I slept in a little because I was w/o running buddies that day. I went 3.5 miles total (weighted), and I tried doing run/walk intervals of 4 minutes running, 1 minute walking. I think there was one mile that was downhill so I skipped the walk interval and just ran the 9 minutes straight, but then took the next walk break.
Then last week Tuesday, we flew home in the early evening.
And there was pretty much no exercise the entire time I was home. I went for a walk one day with some of my family and the dog, but I think it was less than 2 miles and it wasn't a strenuous pace or anything (I walk here in Dallas with my next door neighbor all the time and she walks fast, so it's strenuous walking).
Flew home on Monday and on the plane, knowing I'd land around 4:30, I fully intended to see if my husband would join me for a long walk -- like 5 miles or something. But then I landed in Dallas and it was raining and I'd checked luggage and of course it took about 45 minutes to show up, then by the time we got home, it was wet and late enough that I had no interest in walking.
But Tuesday morning I tried to jump back into my routine. 2.5 weighted miles, running the whole time. I was winded. Felt out of shape.
Yesterday I went to boot camp in the morning and it was tough.
It was an indoor camp. We basically warmed up, then started a pyramid -- there were 6 exercises, 60 reps each, to do in 6 minutes (of course no one finished), then running 6 laps (not full size track laps, just mini-laps) in 3 minutes.
The 6 exercises were weighted shoulder press, weighted jump squats (or weighted calf raises for me, I don't like jumping with weights), weighted tricep extensions, weighed split squats, weighted push-up rows, and the "super cherry pickers" (like a burpee but with no push up and with a knee tuck on the jump).
After the first set of 60 reps of each in 6 mins, followed by 6 laps, we dropped the first exercise completely (so started with jump squats), dropped the reps down to 50 and the time to 5 mins, then 5 laps in 2:30. Then we dropped the prior first exercise (so started with triceps), dropped the reps to 40, time to 4 mins, laps to 4 in 2:00. You get the idea.
It was tough but not killer. Felt good.
Then last night I jumped back into another month of yoga. First class back in nearly a month! The heat felt somewhat overwhelming -- I thought I might pass out on about three separate occasions. But I felt like I managed pretty well.
This morning I did another weighted run, this time with hubby. We ran and walked about half a mile, then ran 4 miles, then ran and walked another half mile or so.
And now I feel like I can barely move. Boot camp and yoga have completely caught up with me and I have the delayed onset muscle soreness that I love and hate at the same time.
Typing and working is nice since I barely have to move at all.
It's crazy how out of shape my body seems to get after just 6 days with no activity. I can't imagine that's normal?
Either way, it's going to be a long road back to my routine where working out 6 or so days a week usually feels fine and I'm rarely excessively sore.
Hopefully the month of yoga will help again too!
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