Revision of 2012 Goals and a Hodge Podge

First thing... my husband has mentioned that I've been on the computer a lot lately.  My response was, "Umm... hello.  I'm blogging.  I'm getting famous and kind of a big deal.  You know, I have 17 followers.  My blog is quite popular in Russia and Malaysia (thanks to the stats option on blogger that tells me this).  Before you know it, people are going to start asking for my autograph."  He gave me one of THOSE looks... you know the 'you are crazy' looks.  Whatevs.

Speaking of my followers--if you are reading this and haven't hit that 'join this site' button over on the right, what are you waiting for?!?!  It'll make me feel better about myself if you subscribe so you should do it : )

Second thing... Resolutions get a bad rap.  As you read here, I made the goal to run more when I joined dailymile on January 2nd... and then made more goals once I knew what I could accomplish.    If resolutions motivate others to do better, be better, and work on different areas of their life, then it is a success.  If only a small percentage of people stick to their resolutions, so be it!

Third... I've always wanted to do a running streak, but in the back of my mind I know my shins can't handle it.  Over on Mom vs. Marathon she talks about the same thing (glad I'm not the only one!).  She decided she is going to streak... but on her own terms.  What a good idea... so good, I'm going to do it too!  I'm 4 days into my streak:

• Day 1--Ran 3.1 miles
• Day 2--Ran 3.5 miles
• Day 3--Walked 2.6 (incline 4.0-7.0) and 30 of stretching and strength training
• Day 4--Ran 4.05 miles

I'm feeling great and hope to continue my streak!

Lastly, I've been thinking about my 2012 goals I published a few days ago and realized I left some things off my list that deserved to be acknowledged (in red).
Goals:

• Sub-30 minutes for 5k races (for the realistic and attainable races)
• Average a sub-10 min/mile for all races 4 miles and below
• Run under a 2:15 for the half marathon distance
• Sub-28:00 for a 5k
• Sub-60:00 for a 10k
• Run at least 4 half marathons this year
• Run at least 1,010 (beat my 2011 record) but hope to run 1,200 miles.
• Become a half fanatic
• Incorporate strength training once a week
• Only eat 1 donut a month... at the end of the month (only if I deserve it)
• When baking cupcakes, limit my cupcake consumption to 2... maybe 3 : )
• When making coffee, I'd like to lower my creamer consumption from 4 to 3
• By the end of the year, I'd like to have built a comfortable savings
• Blog more consistently, but not jeopardizing family time

I know I'm not going to be perfect with my goals for 2012, but I'm going to continued to work at achieving them all year.

Do we have any similar goals?  What would you like to accomplish in 2012?

One Year Anniversary

Yesterday I celebrated a very important anniversary… I have been using dailymile for one year. 

At the time, I needed to do something to lose the last 15 stubborn pounds.  I signed up on dailymile on January 2^nd, 2011 and frankly… it changed my life.  I was a runner before joining DM, but I did not run consistently… I only ran when I had time and IF I felt like it.  My goal was to make this part of my lifestyle.

When I started using dailymile, I was immediately in awe over how awesome it was.  DM is very similar to facebook, but it is geared towards athletes.  One major difference between the two… you can add complete strangers on DM and its fine, but it’s something I would not do on FB (just my opinion).  I have over 220 friends on DM (which is way more than I have on FB).  Some of them live in the Vegas area, but most are located across the country… even around the world!  It’s so great to have support from people who don’t think I’m crazy for running.  I have met and established friendships with many of my DM friends in real life.  I would have ever imagined that social media and my passion for running would help me meet new people online and then eventually in person.  How times have changed!

In the first month, I made it my goal to run 1,000 in 2011.  I had faith in my fitness that I could do this.  I knew I could run 100 miles in one month after seeing how close I was to 100 miles in January.  That became my new goal… which I was finally able to achieve in March.  Woo hoo! 

**On a side note, I managed to lose 12 pounds in my first month of using dailymile.  I was focused on my running and nutrition. 

Then the infamous San Francisco ½ Marathon on July 31^st happened.  I injured my left shin.  I had to take 8-10 weeks off from running… that was HELL.  I managed to gain 10+ pounds.  I was still eating like I was running 20-30 miles a week.  This injury completely devastated me. 

I eased back into running at the end of October and managed to still hit my goal of 1,000 miles by the end of the year!

 

I am thankful to have found this website.  I have met (in person and online) so many people that support and inspire me every day.  It changed my life.

Thank goodness!

I didn't plan on doing a blog post about today's run, but it felt SO GOOD and I felt it deserved its' own post.  As some of you know, I have been struggling with pain in my right shin.  I wore my old Adrenaline 11's rather than my new Adrenaline 12's on the past few runs.   

I wore my compression socks with my 11's (which is not out of the ordinary)... but I decided to pop a couple of ibuprofens a couple of hours before my intended run.  I focused on my stride and slowed down my pace.  I'm sure all of this helped make my run [almost] pain-free. 

My son joined me again... this time I remembered to take a picture!

After finishing our 3.5 mile adventure

Final Stats:

3.5 miles = 35:46 minutes (10:13 min/mile average)

Is it weird that my Adrenaline 11's that have over 400 miles feel so much better than my Adrenaline 12's that have less than 150 miles on them?  I'm pretty confident that my Adrenaline 12's are causing the shin pain that I have been experiencing for some time now.  I won't be picking up new shoes until after the LVTC Championship Series 10k because... Red Rock Running Company is offering to match participants entry fee with a gift voucher for a pair of shoes at their store!  Super awesome!

I've got another blog post in the works... a very important anniversary is today and deserves to be discussed.  Time to finish watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills!

New Years Virtual 5k

Today I participated in a New Years Virtual 5k hosted by Kiley over at Daily Vitamin F.  I enjoy participating in virtual races just as much as "on location" (is that what you call it?) because: a) they are free and b) I can do it when I want (well, kind of).  I am a new follower of Kiley's blog and luckily I saw she was hosting this race earlier this week. 

When my husband and the little kids headed to church, my older son and I decided to head out for our 3.1 mile run.  My son wanted to ride his new electric scooter while I ran.  Before we set out for our adventure, my stomach was hurting.  I finally figured out why... I only ate a cup of puppy chow (aka muddy buddy) and 1/2 of a banana since I woke up at 8am (it was 12:30pm went we heading out the door).  I ate another banana to try to calm down the stomach.

I decided to wear my old Adrenaline 11's to see if it would help alleviate the pain in my right shin.

Man, I look sleepy still!

We were off on our adventure.  Secretly, I was hoping to run a sub-30 minutes for this 5k today.  I decided to take a different running route today... one I haven't taken in almost a year.  See with me... once I find a route I like, I stick to it.... for every single run.  For months.  It was so beautiful today.  Another t-shirt and shorts kind of run.  LOVE IT! 

At the half way point (1.55 miles), I decided to stop and take this picture.

Why you ask?  Because these feet and legs have been put through a lot this year... They have moved over 1,000 miles in 2011.  They deserve recognition for being able to make it through so many miles!

We went back on our running adventure and I was pushing for that sub-30.  Did I make it?

Ugh!  So freakin' close!  Maybe next time....

Race Schedule & Goals for 2012

Race Schedule:

I've spent most of today thinking about what races I want to run this year.  I compiled a list of races I have on my radar.  I highly doubt I will be able to run all of these races, but here's to trying!

1. New Year’s Virtual 5k Race (1/1/12)
2. LVTC Ryan the Terrible’s 4.4M Birthday Run (1/7/12)
3. LVTC Championship Series 10k (1/14/12)
4. Freeze Your Thorns Off 5k Virtual Race (1/28/12)
5. Mardi Gras 10k (2/11/12)
6. For the Love of the Kids Virtual Run ½ Marathon (2/14/12)
7. The Color Run (2/25/12)
8. Six Tunnels to Hoover Dam 5k (3/17/12)
9. Guns ‘n Hoses ½ marathon (4/22/12)
10. LVTC Celebrate Education/National Run a Mile 5k/IM (4/28/12)
11. LVTC Mother’s Day Run (5/12/12)
12. Wet ‘n Wild 5k & Kids Run (6/16/12)
13. Running with the Devil 5k (6/23/12)
14. LVTC Christmas in July (7/28/12)
15. LVTC Legends of Cross Country (8/4/12)
16. Minnesota ½ Marathon (8/4/12) or Gopher to Badger ½ Marathon (8/13/12)
17. Disneyland ½ Marathon (9/2/12)
18. Manhattan Beach 10k (10/6/12)
19. Vegas Ragnar Relay (10/20?)
20. Really Big Free ½ Marathon (11/3/12)
21. LVTC Predict Your Time, Win a Turkey 5k (11/10/12)
22. LVTC Run the Turkey Off (11/24/12)

Goals:

• Sub-30 minutes for 5k races (for the realistic and attainable races)
• Average a sub-10 min/mile for all races 4 miles and below
• Run under a 2:15 for the half marathon distance
• Sub-28:00 for a 5k
• Sub-60:00 for a 10k
• Run at least 4 half marathons this year
• Run at least 1,010 (beat my 2011 record) but hope to run 1,200 miles.

It's as simple and difficult as that : )

I'd like to know what races you have on your 2012 calendar.  Post a comment and/or leave a link to your blog post below.

Christmas...

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know.  Christmas was a week ago and I'm SUPER late on this post.  Oh well.  Life goes on : )

I must have been especially good this year!  I got some AMAZING running gifts this year.  First up...

Jill from Run with Jill hosted a blogger gift exchange.  It was a Secret Santa kind of thing... I thought it was a great idea and decided to participate.  I got paired up with Michelle from Runn Princess Runn.  I perused through her blog and quickly noted that she LOVED Lululemon.  Easy... I ordered her a giftcard and she received it with a couple of days.  She sent me a message and said she was SO EXCITED when she saw it! 

I checked my mail everyday waiting for my Secret Santa gift to arrive.  Anyone who knows me knows I do not this.  I'm lucky if I check my mail twice a week.  Nothing exciting ever arrives... except bills.  A week went by... no gift.  I was starting to think I wasn't going to get a gift... until the door bell rang one afternoon.  I was napping (hey... it is Winter Break from school... and I need my nap!).  I thought about just ignoring it, but I decided to go downstairs and check the door.  Luckily I did.  The mailman left me one of those notes stating I missed my delivery and would need to go to the post office to pick it up!  Even luckier is the mailman was still in his vehicle in front of my house!  I picked the package and realized it was my Secret Santa gift.  So excited!  I quickly realized why it seemed like it took forever to arrive... because it came all the way from SOUTH AFRICA!!  No joke.  How awesome is that?!?!

She made me a notepad with a cupcake and my name on it!  It is SO AWESOME!!  I don't know how she did it or how she made it look so cool.... but I love it.

Next up... my awesome buddies, Kaplan and E-Rod, and I decided to exchange Christmas gifts this year.  E-Rod got me a new 7-quart slow cooker because she knew my last one took a dump. 

Ignore the dirty countertop

Kaplan heard through the grapevine that I wanted a Team Sparkle Running Skirt:

I've been eyeballing a Team Sparkle Running Skirt for a few months now and I finally got one!  Can't wait to break it in in 2012!

My dad surprised me with my first wireless (bluetooth-capable) headphones. 

Motorola SD-10

I wore them twice... and wouldn't turn on again.  I returned them to Best Buy with hopes of finding a different brand... but no such luck.  I decided to get the headphones below (found on Amazon).  They have AMAZING reviews (which is something I always look at):

Last, but certainly not least, my husband and kiddos bought me something I've been wanting for several years.... A Kitchenaid stand up mixer!!!

No more 1970's rusty hand mixer... hello 2012 Kitchenaid stand up mixer!  Score!

I hope the holidays were fantastic for everyone!

Best of 2011

I've been thinking about writing a 2011 review of running, but hadn't figured out how I wanted to actually write it.  Miss Zippy did a great post so I thought I'd do the same too... so here it goes:

• Best race experience? I've got two... (1) It would have to be the San Diego Rock 'n Roll 1/2 Marathon back in June.  I managed to PR by 20 minutes!  (2) Even though the Las Vegas RnR 1/2 marathon was not my best performance, watching my dad achieve a major PR was awesome!  We really push each other to be the best we can be.
• Best run? I can't choose just one.... (1) I had the opportunity to run with my dad many times this summer when we traveled back to Minnesota/Wisconsin.  He is the best running partner I could ever ask for!  (2) Last week, I managed to maintain a sub-10 pace for each mile in my 6 mile run.  This is the longest run I've been able to sub-10.  I never thought I'd be able to do sub-10 for even a mile... but I did!
• Best new piece of gear? My Garmin 305 that I received as my Mother's Day/Birthday gift from my husband and kiddos, as well as, my CEP Compression Socks I got as a birthday gift from my mom.  I cannot choose just one because both serve two very important purposes.
• Most inspirational runner? I really enjoyed reading Marshall Ulrich's book this year.  His story is amazing, so I nominate him as most inspirational runner.
• If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be? Life changing : )