2013 Resolutions

According to Wiki: A New Year's resolution is a commitment that a person makes to one or more personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. A key element to a New Year's resolution that sets it apart from other resolutions is that it is made in anticipation of the New Year and new beginnings. People committing themselves to a New Year's resolution generally plan to do so for the whole following year. This lifestyle change is generally interpreted as advantageous. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_resolution

So here goes: that moment of truth when I actually write down my goals for the year, making them: official and myself: accountable. In the past, I have resolved to change a habit or complete a project but this year, by committing to some personal goals, I have a feeling changing habits and completing projects will be a byproduct anyway.

Rather than making nutritional resolutions, (I will not eat cookies for breakfast for a year...) I am focusing on increasing and improving my running and hope by doing so, I will also improve and increase my nutrition. At first, my New Year's resolution was going to be: run 15 miles a week for the year. But I was told because there was no building or increasing of mileage, it wasn't a challenging goal. (After not running for almost 3 full weeks, it sounded like a challenging goal to me!) So - I plan on starting at 15 miles a week and increasing every quarter from there. I set a weekly mileage goal (versus daily) because I wanted the flexibility to run short some days and long others, and take a day off here or there. I also want to  run some races throughout the year. I realize while marathon training, I will likely run more than my weekly goal but I want to treat those weekly mileage markers as minimums. I will also continue to teach 5-7 classes a week so will have to plan my runs accordingly.

Weekly Mileage Goals:                                                      Race Goals:
Jan - 15 miles                                                                    Complete 1 marathon
Feb - 15 miles                                                                   Complete 2 half marathons
Mar - 15 miles
Apr - 20 miles
May - 20 miles
Jun - 20 miles
Jul - 24 miles
Aug - 24 miles
Sep - 24 miles

Oct - 28 miles
Nov - 28 miles
Dec - 28 miles


So fitness goals are set. Faith goals are a little harder...

I want to grow my faith, do more for others, and feel more connected to my church and community this year. I plan to satisfy these goals by:

1. volunteering at least 8 hours a month (ideally more but I need to start with a do-able, measure-able goal)
2. participating in our next women's bible study in a duel capacity: take care of the babies and children of the women who attend the daytime study, and then attend the evening study myself

Hmmm. Reading this over, I am a little intimidated. It sounds like a lot. But really, if I look at each as a daily commitment, we are talking an hour or two at most. I can do this!

Are you committing to any New Year's resolutions?

Blog make-over and some introspection

A new look for the new year? Yes!! Thanks Sam -- you're awesome!

I hope you like the cleaner, less generic look. And who knows, you may see a few more changes and tweaks in the next couple weeks...

As the year winds to a close, I can't help but look in - what and who has touched or changed me over the last year? What and who have I touched or changed over the last year? Is the mark I am leaving the one I mean to leave? I have to remind myself: it's never too late to be who we might have been.

Every year, I tend to make New Year's resolutions revolving around health and/or fitness. I can wrap my head around them, measure them, and plan for them: and I will be doing that again this year. But I will be making less measurable, less tangible goals as well. I want to grow my faith, I want to do more for others, and I want to feel more connected to my church and my community. Just as I make and follow a meal plan and a workout schedule, I will need to come up with specific strategies to accomplish these goals as well.

Some people poo-poo the New Year's Resolution Revolution. We all know those who have grand plans only to give up or give in by mid-February. But I love the idea of starting over. My oldest is super goal oriented. She resolved to run every single day for a year. As a mom, I wasn't always a fan of this endeavor: all the days she gave up sleep to run because her life is so busy, continuing to run while she had both pneumonia and bronchitis - 2 separate times! - and the worst: being hospitalized overnight from a severe allergic reaction only to be relieved she had just completed her run before being whisked away in the ambulance and then being released the next day in time to get in that day's run before midnight. A year later, I am in awe. We can shake our heads and say it's crazy, but she did it. No excuses: not time, weather, sickness, or anything else. I hope to have that same commitment; not to run every day, but to make a promise to myself and follow through with it, to think it important enough to make some sacrifices and feel uncomfortable when necessary, to stick with it through the head-shaking of others.

So today I will be deciding on my New Year's resolutions, and coming up with specific plans and strategies to make them happen. How about you?