Happy New Year! Holding Yourself Accountable to NEW Goals!

Happiest New Year! I hope you spent New Years Eve doing something that you enjoy with those that you love. I'm continuing on with my 10-day work streak and taught skiing yesterday and am on the mountain teaching again today! Fitting in my runs/strength training when you work so much is definitely challenging, but knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel always makes it worth it. Normally we spend our NYE trying to watch some of the Times Square coverage, eat a homemade delicious dinner & dessert, and in bed by 10pm (which is LATE for us!). 

With the New Year now upon us, it's time to start getting those new goals that you set in motion. I saw something the other day where someone not only posted four categories of goals, but also kept a tracker to keep them on track for their new goals! I think this is a GREAT idea and today is the perfect day to start brainstorming where you want to see yourself in the next year. 

First category of 2018 goals: Fitness

• This can include running-related goals, race-related goals, strength training, or new fitness classes you want to include!

Second category of 2018 goals: Hobbies

• This includes hobbies that you want to either create new items, learn new hobbies, or improve something you currently do. 

Third category of 2018 goals: Life

• This includes anything that will improve your life within the next year. It can be something small like de-cluttering your house or something big like a career change!

Fourth category of 2018 goals: Money

• This one includes both things that you want to purchase or save for or a trip that you really want to take!

Set realistic goals is key to setting yourself up for success.

If you aren't willing to set a realistic goal AND hold yourself accountable throughout the year, then it's probably not going to end up working out too well. I think it's a great idea to check-in on your goals once or twice a month and check-out your progress. How well are you doing meeting your goal? 

A general outline of what MY new goals are. I shared several of these goals already, but wanted to add in some that are new and some that are more hobby/spending-related. I always think more 'big picture', so while one of my ultimate running-goals is qualifying for the Boston Marathon I know that I need to shave-off more time before I get close to getting to a 3:30 marathon finish time, so this next year I'll work on shaving off 15 minutes off of my previous marathon PR. 

• Fitness goals:
  • Run a 3:40 marathon
  • Run a sub-1:50 half marathon
  • Add in Yoga weekly 
  • Raise $10,000 for MS Run The US
  • Run a 50k trail race
  • Check off 2 new states for races

• Hobby Goals:
  • Read 12 books this year
  • Learn how to crochet
  • Make 3 recipes from scratch
  • Begin to journal 3x a week

• Life Goals:
  • De-clutter and get rid of materialistic things (once a month)
    • only purchase needs- not wants
  • Do some soul-searching & take next steps for that career
  • Put together a fundraiser for MS Run The US by April 2018

• Money Goals:
  • Purchase my car
  • Pay off one student loan
  • Book & Explore 2 new National Parks

What are some things you adding to your life in 2018? 

What are some big GOALS that you have that you will start taking small steps towards this year?

How do you make New Years Resolutions? Do you love them or hate them?

10 Ways That Running Has Changed Me

Happy Thursday! We are only one day from the weekend again and getting so close to the end of 2017! I hope this year brought you many laughs, adventures, friends, opportunities to grow, and if not- there is always next year. I wanted to share with you 10 ways that running has influenced and made me a better person, in ways that I never thought it would. I thought this was a great end-of-the-year post because many people may be looking to add something new to their routine in 2018 or wanting to add more running/fitness goals into their life!

1. Running has given me opportunities to explore places I never thought I would visit.

2. Running has given me so much CONFIDENCE in every single facet of my life. 

3. Running has provided me with goals for each year and a reason to work-out (besides "wanting to be fit/in-shape")

4. Running has provided me with challenges and also the opportunity to overcome those challenges.

5. Running has given me patience. Getting better/coming back from injuries is TOUGH and it definitely is a work-in-progress.

6. Running has given me an outlet to laugh, smile, cry, overcome my anger, solve problems (or come to realization that they cannot be solved so easily), celebrate, and mourn.

7. Running has taught me so much about myself, things that I'm not sure I would have ever known without it. 

8. Running has given me the opportunity to join support groups and fight for causes that I am beyond passionate about. 

9. Running has given me an excuse to enjoy a donut (or two) after accomplishing something. 

10. Running has made me realize that I'm enough of myself and that I should never take it for granted.

What has running taught you?

What are your 2018 goals? Fitness or non-fitness related?

How have you improved from a hobby you enjoy doing?

Goals for 2018

Happy Humpday! It's time to start setting some concrete goals for 2018 and I finally feel ready to start wanting to run fast. It's funny when after a marathon, you feel hungry to chase another dream, but also not quite ready to start working hard again. This week, I've finally started to feel the need to run some tempo paces again and can't wait to hit some speed work again. I've had a rough idea of what I want my next goals to be, but I'm also a big fan of taking small steps to get to a larger goal. Last year, I set my goal to get under 4 hours in the marathon and under 2 hours in the half marathon (both I accomplished). This year, I'd like to smash some more goals to help me get to my bigger running pictures. 

Goals for the half-marathon in 2018:

• negative split the race- I'm not sure if I've ever negative split a half, but I really want a several minute negative split half. 
• get under 1:50- I think this is easily do-able, since the past two marathons I've hit 1:50 at the halfway mark
• check off another state- still trying to find a good one to do for this. Let me know if you have any recommendations!

Goals for the marathon in 2018:

• get under 3:40- I think this is definitely do-able since I felt a huge breakthrough on my last marathon race (both physically & mentally). I think I'll train for the SLC marathon for a 3:40 marathon, but know that I may not get under it until later in 2018. I like to set bigger goals and while not obtain them, get myself a bit closer to it (and crush another goal).
• stay mentally stable through the race- I stayed really mentally strong for the Vegas marathon and hope to carry this through my next year of training

Goals for staying physically fit in 2018:

• Yoga at least once a week- I am really determined to have this practice become a weekly habit to stay strong/injury free.
• Strength training at least 3 times a week- I think strength training will be an important part to help me reach my goals for 2018 and also stay injury free.
• Making nutrition a priority- I've always eaten healthy, however I think this is another key component to reaching my goals, staying strong, and injury free. Fueling my body. 

Other goals for 2018:

• Read 12 books
• Take the next-steps towards my next career-move
• Try a new fitness activity
• Travel to a new National Park
• Backpack to a new destination

What are your goals for 2018?

MY NEXT MARATHON!

I'm so excited about my next marathon! I did A LOT of research on Spring races and wanted a marathon to happy sometime in the month of April (giving me around a month before my MS Run The US Relay). I didn't want to travel too far, so the Salt Lake City Marathon seemed like the perfect option! I've been to SLC a few times and ran there once (it was really challenging)! The race also starts where the 2002 Olympic Village was, which is really special (I've always wanted to visit there)!

It also is happening on my birthday weekend, so what better way to celebrate my last few days as being 27 than running 26.2 miles! I may even run 1.8 miles further to celebrate turning 28 ; )

The marathon does look slightly challenging with some hills in the middle section of the race, but I'm planning to add many hill runs into my training plan (for my relay race) so those shouldn't be an issue. 

It also happens 1 month before the start of my relay, so the timing couldn't be better! 

I tried most of the weekend to pin down what my time goal for the race will be (I always like to put a bit larger goal for each race than what is my ultimate- i.e. training for a 3:50 marathon when I would be really happy to just hit sub-4 : ) ...), and I will be training for 3:45 marathon! Ultimately if I get anything under 3:50 I'd be ECSTATIC - I'll be doing another post next week talking about my goals for 2018 (including how this marathon pace will play into my overall goal time for next year). 

Photo from my last trip to SLC- there were so.many.hills (also amazing views)!

I still have a few more weeks of base building, hill training, and easy paces (along with a lot of strength training). The last week in December will kick off my first week of training (and following again the Hanson's Marathon Training Plan). 

I'm still trying to decide what my other races for 2018 will be. Researching potential races is really exciting though! I'd love to try to get another state or two checked off my list : )

Ever done the Salt Lake City Marathon? Any advice?!

What's your next race? Any fun races you have coming up in 2018?

Goals for the Rock 'n Roll Las Vegas Marathon

Here it is! Goals for my race on Sunday. 

Goal A. Have FUN

Goal B. Negative Split

Goal C. Get that Sub 3:50 that I know I'm capable of!

Goal D. Get that Sub 4:00 that I set as a 2017 goal

I always LOVE to set goals that I know I will accomplish, no matter what. So I know that whether I hit any of my other goals, I know that if I have fun then it will be a success. I've had a strong training cycle and know that I'm capable of goals B-D, so we will just need to trust the process, trust myself, and remain thankful to be able to be running 26.2 miles on the Las Vegas Strip, AT NIGHT, with thousands of my fellow runners! I can't wait to have a party the entire time!

I will make sure to update you next week with my race results, recap, and lots and LOTS of photos! Xo.