Wow, 2018 is here… already?! I know when you have kids, they say life goes by faster.
This is so true!
Looking back and reflecting on 2017 inspires some awe… and a big “Whoa” for all the travel, life changes, and accomplishments.
We had quite a year, highlighted by moving in to our new home. I feel like this was the best year yet, but not just because of the house. With my family, job, home, running, and other aspects of life… I consider myself eternally blessed <3
A quick run down on the fam:
- Javi–got a new job (same company, different dept), continued on his MBA (now just 1 class left!), and got a clean bill of health from a little scare early in the year. He completed his first Spartan too 😉
- Gabe–passed the swim test, started Tae Kwon Do, lost more teeth, started 1st grade (then moved to a new school!). He really took it all in stride. Of course, it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies, but … you know.
- Asher–mostly potty-trained, talking a lot more, plays basketball at daycare, and loves watching “Padger Rangers” and Trolls. Still taking naps, but it’s getting harder & harder to get him to lay down. Both kids, to mine & J’s dismay, are extreme early birds [case in point: today, a Saturday, Asher came down to our bed at 5 AM sharp… I ended up getting up with him at 5:50–UGH!]
- Me–I graduated from IIN [the Institute for Integrative Nutrition] so I have my health coach certification. I have a few clients already, but not sure how I want to juggle this, since my full-time job is going really well. I also took several photography gigs this fall, to help when we were buying the new house.
In keeping with my Eat-Run-Travel theme… though I am well aware it’s way more “Run” than anything else… Here’s another run down.
- Eat: we continued Blue Apron and Home Chef, and even tried Gobble. Didn’t like Gobble–not nearly as fresh and flavorful as Blue Apron. Eventually, it became too much to manage, and I felt like I could buy way more food for $60 (for the weekly shipment of 3 x 2 servings), so I cancelled Gobble and Home Chef. I’ll still do B.A. sometimes, as it remains my fave of the ones I’ve tried, but I plan on cooking more on my own this year, especially Puerto Rican recipes!
- Travel: We traveled a ton this year, although it didn’t seem like it until I looked back. The new spots we explored/visited:
- The Appalachian Trail in GA (when I dropped off my cousin Cole for his thru-hike, along with my mom and aunt)
- App Trail in Hot Springs, NC (to visit Cole about 1 month into his journey)
- The Shenandoah National Park, near Charlottesville, VA (visiting my uncle, and saw Cole on the way back)
- Black Mountain, NC (near Asheville, for the Spartan Sprint)
- Fayetteville, NC (for the Super Spartan)
- Portsmouth, NH & Kittery, Maine for a 1 day/1 night with Javi, my company’s jet (Special thanks to my friends TM and her fan for watching my boys!)
- Work trips–Merida and Mexico City, Mexico; Nashville (all on the corporate jet–so thankful for that experience/opportunity!)
- Durham–for some medical testing on J
- And revisits to:
- West Point, NY for my reunion (Javi’s first time there, and I hadn’t been since Nov ’08)
- NYC–hadn’t been since March ’13
- DC–went for last year’s Army Ten Miler (and this year’s)
- New Market, NH–I hadn’t been since summer of ’05, and it was Javi’s first time seeing where my grandparents came from
- Charlottesville–last trip was for my cousin’s funeral in Jan. ’16
- Raleigh–for my third Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon
Running–This was a year of exploration in my running/fitness. I feel like I grew in my yoga practice, as well as with running. I went out of my comfort zone with the Spartan races, and trained harder than I ever have on the bike for my triathlon. In all of this running/strength/yoga/biking/swimming, I realized a few things about myself:
- I am restless, to borrow a term from my Oiselle teammate, Liz. Meaning, I like having trips and events scheduled. However, I finally realized that maybe I have taken on too much (sometimes), and would like to have more time to be still, relax, blog, and chill.
- Spartan races are very empowering… and also expensive, and frustrating. I don’t have the heart to add up my race fees, but I feel like each was at least $100 (far more than running races typically cost), not counting hotels and other expenses. The frustrating part is all the $&%! burpees you have to do when you fail an obstacle.
- I don’t like the feeling of drowning (reference my sickie Tri)
- I
finallymostly got over my fear of biking, but I also realize running is, and always has been, my first fitness love. I just love it… the joy of moving my body, of moving along with others, the competition, the camaraderie, the fun of running with my dog, the refreshing air and sunshine (and rain & snow) of the outdoors. And because of this love for running… - Training for 1 event is way easier and simpler than training for multiple events. This might be a big “Duh” but I felt like training for others would help my running but in actuality, I think it just made me tired. I will have a singular focus for 2018, and that is running.
Running Goals for 2018:
- Run 1,000 miles, most of them at a slow pace (my new training strategy)
- Finish a full marathon (my 2nd one ever)
- Break some more PR’s! ... and have fun doing it!
And without further ado, my running recap (with full deets below):
- 14 total races
- Five 5K’s
- 1 8K
- 1 10K
- 1 Ten Miler
- 1 Half Marathon
- 1 Triathlon
- 1 Marathon Relay
- 1 Spartan Super
- 2 Spartan Sprints
- Worth mentioning:
- 4 Age Group awards (top 3)
- 4 PR’s (5K, 8K, 10K, and half marathon)
- Zero injuries (unless we want to count the tip-over on my bike and rolled ankle)
- 30-some yoga sessions (tried to go at least once a week, but business trips/meetings got in the way sometimes)
- 731 total miles, of which approximately 60% were run with Luna
What are some of your goals this year? Share 1 below!
January:
1/29/17: Winter Flight 8K. 8K PR, 38:32. 2nd place AG.
February: none
March:
3/18/17: St. Leo’s 10K. 10K PR, 48:36. 1st place AG.
April:
4/1/17 Raleigh Rock ‘n’ Roll 5K Training run, 25:40.
4/2/17 Raleigh Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon (3rd year strong!) Half Marathon PR, 1:48:04. 22 of 360 AG.
4/9/17 Spartan Sprint, Concord, NC. Team event!
May:
5/21/17 Indoor Insanity Marathon Relay (scratched–didn’t have enough for a team)
June:
6/3/17: PTI Run the Runway So close to a PR. 23:37, 1st place AG.
July:
7/4/17: 4th of July 5K, Kernersville, NC. 5K PR, 23:19. 4th place AG.
7/30/17: Spartan Sprint, Asheville, NC. 10th of 134 in AG (open division).
August:
8/20/17: Ramblin’ Rose Triathlon, Winston-Salem. 3rd place AG.
September:
9/23/17: Spartan race, Fayetteville, NC
October:
10/8/17: Army 10 Miler, Washington, DC
November:
11/5/17: Raleigh marathon relay with the Oiselle team. 21st of 83 teams.
11/23/17: Turkey Strut 5K, Winston-Salem
December:
12/16/17: Jingle Jog 5K, High Point. 1st place AG.
2017 Mileage:
- January: 52
- February: 78
- March: 81
- April: 58.4
- May: 78.3
- June: 86.3
- July: 27.2 (plus biking & swimming!)
- August: 35.9 (plus biking & swimming!)
- September: 51.1
- October: 50.2
- November: 52.2
- December: 84.4
- 2017 final mileage: 731 miles
Bloopers / Behind-the-scenes:
[…] the end of last year, I wrote my year in review post, and felt pretty darn good about my accomplishments. I ran a lot of PR’s, traveled, and then set […]