New Year’s Runs and Resolutions
Hey, guess what- I DID IT! Back-to-back long runs on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. I ran 20 miles the morning of New Year’s Eve, and then 16 miles on New Year’s Day. The weather was beautiful, and I can’t think of a better way to ring in the New Year! While I was running I listened to some interesting podcasts. In this episode of the James Altucher show, James recommends having “quests” rather than “goals” for the New Year. He describes a quest as something that might sound slightly crazy, and that you might not be able to complete- like becoming a chess grandmaster or running a marathon in every state. Or, a quest could be a little more realistic- like visiting every lighthouse or Frank Lloyd Wright house in your area (Hi Elisabeth! Hi Beckett!) I would even say a quest could be something like reading every book by a certain author. I guess quests are more fun than goals. Then, I listened to this episode of Sally McRae’s podcast, “Overcoming Fear and People Pleasing.” She said most people fail to pursue their dreams out of fear- fear of what other people will think, and fear that we don’t know enough or we’re not ready. Well… the older I get, the less I care what other people think; and I’m more and more likely to throw myself into something and figure it out as I go. It’s always good to have a reminder though. You might be thinking, “This is all well and good- but what ARE your goals for 2024?” Okay, okay… I have some. First, I don’t have a word for 2024- I have the phrase, “Every Day Counts.” I’ll continue to work on appreciating every day, instead of wishing the day away or wasting it by worrying or ruminating. I also have some specific goals: Read 50 books. I set this goal every year, and always fall short because my reading takes a huge hit in November and December. I have a good feeling about 2024 though- the year is off to a great start with my “book flood.” Focus on sleep. I realize this is too vague. I need to analyze what’s going on and come up with concrete solutions. One place to start may be eating dinner earlier, so I can shift my evening activities earlier as well. Get organized with my strength training. Again, vague. I’m toying with the possibility of following a program- possibly the one on Sally McRae’s app. OR, to start with, the program in Ben Patrick’s Knee Ability Zero, which I just got for Christmas. My running goals are more like quests. No one is telling me I have any business running a 50 mile race, but I’m doing it anyway! Possibly two of them! Those are quests, not goals. By the way, the top photo is my new planner. It was literally the first one I picked up in TJ Maxx. It has everything I need: Plus about 20 pages of notes in the back. I was actually kind of disappointed because I had been looking forward to browsing leisurely through planners (I was also going to Barnes and Noble that day) – I was like “Darn! This first one is perfect.” I’m linking up this week with Jenn and Zenaida for their Tuesday Topics! Check them out- their theme for this week is “What’s Your Word for 2024?” Do you have your 2024 planner? Do you set New Year’s goals?
Weekly Rundown- Between the Years
It’s the last Weekly Rundown of 2023! The week between Christmas and New Year’s sometimes feels kind of “blah” to me, but this year I’m enjoying it. Our weather has been cooler than normal (yay!) my son is still home (yay!) and although I do have to work, my daughter is away on a band trip so everything feels… easier. I also took an extra day off exercise because I’m getting ready for two big runs. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting! Let’s see how this week played out. Monday Christmas Day-off! I thought I might do a short run in the afternoon, but instead I took two naps. No regrets! It was a really nice day. Tuesday 4 mile run, followed by obligatory core work (dead bugs and planks.) This was the start of our week of incredible weather- down to the 50s every morning. Wednesday This would have been a great day for the gym, but it was also the day my daughter left for Rome, and all I could muster the mental energy for was another 4 mile run. Thursday Okay, the gym! I pushed and pulled the sled, did squats and deadlifts, then finished with the leg curl and leg extension machine. I’m still having a nagging pain in my right knee- I need to read the “Knees Over Toes guy” book I got for Christmas! Friday Another 4 mile run, followed by core. Saturday Off, other than mobility (this is the routine I do every day) and stretching. Yesterday I shared that I asked my daughter to simply send us photos from Rome if she didn’t feel like texting, and she’s proceeded to send the worst photos ever. Here’s another beauty: I would be wondering if she even made it to Italy, but luckily the chaperones are posting pictures from Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, the Pantheon… I can catch glimpses of her pink hair so I know she’s there! I’m not sure if she took me very literally and thought this was what I meant by “send photos” (she is a very literal person) of if she knows these are terrible and is chuckling evilly to herself. Sunday On tap- Long Run #1!!! Long Run #2 coming up Monday morning. I told my husband and son all I’m doing for the next two days is running, reading on the couch under a blanket, eating, and sleeping. My husband said “Oh, all your favorite things!” Yes! Eliminate the fluff! There will be none of this “going to work” or “cooking dinner.” Pare it down to the essentials. Are you celebrating tonight? – I’ll be living my dream of staying home and reading on New Year’s Eve. Happy New Year! Header photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash.
December Coffee Date… er, RUNFESSIONS!
Ha ha… I definitely have “holiday brain” because this whole week I was writing a coffee date post. Luckily I realized that the Ultimate Coffee Date is NEXT Friday- today we’re joining Marcia for Runfessions. I think I can dig up a few, although there might be a “mom-fession” thrown in as well. First, I’d like to issue an apology on behalf of the State of Florida to anyone visiting this week. We are having unusually COLD weather! Not a great week for a beach vacation, but I’ll runfess that it’s paradise for me. Let’s look a little closer at Sunday and Monday mornings… I have BACK-TO-BACK LONG RUNS planned for those days!!! 47 degrees??? Yes, please! I might even have to find a hat and gloves to wear. I’m excited! Next runfession: I have my eye on another 50 mile race, at the end of April. It’s the Skunk Ape Endurance Run in Ocala- the start of the race is the trail I ran on this summer when I was up there. I know, I know- first I need to get through the 50 miler I’m already doing in February. When that’s done I’ll see how I feel- maybe I won’t be up to it, or even want to do another 50 miler. But right now I’m thinking about it. Lastly, my daughter is now in ROME! The high school band does a big trip once every four years, and it happens to fall in her freshman year. They’ll play a concert, march in the New Year’s Day parade, see all the sights, and attend a fancy New Year’s Eve party. It’s an incredible opportunity for her- my son went to London four years ago with the band and it was the highlight of his high school career. She left yesterday in a flurry of excitement and chaos and, well… I’ll ‘mom-fess” that I’m enjoying the peace and quiet! I’m definitely thinking about her, and happy that she’s having so much fun, but I need this break. I think we needed a break from each other. Before she left, I told her if she didn’t want to send us lengthy texts (I know her pretty well), she could just send us photos. So today I got this photo from her: I guess if I wanted photos of INTERESTING VIEWS and people (THAT I KNOW) I should have been more specific. Sigh. That’s it for this week! Anything you want to runfess? How is your weather this week? Is it a busy week for you, or are you enjoying some down time?
It’s Over… Sigh.
Oh, December 26th- it’s typically a hard day for me. Over the years I’ve come up with different coping strategies, but before I get into that, let’s talk about this year’s Christmas tree. We always get a real tree right around Thanksgiving. This year, about a week before Christmas I noticed that our tree seemed VERY dry. And kind of droopy. Basically, any branch that had an ornament on it was drooping down sadly, like the Charlie Brown tree. What the…?????? We suspect that, in addition to selling us a $200 tree, the tree lot also sold us inferior tree food. We usually get some sort of liquid that we add to the tree water, but this time the food they sold us turned into a gel. For the first week after we got the tree I kept trying to add water, but it didn’t need any… which seemed odd. Usually the tree absorbs a LOT of water in the first few days. Hmmm. Anyway, by Festivus the lower branches were so dropped, we couldn’t fit any presents under it, so I asked my son to cut them off. I was making dinner while he was trimming the tree, when suddenly I heard him say “OOPS.” Uh oh… He accidentally cut through the strand of lights- as he said, “Now I know why they make the light wire green- it’s to blend in with the tree branches!” Er, yes! And now our tree was totally dark. But! Remember how I never got the lights up in our bushes? Because of that I had extra strands, which luckily matched our tree lights. I gave my son the task of unwinding the damaged lights and replacing them (again, he said “Now I know why you put the lights on FIRST.”) He had to un-decorate half the tree to re-do the lights. So many life lessons here! In the end, all was well, but we felt that the tree was barely going to make it through Christmas Day before crumbling to the ground. Which brings me to the topic of taking down Christmas… I don’t have a set way of doing it. Sometimes I do it before New Year’s, sometimes I do it after… any way I do it, it makes me sad. But THIS year, I think it will be a relief to get that tree down (maybe that’s a great post-Christmas hack- have a tree that basically self-destructs after Christmas Day.) So I’ll do the tree first, ASAP. I’ll leave everything else up at least through New Year’s. My card display will stay up for a while! Last year I left white lights in the living room through the month of January, and that helped a lot. I’m also going to take out some new mugs (one from San as my Secret Santa gift!) when I put away the holiday mugs, and I have a new candle I’ve been saving as well. I can do all these things, in addition to keeping busy- that definitely helps- but in the end I know I’m going to be sad. But you know what? That’s life. I guess if I didn’t love Christmas as much as I do, and didn’t get so excited about it, I wouldn’t feel as sad when it’s over. So, I wouldn’t change a thing. What’s your schedule for un-decorating the house? Does it make you sad or do you like the way it feels less cluttered? Any other tips for mitigating PCD (Post Christmas Depression?)