Star Wars Dark Side Challenge

In April I'll be running the Star Wars Dark Side Challenge in Disney World. This weekend will consist of a 5k, 10k, and a half marathon over 3 days. Disney has the Star Wars Light Side Challenge in Disneyland. As much fun as the Light Side Challenge sounds, we all know the Dark Side is much better!

©Disney

The medals show are the Kids Races, the 5k, the 10k, Dark Side Challenge, Half Marathon, and the Kessel Run Challenge. You get the Kessel Run Challenge medal if you participated in the Light Side Challenge in January. 

The medals are pretty awesome. I'm excited to participate in this weekend.

I'm also excited to participate because I'm running the 5k for the Catch a Lift Fund.

This fund helps veterans be able to have access to gym memberships or home gym equipment. With the help of others and the physical and mental health benefits from working out, the veterans can get healthier without the use of multiple medications. You can help by clicking this link. 

A Look Back On January

I kind of hate resolutions. They're so easy to skip out on and ignore. We've all done it. On New Year's Eve I wrote down a few things I wanted to do for 2017. I figure I should look back on last month and see how I've done.

• Write down good days, memories, experiences.
• I bought a container that I can add in little notes about great things. I add them in regularly. I want to look back at the end of the year to see how my year went.

• Train for the Chicago Marathon.
• This one hasn't begun yet. But I am training for a half right now and missed 1 run due to a snow storm, but made sure to get a walk in that day.

• Drink more water.
• I was really good at keep track of how much water I drank the entire month. I really let this go and could feel the difference. A lot of days I drank more than 20 oz of water. (That's not a ton, but it's better than 0 oz like I was doing before.)

• Workout at least 3x a week.
• I exercised EVERY SINGLE DAY. It varied from day to day, but I got out there and at least walked on my breaks at work or did small work outs at home. 5 minutes is better than 0 minutes!

• Take a class at the gym at least 1x a week.
• The first week of January I was sick, so I didn't go to the gym at all. I did take 5 classes at the gym. I started going to a pilates class on Monday nights and I really enjoy it.

• Write in my 5-Year Journal daily.
• I've been really good about this. I think I might have missed a day and had to fill it in after. This book can be started on any day of the year and asks you one questions a day. You have a few lines and can see how it changes over the next 5 years.

• Journal more.
• I wrote a little bit in my personal journal and once on this blog. I could do better at this for sure.

• Donate to a cause at least once a month.
• I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. When I heard of the Hogwarts Running Club I was pumped! You can participate in virtual runs and they donate most of your registration to charity. They also recommend using Charity Miles to help even more. Their motto is #domoregood. When I signed up for their latest run, $21 went to the Limbs for Life Foundation which is an organization to help get prosthetics to people who would not be able to afford it otherwise.

• See new places.
• There's so many places in Massachusetts I've never seen. I let this option be as small or big as it could be. I traveled to Cold Springs, NY to visit family. I also went to Lynnfield, MA and indulged in some of the North Shore Mall in Peabody, MA for work-related tasks. (See even a mall can be a new place!)

• Read at least 40 books by the end of the year.
• I read 6 books by the end of January. You can see them on this page.

I've done pretty good in January. February I can see where I need to work on already. It's all about progress!