It's April!

Somehow I lost track of March...and February. Whoops!

Let's take a look back at February and how I did with my goals.

• Write down good days, memories, and experiences.
• I've added some good memories into my jar. 
• Train for the Chicago Marathon.
• Training is going to be starting soon! I should look into this more.
• Drink more water.
• I had a lot of 0 oz of water this month. I gotta get better at this.
• Workout at least 3x a week.
• I did a lot of working out this month. We had a fitness challenge at work which did help. I ended in the top 5!
• Take a class at the gym at least 1x a week.
• I did great at this! I took at least one class a week, but mostly I did at least 2 classes a week. 
• Write in my 5-Year Journal.
• I've completed every day. Some days I might have filled out days I got caught up in my normal life and had to go back, but that's okay!
• Journal more.
• This wasn't great, but it's better than not at all. Got to keep working on this.
• Donate to a cause at least 1x a month.
• I donated to 3 causes and one cause twice. My work was also doing a 2:1 matching for the month of February so each charity got my donation plus 2x the donation amount. It was great.
• See new places.
• I didn't go anywhere special in February. There's still a lot of time left in the year to do this though!
• Read 40 books by the end of 2017.
• I read 3 books in February. This brought my total at the end of February to 9!

How about March? How did I do for March?

• Write down good days, memories, and experiences.
• I've added some good memories into my jar. I had a great time with some friends which helped.
• Train for the Chicago Marathon.
• I'm starting to look at training plans. This is daunting for sure!
• Drink more water.
• I was doing really well. Until the end of the month I was drinking a lot of water. I need to keep up on this!
• Workout at least 3x a week.
• I worked out a lot this month. Using my breaks at work to walk around was really helpful. 
• Take a class at the gym at least 1x a week.
• I didn't go to a class at least once a week. I skipped yoga more than once this month, but they were for good reasons. I got to get back in the swing of things with this.
• Write in my 5-Year Journal.
• I completed every day in March! Yay!
• Journal more.
• I wrote twice last month. I need to do better
• Donate to a cause at least 1x a month.
• I donated to 4 charities this month. I'm glad that I can help others who need it.
• See new places.
• I didn't travel anywhere new, but I did go to the Flower and Garden Show. That counts right?
• Read 40 books by the end of 2017.
• I read 7 books in March! It felt good to read more this month. This brought my total at the end of March to 16!

We're only 4 days into April and I'm feeling good about how I'm doing on these goals. Until next time.....

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!

Looking Back on 2016

I thought today I'd look back on my year running in 2016.

January- Nothing. Absolutely no races.

February- Princess 5k, Glass Slipper Challenge (Enchanted 10k, Princess Half Marathon)

March- Nothing. I was driving across the country though.

April- Run Through the Vineyard 10k

May- Neverland 5k, Pixie Dust Challenge (Tinker Bell 10k, Tinker Bell Half Marathon)

June- No races.

July- No races.

August- Bobby Doyle Summer Classic

September- Another no race month!

October- Tufts Health Plan 10k for Women, Cause 4 Paws 5k

November- Mickey's Holiday 5k, Lumiere's Two Course Challenge (Wine & Dine 10k, Wine & Dine Half Marathon), Forge Pond Park 5k, Hanover Turkey Trot

December- Ugly Sweater Run, Bill Roger's Jingle Bell Run

Virtual Runs- Molly Weasley's Ugly Jumper Run, HRC Umbridge Run 13k (Or Until it Hurts), The Half-Blood Prince Half Marathon, Orlando Untied 5k, #OneHRC House Marathon, Fantastic Beasts 5k, Platform 9¾k (Year Three)

Personal Bests:
5k- Bill Roger's Jingle Bell Run (34:07)
10k- Enchanted 10k (1:13:17)
5 Miler- Bobby Doyle Summer Classic (58:49)
Half Marathon- Tinker Bell Half Marathon (2:31:02)

Did I reach any PR this year? Absolutely not. I can't say that I haven't beat myself up over losing my speed. I will say that I was proud of every start and finish line I crossed last year. I always make my Goal A to finish. I ran in freezing cold weather and extremely hot weather. And everything in between! I still have hopes of breaking a 30-minute 5k and breaking 2:30:00 in a half marathon again, but I'm happy to have the opportunity to run and do my best at that moment.

Will 2017 bring on big things? I'm sure it will. Guess I'll have to look back at it a year from now.

Resolutions? Whatever!

New Years is always about resolutions. You know, the things you're excited about until you actually have to do it. We all do it.

Instead of making some resolution that I know I'll give up on almost immediately. This year I decided to do something I know I'll stick to. Maybe push me, but that I can actually do.

So this year I'm going to do the following:

• Write down positive moments. 
• No matter how small they will seem, just write them down.
• Train for the Chicago Marathon properly.
• I tend to fall off the training wagon and I want to get that out of my system.
• Drink water. 
• I barely drank water the past months, so even one glass is better than nothing. Eventually I want to drink at least 8 glasses, but I'm okay starting small.
• Workout at least 3x a week.
• I need to take care of myself. If I can't give myself even 30 minutes, then I need to prioritize my life.
• Go to one exercise class a week.
• I love to never go to the gym even though I'm paying for it. If I go to a class at least once a week the membership pays for itself. 
• Write more.
• Whether this is here on the blog or in my journal, just write more. 
• I did get a 5-Year Memory Journal that I've been filling out daily. 
• Read 40 books.
• I'll set up a page with what I've been reading.
• Donate to a cause once a month.
• It feels good to help other people. I'm not looking for a lot, but just helping out a cause is nice.
• See new places.
• I'm not specific on new places. It could be a new town, a new part of a town I've been in, a new state, or a new country.

Bill Rogers Jingle Bell 5k Run Recap

Today I participated in my final run of 2016, the Jingle Bell 5k. This was my first time doing this run. I had a friend running who I hadn't seen for a little while. The weather was good for running. It did rain, but mostly after I finished which was awesome. Plus being 50° in December was perfect.

Distance:
5k

Start Time:
11 am

Cost:
$37

Organization:
Prior to the race date there was email communication to help with seeing where parking was available, the course, and what bars were part of the post-race party. I got my bib morning of the race. I found street parking fairly easily and had a short walk to the start/finish area and the bib pickup location. Bib pickup was in the Somerville Senior Center. The line was outside the building, but moved very quickly. (The line could be due to people exiting from the same door.) Once upstairs you picked up your bibs and shirts. The bibs were separated alphabetically. There was a person telling everyone that they were alphabetical, but you could not see what box you were in front of until you were up to it. After you picked up your bib you got your shirt. After finishing the race there was no clear direction on where to get your medal or water. I felt I had a longer walk than necessary to get my medal. There was a teenage boy handing out water, but everyone was grabbing their own medal. This could have been organized better.

Course:

I loved that this was a closed course. Each mile had someone holding up a sign showing each mile. There was one water stop along the course after mile 1. There was plenty of course support along the entire route. Even people standing in line for breakfast were waving and cheering people on. 

Swag:

 T-shirt, finisher medal, jingle bell*, post race party
*I did not get a jingle bell. I would guess that they ran out prior to ending packet pickup.

Would I recommend this race?
I would do this run again next year. Overall everything went smoothly. There were families who ran, people dressed up in Christmas leggings, ugly sweaters, Santa hats, and more! (There was one group dressed up as Santa and reindeer and another group who were playing guitar and a drum singing Christmas carols.

I Entered a Lottery And...

I was accepted into the Chicago Marathon!

I entered to see what would happen. A few friends also applied so what was the worst that could happen. In the end all 5 people I know got accepted via the lottery and 1 friend is running for charity. This is the first run of 2017 that I've signed up for and I know I'll add more along the way. 

This is the best way to see a new place isn't it!