2019 - The Year of INTENTIONAL!

As originally written back in 2016, here's a little background on choosing a single word to be the theme for my year:

So let me give you a little background. Back in 2010 my bestie, Rebecca, presented this idea to me that she had heard about of picking a word to be your intention for the entire year. We both really liked the concept and totally ran with it. I picked Peace and she picked Joy. And whoa...if we had known how powerful having a single word could be I don't know that we would have done it! Well, at the very least we both agreed later that we would have been more cautious in choosing. LOL Because we both went through a pretty crazy journey that year and our words were very prominent in that journey. I'm kind of glad we didn't know though because that's the way it SHOULD be...kind of the purpose right? At any rate, by the end of the year we were sold! And we've been doing it together ever since. If you want more information about this, just Google One Little Word (Ali Edwards has registered that one) or One Word Resolution and you'll find all kinds of info about it. I don't know who created the concept originally but whoever it was is brilliant! 

My words have been:

2010: Peace
2011: Quality (how my little blog got its name!)
2012: Strong (I did the Ali Edwards One Little Word(r) workshop that year - it's amazing - she's amazing!)
2013: Light
2014: Courage (the year I ran my marathon!)
2015: Now

2016: Grow

2017: Believe

2018: Live (blog post closing out the year of Live)

Before I can jump into sharing my word and what it means to me, I need to provide a little of the thought process that brought me TO the word. Most years I'll start thinking about my word for the coming year around Thanksgiving and will usually settle onto one before December even hits; however, this year, it was towards the end of mid-December that I even came close to settling on a word. Many had run their way through my mind, but nothing had stuck. So I realized that I needed to spend a little time thinking about what I actually WANTED for 2019. In thinking about where I had been and where I wanted to go what I realized was that much of the past several years had been determined by outside factors. First my goals were centered around getting a promotion at work. So all my goals stemmed from that bigger one - up my clothes game, go back to school, be present at work, etc. And then I went back to school with many of my goals centered around finishing my degree program. Then after I finished my degree in March of this year (2018) it was returning my focus to getting life back to normal in a post-homework world. What that basically boils down to is that since I set goals in 2016, my life has been clicking along and I've achieved the big goals that I set of getting the promotion and finishing my degree, then finally returning to a new normal. 

What I realized as I was thinking about it was that this was the first time in several years that I had to actually think about what I wanted in life! There wasn't anything else driving the car, it was up to me to decide where I wanted to go and then turn the steering wheel in that direction. Holy crap - that was a surprising realization! HA! Isn't it funny how life can sneak up on us sometimes? As I got over the shock of not having anything major in life driving my direction, it was scary and freeing all at the same time. What is this concept of getting to decide??? How does that work exactly?? And the realization that I came to was that if I had the opportunity to determine my direction this year and that I didn't have any major life goals that I needed to be working on, I didn't want to just flounder about and not care. I wanted to carve out the direction - I wanted to be INTENTIONAL in where I went even if it wasn't a major life destination. I wanted to make some small life decisions that could make a big impact, or at the very least, small life decisions that I could ENJOY living in. 

And so, INTENTIONAL became the word!

I want to be intentional about how I spend my time. I don't get a lot of "spare" time, so in the time I'm given I want to be intentional with it. What do I do and is it making me better? Who am I spending it with and does it improve my life? Am I taking the time for self-care that I need to take so I can devote myself to the pursuit of quality in my life? For example, many times in the morning as I'm waking up my first go-to is pulling out the phone and browsing social media, which can then turn into a rabbit hole that is hard to dig out of and before I know it, I no longer have time for what I wanted to do that morning like working out or spending a few minutes with the hubby before he leaves for work. So if I'm being intentional, I will set a time limit and when I hit that limit I will get off of the social media and continue on with what I want out of my day. It's not a huge change, but it's an intentional change and one that will allow me to set my direction. 

The main takeaway as I see it is that to be intentional, I have to actually THINK about what I want in each moment. It's about being thoughtful, even if it is small and inconsequential, about what each decision I make brings into my life. Deciding to spend time on social media isn't necessarily a bad thing as I have relationships there that bring meaning into my life, so intentionally deciding on spending time reading and commenting on my friend's posts can bring richness into my life - but it should be something that I actually decide to spend time on; not just something that I mindlessly do. INTENTIONAL...

I'm excited to see how intentional living and thinking works for me in 2019! I'm excited for a year full of possibilities that are just waiting for me to find them. 

Will you be setting a one-word theme for your year? Tell me about it in the comments! 

A Good Dose of Happy

What can I say, folks...I've been just living high on life lately!! I'd like to say that's why I haven't updated the little ol' blog lately, but I'm not going to start making excuses for that. Today is a new day and I'm going to start from right here, right now. :-) So here's a good dose of what is making me happy lately!

1. Being Outdoors

The weather in SoCal has been absolutely KILLING it lately and I've been enjoying being outside soaking it all in. We are a little cool and breezy at the moment, but low 80's will be back by the weekend. I've been outside hiking, running, sitting, eating, playing. I can't get enough of the outdoors these days.

Passed this little meadow full of wildflowers on a 10-mile run with @salliesocean! Gorgeous day, challenging run, tired legs. This weekend is just absolutely killing it though! #wildflowers #runnerslife #halfmarathontraining #meadow #hometownrunning #hemetca

A photo posted by Kristen Grimes (@kgrimes526) on Mar 26, 2016 at 10:52am PDT

2. Running

My running has been going really well lately and I'm having a great time! Okay, maybe not a "great" time in the sense as a great time when you're doing something that isn't a form of exercise...But it's getting me outside on the weekends and is allowing me Netflix time on the weekdays. LOL Kind of joking there - but honestly, the feeling that running gives me, that sense of power and
accomplishment, is priceless! And then hand in hand with running is my ever growing Skirt Sports collection, my ever growing Balega Socks collection and my ambassadorships with Skirt Sports, Balega, Nuun Hydration, 261Fearless, and the latest - Momentum Jewelry!! I have gotten to work with some fabulous companies that are doing such AMAZING and INSPIRING things and I'm super thrilled to represent quality brands that have a larger message than just making some money or selling a product.

3. The Walking Dead

I just started watching - don't tell me ANYTHING!!! I'm digging it so far!

And how cool is it that it is Rick GRIMES...total badass - I'm sure we must be related. LOL

4.  Family

Enough said - I am blessed beyond belief with my family. The grandkids are just amazing, the kids are awesome, the hubsters is fabulous. Life is good and I'm so lucky to have a big crazy family to share it with!

5. Friends - New and Old

Not really anything extra I need to say here - I appreciate the friendships I have with some really, really, really awesome people!

So there's a handful of things that are giving me a good dose of happy these days. Your turn - what's something that is keeping you happy? I wanna hear all about it in the comments!

Positive Domino Effects

There's a commercial out for, I think, breakfast sandwiches or something like that where it talks about how one good decision can impact other decisions and so on and so forth. Basically it is the Domino Effect in a positive fashion - each one impacts the next and creates a chain reaction. You get me, right? :-)

Well, that's where I'm at right now - I feel like I've been able to put some real momentum into my dominoes and they are a tumbling left and right and creating a massively awesome chain reaction! And it feels AH-MAZ-ING!!! Now granted, I know that sometimes the gap between my dominoes is set too far and it momentarily derails it. But with just a little adjustment, it is back up and running again. So what have I been doing to make this happen? Keeping at my goals that I set at the beginning of the year. Plain and simple...let's do a quick goal check.

Goal #1 - Be Financially Responsible
I've been keeping up on my checkbook each week, setting a budget at the beginning of each month, getting bills paid, and have my tax appointment this weekend. So far, so good and I really, really, really like how it removes an immense amount of stress to have it all settled every week and at the beginning of the month. Removing the stress of wondering where I'm at with my funds allows me to focus on the other important things in life.

Goal #2 - Position Myself for a Work Promotion
I've been super productive at work, especially the past several weeks, and that has allowed me to get to a place that I'm not just marking urgent items off of the to-do list, but I'm actually getting to the things that are always at the bottom of the pile. Because IF I do get that promotion at the end of the year then someone else will also have to come in and do my job and I really want to leave everything in a good place for whoever that person might be. I'm also dressing the part, rocking my leadership class, and putting the pieces in place to continue my educational pursuits. I'm getting great feedback from the big guy so I feel like I'm on the right track here.

Goal #3 - Get to Goal Weight
I'm down about 11 pounds since the first of the year and have (mostly) been eating well and hitting my workouts. I had a terrible flu for a good solid week at the end of February that really took a lot out of me, but I'm pretty much fully recovered at this point and am using full effort in my workouts. Additionally, I had zero appetite while I was sick, so the flu diet paid off for me. I was a little worried about regaining the weight that I lost while sick when I started eating again, but I just had to realize that I was going to most likely bounce up a few pounds because no matter what I needed to eat especially if I wanted to get my workouts going full steam again. I did regain about 2 pounds and I'm okay with that. But the good news is that I'm below 170 for the first time in FOREVERRRRR and my clothes are really starting to fit loose. I would say I'm mostly on track with this goal, but do have minor setbacks like too much fast food as I recovered from being sick and those darn Girl Scout cookies. They are pure evil.

Goal #4 - Develop My Blog
This is the one goal that I really feel I've been failing with. But with that said, I really do feel like I'm getting to a better place to start adding that priority in a little more. I've been so focused on goals 1-3 that something had to give and this was the one. But with getting those things into a habits formed, domino effect mode I feel I can start to work on making this one a habit too. Baby steps...

As far as some of my lesser goals or intentions, I'm four books in on this year so far which is awesome since last year I think I maybe read 4 books total and the hubby and I made some great progress on things that needed maintenance around the house back in late January/early February but have stalled out recently - BUT we do have a list and are working on prioritizing it. Some of the things I'm not necessarily nailing right now are writing in a journal, getting to work on time, etc. But I'm still committed to working towards them and that's the really great thing about goals or intentions - you don't have to quit because you have a setback! You just dust yourself off and keep going and that's what I'm doing.

And you know the best thing? Having some goals in place and continuing to strive for them is helping me make even more good decisions and that makes me happy which makes me try harder and it's one of those awesome circles of positive!

QUESTION: How are your 2016 goals going so far? Have you checked in on them lately?

Integrity to Self...

I had something else entirely I wanted to write about today - running goals. But sometimes you just gotta go with the flow, right?

I was super excited to find out that I had been chosen to participate in a year-long leadership program where I work that started in January of this year. There are about 20 of us that were chosen by the Administration to be in the very first cohort of this program, and I was one of those selected! It's a huge opportunity and considering that one of my goals for 2016 is to position myself at work for a promotion, this leadership program fits very nicely with that goal. So we meet twice a month for the first 5 months, then get June and July off (I imagine we will have some homework or projects to do during this time), and then spend the final 5 months of the year meeting monthly as we are implementing everything we learned during the first half of the year. It's an exciting time, indeed!! Okay, so now that we have that background out of the way let me dive into what's on my mind: Integrity.

We all know that quote right there, right? Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching...and that's definitely a huge part of integrity for sure!! It's absolutely important that you are doing the right thing regardless of whether anyone sees it or not. Or how about this one:

So another big piece of integrity is doing what you say you'll do, right? But one of the things this class has really gotten me to think about is integrity to MYSELF. Yes, I do pretty well in maintaining my integrity with others. I will usually do what I say I'm going to do, for the most part; but will definitely take ownership when I can't follow through on a promise or commitment of my time. I also live a right life as I don't cheat or steal and all that good stuff. But do I keep my word to myself????

When I say that I'm going to lose weight as one of my goals, am I saying that with integrity behind it because the thing I'm saying is lining up with the things I do? Or when I say I'm going to blog consistently as one of my goals, same principle - is it in alignment between say and do? Hmmmmm...definitely makes me think! And definitely makes me realize that no, I'm absolutely not living with integrity in some aspects of my life. When I set a goal and then do absolutely nothing to realize that goal I am basically removing integrity from the situation. Makes sense, no??

So basically when I say this year that I'm going to lose weight, I am really trying to put some integrity behind that by making choices that truly REFLECT that commitment to myself. Because really, a goal is a commitment, correct? And when you are committed to something you show it through your actions, right? I can't say I'm committed to my goals if I'm not proving it through my actions.

So here I am - re-committing myself to my goals on a daily basis and not just saying - but DOING!! Because talk is cheap and if all I do is say I'm going to accomplish a goal and I don't put action into it, then I'm not living with integrity. And the law of integrity says that if you live outside of integrity you will have consequences. Mainly, my word becomes less than a promise. It becomes something that is only followed through on when it is convenient and that's not the life I want to lead. I want to be someone that says what they are going to do and DOES IT. I want people to know that if I've put my mind to something, I will accomplish it. I want people to know that when I give my word - even if it is just to myself - that it MEANS something.

Question: Are you living with integrity in all areas of your life, including the promises you make to yourself? How are you taking action steps towards the commitments you have made to YOU?

2016 Goals

Remember when I mentioned that if I get overwhelmed I tend to just stick my head in the ground and quit sharing back when I talked about my One Word for 2016 (Grow)? Yeahhhhh, well, consider that as being the case these days. I had grand plans for being on top of 2016 and those are all still there, they just kind of got pushed to the back burner while I got my head knocked around by reality for a little bit. But here's the thing, especially as I start talking about my 2016 goals - just because you didn't meet a goal, doesn't mean you should throw it out the window. It just means you need to re-evaluate, adjust where needed, and get back to it. So with that, let's talk goals for a moment.

First, I am going to be quick to admit that I'm pretty good about setting goals. Working towards them? That's a whole other issue. hahaha I can set them, I can apply SMART goal setting techniques, I can come up with plans for meeting them but in the end, more often than not, I get off the beaten track and end up tossing them out the window. BUT...I'm determined to not let that happen in 2016. I'm determined to pick myself back up, dust off my britches, and get back to it if I get knocked off of the proverbial horse. Like right now...dusting myself off.

I did a lot of thinking about my goals and coming up with meaningful ones for me to work on this year...and I'm actually really excited about them and the possibilities of where they can take me!

Goal #1 - Be Financially Responsible
Ahhhhh - yes, MONEY!! It's necessary, but it sure is the bane of our existence sometimes. And it can cause so much grief if not handled appropriately. Here is it broken down:

• Set a budget monthly. My husband and I have a day calendared towards the end/beginning of each month to sit down and do a full review of how we did that month and create the plan for the next month making sure we budget for any extras like vehicle registrations, repairs of any kind, debt payoffs, etc. 
• Balance the checkbook each week to ensure nothing is getting missed and everything is hitting the account as it should be.
• Create a spending report for the month and use it as a balanced scorecard to assess if we are being financially responsible

Sure this isn't a glamorous goal and doesn't elicit all kinds of excitement like, perhaps, training for a first marathon or other life event. But this one sets the stage for everything else because if I'm spending all my time stressing about money, I won't have the energy to do the rest of what life requires.

Goal #2 - Position Myself for a Work Promotion

There's a possible opportunity for me to get a promotion this year at work and it's the one I've been waiting for. I've had several other chances to do other things at work that would have brought me increased pay, but for me anyways, work is about so much more than what I take home in my paycheck. So I made the conscious decision to hang back in the intention that down the road the job I want will open up. I think it is very real that this could happen in 2016. So in order to prepare myself for that I have some objectives outlined:

• Enhance my professional appearance - I always dress nice and professional especially when I consider the campus culture, but my feeling is that I take "casual Friday" and dressing down in summer more seriously than I need to. I would rather up my game in that arena and be dressing nicer rather than dressing with the crowd. I'm not talking super fancy like suits when the work culture is skirts and sweaters; but I'm talking that I can wear a nice pair of jeans with some appropriate boots, sweater or blouse and accessories. I don't need to wear a t-shirt to work pretty much ever. Simply put.
• I've been given the opportunity to participate in a year-long leadership program at work, and I'm so excited that I was selected. It's about 22 people that were nominated by their division leadership and it's a great group of people that are most likely the future generation of movers and shakers here at the college. So I'm quite humbled to be in such an esteemed group of colleagues. So needless to say, I'm planning on totally rocking the program and getting everything I can out of it.
• Start my Bachelor's Degree program. It's been too long and I've pushed it back enough. It's time to get it done. My plan is to be in my program by summer (July/August depending on when the cohort starts). To get there I need to secure my financial aid package (this goes with the financial responsibility goal too) and clear some stuff off of the personal plate to ensure my brain is available to get back in the swing of the educational game.
• And of course, be a stellar employee that is focused on work when I'm there. I need to cut out some of the distractions and be fully present in what I'm working on.

Goal #3 - Get to Goal Weight

No really...get to goal weight and keep it off! I know that I'm one of those people that has set this goal every year for so long, but I'm not going to let that keep me from chasing it this year again. I will meet it. I will. My objectives to accomplish this:

• I set this goal with my running coach, so we are going to be working on it together...talk about accountability!
• I will track my calories even though I hate it and I will drink at least 8 cups of water a day. I will pack my lunches more often than not and I will train consistently.
• I developed a reward plan that goes into effect on February 1 so I will earn some money to help me buy new clothes as I shrink out of what I have...or just to buy fun stuff along the way like kick-ass tunes or new books.
• I have plans to add back in some lunch time walks too, but I need to move it out of the "plan to" stage and into the "doing" stage. 
• (FYI - I'm down 6 pounds since the first of the year! Woohoo!!) 

Goal #4 - Develop My Blog
Yeah this little space of mine over here that I like to so often neglect. The reality is that I enjoy blogging, I just don't want to make it my career. So I've done a lot of thinking about what that means and how I should go about blogging without it consuming my every waking moment. (Obviously, I haven't done a very good job getting this one off the ground yet in 2016...but I'm dusting myself off!!)

• Blog 3x a week minimum on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
• Develop a solid editorial calendar and stick to it as much as possible
• Set an appointment for writing content every night when I get home
• Study at least one blogging resource a week
• Attend the 2016 IDEA BlogFest!! (So excited about this one and that I get to attend as a Sweat Pink Ambassador!)
• Represent the brands that I am an ambassador for through consistent posting on social media and with appropriate blog posts

I have some other lesser goals like read more, journal more, perform maintenance around the house on a somewhat consistent schedule (like baseboard cleaning, light plate covers...things like that), check back in on my goals each month, etc. Those are more intentions of how I want to live though rather than a solid GOAL that I can measure. I also have three running specific goals that I will talk about in the near future. Stay tuned...

So there you have it - my 2016 goals! I think you can probably see that I did put some thought into these and I think they will all help me GROW this year!

QUESTION: Do you have goals set for this year? What are some of them and how are you working on achieving them?

Bliss...

I had the good fortune of taking a few extra days off of work following the winter break. My intention is that I will get some home stuff taken care of - things that I can't ever seem to find the time for during the year like organizational things, giving the shower and tub a really good scrubbing, cleaning out some drawers and closets of items that haven't been touched in forever...you know, fun stuff like that. HA! I know it may seem silly to take vacation days to do things like this, but for me it does my mental state a world of good to start the year off feeling like I've accomplished some things around the house. The reality is that during the busy holiday season, there just isn't time for it. So now that the holidays have passed I can turn my focus.

Today was my first day at home and it didn't actually end up being what I had intended, but it was absolute PERFECTION. I may have only gotten the home office/workout room organized and cleaned, but it meant so much more more than that! Because what I did was totally kill my workout, enjoy a nice cup of coffee as my reward, get my home office organized/cleaned including finding homes for all the christmas gifts that were scattered around, and writing all my thank you cards.

All this while the rain gently fell outside (at this point anyways, as El Nino finally arrived in SoCal and has been making his presence known most of the day), the candles burned created a calming scent of vanilla and spice, and Spotify gave me wonderful music totally new to me on my Discovery playlist for the week. And the house...the house was at total peace and calm! Joshua was at school, Angelique and Tasha are in Hawaii, Brandon and Pat were at work, and Michelle was upstairs finding her own bliss. It was absolutely AH-MAZ-ING!!! I kind of just kept saying to myself "I can't believe how absolutely perfect today is"...and it was. Absolutely. Perfect. My soul is happy and at peace.

Tomorrow I can scrub the showers and clean the blinds. Today I will be happy to have such a blessed day in quiet reflection and preparation for an amazing year.

Make it awesome, friends!

Training Lately...

I mentioned in my Ultimate Coffee Date post that I reviewed my Believe training journal from the last year and was disappointed by how often I saw remarks like "could have done better" or "ugh, bad week in training", or even "skipped this, skipped this, and skipped this".

I also mentioned that I usually do the same thing every year - I say THIS YEAR I'm going to do a better job! THIS YEAR I'm going to train like a beast. THIS YEAR I'm going to hit all my workouts. But do I? Nope...

It's so frustrating and, honestly, I don't know how to go about breaking out of that destructive cycle. I start a training cycle fired up and ready to totally go Beast Mode all over it and halfway through I'm shortening workouts, skipping the stretching, and that's only IF I did the workout at all. By the end I'm just like Eh - whatever...I've already screwed the pooch on this one anyways. NEXT TIME I'll kill it. Ugh...

So how has my training been going lately? Let's see...

Monday 12/28: Did the 3 miles, but didn't hit the paces Coach Tiffany gave me
Tuesday 12/29: Rested (could have done a Barre workout, but I opted for total lazy instead)
Wednesday 12/30: 3 miles, but walked half of it for no real good reason
Thursday 12/31: Skipped my 3 mile timed workout
Friday 1/1: Light stretching and leg balance exercises
Saturday 1/2: Should have done 6 miles, did 3.3 instead
Sunday 1/3: Light stretching and leg balance exercises

So there's an entire week of workouts and you can see that I pretty much blew off every single one of them in one way or another AND I have a flipping half marathon in 6 days!!!! Seriously...why do I sabotage myself like this?!? I don't get it...I'm actually pretty good about getting my work job done, why can't I apply the same principles to my workouts? Or my healthy eating? I'm pretty much figuring that Coach Tiffany is totally disgusted with me or at the very least is questioning my commitment to my training...as she should be on both fronts.

But I'll keep on trying guys...I'm not going to just quit saying THIS YEAR, or THIS TRAINING CYCLE, or even THIS DAY. I'm going to keep pushing to kill it because perhaps someday I actually will!!! I will give myself credit for something - I don't quit. I keep failing and won't give up. hahaha

Seriously though - I'm all about persistence folks, even if it is persistence at telling myself to be persistent. Someday it's gotta stick, right?? ;-)

One thing I am going to do though is share my training progress a little more. I know it might be boring as hell for some and you have my permission to skip it completely if you so desire. But I need some accountability if I'm going to head into my new training cycle - heck, if I'm going to head into my planned workout tomorrow! - with the right frame of mind of totally killing it. I can do it...I can do it...I can do it. Say it with me now... :-)

Ultimate Coffee Date - New Year Edition January 2016

Happy New Year everyone!! Hope that your 2016 is off to a great start...I've been meaning to spend a Saturday with Confessions of a Mother Runner and her co-hosts, Coco and Lynda, doing The Ultimate Coffee Date for months and months, so I finally figured - hey, when is a better time to do something you've been meaning to do than a new year?? Right? So join me with a warm beverage - doesn't have to be coffee and doesn't even need to be warm - and let's spend a few minutes enjoying each other's company. :-)

If we were having coffee...I would tell you that I had an absolutely amazing holiday season. I indulged pretty much as much as I wanted to, I was lazy when I felt like it, and I may have even taken a few naps and spent a few days in my PJ's all day. It was pretty epic but has left me feeling like a slug.

If we were having coffee...I would be super excited to tell you that I bought myself a planner that I'm so happy to have in my arsenal this year! It's not a super fancy schmancy Erin Condren planner like all the cool kids have, but it's going to work very nicely for me. It's a Me & My Big Ideas Happy Planner and will be a perfect starter planner. I used to use a Franklin Covey and it was great, but I moved away from it to a more electronic to-do system. I want to use my planner to not just be a catalog of appointments and tasks, but to serve as a journal/scrapbook of where I've been during the year. I'm super excited to fill it!

If we were having coffee...I would tell you that I went back through my Believe training journal that I started using at the beginning of 2015 and it was an eye opener. Not necessarily in a good way. Sure, I ran 569.12 miles in 153 activities and that's awesome! I'm certainly happy with that. But what made it an eye opener is that in the journal portion or the check-ins was all the "could have been better; should have tried harder; not as good as I wanted it to be." Lots of coulda, shoulda, woulda's. And if I'm honest and go back and re-read old journal entries or blog posts, I see a lot of the same thing. I would tell you that I'm tired of feeling like I'm coming up just short of the finish line and if I'm being honest with myself I'm DNF-ing on my goals and effort in reaching them. I want to change that in 2016!!

If we were having coffee...I would tell you that I'm running my first half marathon of the year in only one more week! I don't know how, but I swear these things always have a way of sneaking up on me. I plan for them and do workouts to prepare for them and then all of a sudden they just jump out of nowhere and are like HEY! It's time!!! and I'm left saying, But, But...I'm not ready for this!! LOL

And finally, if we were having coffee...I would tell you how excited I am to be back representing Skirt Sports again for 2016 as an Ambassador Captain, and that I'm thrilled to also be a Nuun Ambassador for 2016! I feel like I'm finally nailing down my fueling and hydration on long runs and Nuun is a big part of that so I'm really excited to be a part of the Nuunbassador family. All in all, if we were having coffee, I would tell you that I'm feeling pretty darn good about 2016 and where it might take me!

I've really enjoyed my coffee date with you and I'll see you back here again soon! I still have my goals to share - I came up with some really great ones this year and feel like I'm finally in a place where they won't just get forgotten (thank you, Happy Planner!!) and I will also be sharing my One Little Word for 2016 soon as well. And that one is also a great one that I think will bring me lots of amazing growth this year.

I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season and that you have kicked off 2016 with some excitement and planning for the future! See you again real soon!

The Time is...NOW - Closing Out My One Little Word for 2015

Ali Edwards does a fabulous job of leading participants through their word each year by creating a scrapbook or journal around their word. If you want more information visit: www.aliedwards.com 

I have shared before how I choose One Little Word to live out each year - kind of an intention or what I want to speak over my life in the 365 calendar days of a year. For anybody that is just joining this party my previous words have been:

2010: Peace (what a doozy of a word that one was!!)
2011: Quality
2012: Strength
2013: Light
2014: Courage

And this past year for 2015 my word was NOW. My Pinterest board for Now really came in handy and I found a lot of inspiration that I was more than happy to Pin and review often! So how was my year of NOW? Did I live my word? Did I succeed in my intentions?

In all honesty, 2015 was actually a pretty difficult year in some aspects, and totally rocked in others. It felt very up and down and in all the ups and downs I tried really, really hard to appreciate each moment I was in right then. Some were way easier than others! haha

I know I had lots of good reasons behind Now and how I wanted to get several things done during 2015. I wanted to be happy with who I was right now and quit focusing on past versions of me or dreaming about future versions. On this part I really do feel like I lived my word. One of the best live life now moments was applying for an ambassador slot with Skirt Sports - and BEING ACCEPTED!! I had absolutely no problem living in that NOW and have spent this past year developing friendships with a lot of wonderful ladies that I know will continue for many years to come.

Another living life now moment was brutally fighting for the success of my marriage. I won't go into specifics, and I apologize for doing the vague thing, but let's just say that I wasn't really sure my marriage was going to make it through this year. It did. It's still hard sometimes and there's still work to be done, but I finally quit waiting for things to change and started fighting for that change. I really feel like this was accomplished through living ALL of my words over the past several years. I couldn't have fought for the NOW without first living with Courage last year, or getting Strong back in 2012, or knowing that I wanted to pursue Quality in 2011.

I also took some NOW initiative and partnered up with my running coach so I could explore where my running could be better right now. I'm still feeling like I was faster a long time ago, but I feel a heck of a lot more like a real runner these days than I ever have before. I had a lot of early mornings pushing hard and pouring sweat on my treadmill reminding myself that I needed to just be in that moment right then and that the hard part would pass soon enough.

It may seem contrary, but I had a NOW moment when I decided to put school on the back burner for a little bit. Yes, I know that being in school would improve a lot of things, but I also looked at where I was right then and there and knew that if I began my next level of study that I wouldn't be able to put the effort into it OR other areas of my life that really, really needed my full attention. Basically I knew that being in school would be great for my future self, but for my right now self, it would have been death. I don't know that I would have survived this year if I had been in school. Over dramatic? I don't think so...I had to recognize that the current me wasn't able to do school, family, and work. So after the spring semester I took a pause and will get back to it next summer.

I enjoyed all the NOW moments of my daughter being pregnant and giving birth to little Gavin in October. I enjoyed all the NOW moments spent with my other 2 grandbabies. I enjoyed lots of NOW moments spent sitting in the sun during lunch hours, or talking with my bestie about unicorn powers, or talking with other good friends. I enjoyed lots of NOW moments watching shows with my daughters and sharing those simple experiences with people I love.

And as we close out 2015, I'm happy to say goodbye to this past year. I feel hopeful for 2016 and where it might lead me, but I'm grateful for all the moments that I experienced this year. Some were oh so hard, and others were oh so amazing...but no matter what they were happening right then and there and I chose to live them!!

I have my word for 2016 all picked out...stay tuned as I'll be sharing it soon! Thanks for the memories 2015...thank you for helping me focus on the life right in front of me...thank you for bringing new people in that have brought so much enrichment to my life...but most of all, thank you for letting me live it. I'm ending 2015 a stronger person because of the experiences you've given me!!

It's a Battle...a Fight to the Death!

You can't be involved in working out or fitness or health...wait, let me revise where I'm headed with this. You can't be ALIVE and not see all the time about the importance of mental toughness. You know, it starts early with trite sayings like "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." or "Life is tough, but you're tougher." They are endless!! And there's a reason for that.

The reason is because having the ability to be mentally tough is so important!! Seriously, there's much in life you simply can't do without it. And the thing is that you might be super mentally tough in one arena of life, but be super mentally weak in another one. For example, when it comes to being a Mom, I've always prided myself on being able to hold it together even through the super stressful things like injuries or illnesses. Where one parent might pass out at the sight of blood, I can stand stoic and calm. But where I struggle constantly? Mental toughness in my diet and exercise.

I know what I want and I'm willing to fight for it...right up until it gets hard. And then the hamster wheel of doubt starts to kick in, or the wheel of excuses starts spinning, and my brain all of a sudden starts believing what it is being told. That I'm "too tired and need a break" or that "one piece of candy won't kill me" or "I've been sick, I need to take it easy" or "what's the difference, you're never going to hit your PR goal anyways...it's already lost". Honestly, the list of doubts and excuses could go on for days because they are always changing, and yet always staying the same.

When most athletes are asked what their key to success is, it almost always comes down to mental toughness. The ability to push through the wall and keep going. Kara Goucher has bravely shared that she struggles with this same issue - the mental game. Some athletes are able to run for hours through a desert, while others crumble under much lesser circumstances. It would almost seem like mental toughness, especially when it comes to exercise performance, is something that you're either born with or you aren't. Maybe you're born with it, maybe it's Maybelline? If only there was a mascara you could apply that gives you the ability to increase mental toughness by 25%! The star athletes have it - that combination of natural talent and mental toughness to push through. You can't be a star athlete without some combination of both of those things.

But I'm not a star athlete and am not trying to be one. I am just an average person that has dreams and desires - things that are going to take FIGHTING FOR to achieve them and yet I stumble when it comes to the mental aspect. I succumb to the fatigue in my head that tells me that my legs are giving out. I succumb to the fatigue in my brain that says that I deserve to eat something I want. I succumb to the things that take me further away from goal instead of closer to it. Now, not all the time mind you...but enough of the time that it affects my journey towards my goals. Do I not want it enough? Is that my stumbling block???

There's a gazillion and one articles about how to strengthen your mental toughness...just Google it and you'll see for yourself. Be confident! Use a mantra! Visualize success! Practice it in Training!

But I'm honestly asking...what do you do when you use those tools and they still fail you? What's the trick here because I'm at a loss for how to keep pushing when my entire body says just fuhgeddaboutit. I'm at a loss for how to stop myself from thinking constantly about the candy in the jar or glancing at it every single time I walk by it.

I will say that for me it's a battle that sometimes is easy to fight, and sometimes is close to impossible. Sometimes I can spend hours of standing firm, and others it's a second by second battle. Am I a little overly dramatic when I say it's a fight to the death? Perhaps...but it's definitely a battle I will be fighting UNTIL death because I'm not willing to give up. I'll keep fighting this fight. There's things I want and I may not always know how to be strong enough to get them, but I'll keep trying to figure it out. Any help towards that end that you can offer is always appreciated!!

Seek a quality life, friends! Talk to you again soon...

Life Lately...

Good morning! First, let me just say Happy November!!! I seriously can't believe that we are already getting close to wrapping up 2015. It's been a whirlwind of a year that's for sure...but we're still not done yet!!

November is actually probably my favorite month of the year...the holiday season is officially in the swing of things and my favorite holidays are right around the corner! It doesn't hurt that there's lots of holidays from work on the schedule either! hahaha Many times I'm more excited for the time off than I am for the actual holiday. Kind of sad, but I'm just being honest here. LOL

I have a few races coming up too - this weekend is the Mission Inn 10k. I've done it the past three years as part of the Run Riverside Challenge and as challenging as it is, I do find myself looking forward to it each year. You can read the previous race recap here, and if you want to learn how I did the opposite of preparing for this race last year you can read that here. News Flash: I didn't beat my previous PR at last year's race and felt like I barely survived it really. I don't remember having fun that's for sure. LOL

From the race website - click picture to go to site.

But I will say that I'm going into this year's race feeling much more prepared for it! So there's that...the coaching has been very beneficial and that kick in the gut that I got at the completion of October's training cycle has proven to be very motivating. That and the fact that I really want a PR at the next race on the schedule...more on that in just a moment.

My plan for this weekend is to treat the race like a training run. It's a very hilly course so I'm going to do my best to control my running on the hills and focus on my form and hydration/fueling throughout. Because the following weekend is the Surfer's Point 10k in Ventura and that one is going to be my PR push!!

This is the first time I will be doing races on back-to-back weekends, but I do feel prepared for it especially since I'm using the first race as a training run for the second one that will be the push. My biggest goal for this weekend is to focus on how I feel at each mile and visualizing running faster and stronger the next weekend. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that the Surfer's Point 10k will be mostly flat...something I can't say ANY of my other 10k races have been! I'm looking forward to a flat race, finally. LOL

The rest of life lately consists of spending time with the family and just soaking in all that life has to offer. Oh, and work...can't forget the thing that pays the bills. LOL

It really is, friends...it really is!! Now get out there and have an awesome weekend and go crunch some leaves under your feet while you're at it!!

Stay in pursuit of a quality life!

So Much Has Happened...Meet Gavin!

Seriously, SO much has happened since I was last in this space. I ran the Hometown Heroes 5k a few weekends ago and enjoyed that race like I have the last couple of years - full race report will be coming. My new grandson, Gavin, was born! And I ran the Temecula Half Marathon - full race report to follow. I also got to try some amazing Hemp Hearts from Manitoba Harvest - full review and a GIVEAWAY will be coming. And there's even more exciting things in the near future...life is full of good stuff and I feel like a lot of the time the goodness is just overflowing, so much so that I'm soaking it in instead of talking about it all. *wink*

Since I'm going to be doing some race reports in the near future and a product review of the Hemp Hearts, today I'm just going to do a little baby sharing with you. I'm sure ya'll don't mind looking at adorable baby pictures, right???

Just for a little perspective, here's my daughter just a few weeks before delivering. She was all baby with that little basketball hanging out under her shirt.

Gavin Keoki Miyasato was born on Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 4:01 AM. He weighed in at an astonishing to all of us 8 pounds 6 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long.

My daughter was able to deliver the "traditional" way and with the epidural had a labor and delivery that was pretty standard. Nothing really major to report there. Dad (Curtis) was there along with me, the other grandma (Anita) and her twin sister, Michelle. So she definitely had a nice crew helping her through the labor process and Gavin got a very warm welcome when he entered the world!

There was a lot of waiting...

But it was all worth it!

Holding his Daddy's fingers hours after his arrival. The little dude is STRONG! And don't try taking something away once he has it...he doesn't let go. LOL

The new family settled in nicely and had a great couple of first days outside of being exhausted and my poor daughter coping with being sore and feeling like her body was totally foreign to her. It's always so weird to go from being pregnant, to being not pregnant in an instant. As your belly grows over a pregnancy you have months to get used to its changing size and shape, but then you give birth and it is just WHOOSH...totally changed just like that.

I think it's fair to say that the entire family is over the moon over the new addition! When Angelique first got to hold him she sat there singing quietly to him. I asked her if I could get a turn and she just looked at me and said "no" while shaking her head. And she was serious! HA! And Joshua loves his little "race car" - the nickname he gave Gavin while he was still in the belly.

We did have a little scare when Gavin had to be re-admitted into the hospital because he had some pretty bad jaundice. But just a little more than a day under the bili lights and he bounced right back!

And now he's back at home and definitely settling into this thing called LIFE! He loves to eat and is having no problem filling diapers left and right. He's sleeping pretty good most of the time too! We just love him...

And he even got to go out for his first visit to the Pumpkin Patch! I'm super excited to see this little guy grow through the years. It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful life can be and how a little bitty package can add so much awesomeness to it!!

Confessions...

Just kidding, just kidding...I *try* to live by them for the most part. ;-)

Okay, but really - I have some confessions to share with you. I confess...

...that I'm totally sucking at the blogging game lately. If I miss a few days it's kind of like when you have a friend that you owe money, but yet you always forget to actually have the money on you when you run into them and you don't want to have to admit that you can't remember the simple act of running to the bank so when you see them across the way out in public you change directions so you can spare yourself the embarrassment. It's like that...I don't want to admit to my blog that I've been ignoring it. Silly, right?

...I never spell embarrassment right the first time. It usually takes me at least 2-3 times to get it right.

...I've never watched any of the Shonda Rhimes TV shows. Yep, that's right...I've never seen an episode of Grey's Anatomy or Scandal. I know, kinda crazy right? It's not like I've actively avoided them, I just never got into them and then felt like the boat had kinda sailed already.

...Never watched any Shonda shows until recently, that is!! I totally confess that I just started watching "How to Get Away With Murder" and okay, I totally confess that it sucked me in from the very opening shots even though I would say I was a bit skeptical of the shonda-powers.

...I'm hearing the song Watch Me (Whip...Nae/Nae) for the first time ever right this moment (yeah, I'm behind the cultural touchpoint on that one too) and for the life of me do not understand what the heck is going on in this song.

Somebody that is more with it, please fill me in on this one because I'm feeling beyond my years with my lack of understanding here.

...I'm actually enjoying quite a few of the new Fall TV shows. I've been reluctant to get into new shows for several years now because I feel like they just retread the same things over and over again (see my confession regarding Shonda shows above) and to top it off, when I do find a show I really like it ends up being the one that is cancelled after only 5 episodes or something like that. But this year has some goodies!! I'm totally digging on Scream Queens, Limitless, The Grinder, Blindspot just to name a few off the top of my head. Scream Queens is by far my favorite new show!

...I really, really wanted to like Heroes Reborn. Like I defended-its-chances-to-my-entire-family-when-I-heard-it-was-being-rebooted, wanted to like. Annnnnnndddd...I found the first episode to be extremely uninspiring and boring. I started scrolling my Insta feed and that's definitely not a good sign. Oh well, they tried.

...I ate all the little Milk Duds boxes out of the bag of Halloween candy assortment at work. Every last one of them I ate all by myself.

So there you have it - all my dirty little confessions. Whew...I feel so clean now. :-)

What do you have to confess today? Tell me in the comments and I promise I won't make you do any hail Mary's. 

Monday, Monday...

Well, hellllooooooo new week!!! I have to say that I'm really working hard at faking my enthusiasm for Monday today. But sometimes, it's all about just faking it 'til you make it! Let's talk training updates!

Last week started out kind of rough! I had some fairly basic workouts on the plan from Coach Tiffany and the week before these workouts felt, dare I say it, easy! But this past week they felt close to impossible...I just felt like it was way harder than it should be.

Monday: Easy 3 mile at whatever pace felt good was the plan. How I felt was crummy...it just felt ridiculously hard and I ended up cutting it short.

Tuesday: 3x1 mile repeats on the plan. I did the entire workout of 4 miles, but it didn't feel easy a single time and I stepped off of the treadmill a few times to boot.

Wednesday: We switched it up a little thanks to my added fatigue so I just had easy intervals on the plan - warm-up for 10 minutes and then do 3 sets of 9:1 intervals at whatever pace felt good. I completed this workout and it felt pretty good mentally and physically to finally not feel like I was struggling to even move.

Thursday: Same workout as Wednesday (although I was supposed to do 4 sets of 9:1, but I missed that part and only did the 3 sets. Oops...that's what I get for not fully paying attention).

Friday: 20 minute walk. I loved this. Fridays are becoming one of my favorite days because I get that extra cushion in the morning and can actually go outside. I had an awesome walk and enjoyed being out. I finished the workout looking forward to my long run on Saturday.

Saturday: 1 mile warm-up followed by 7 miles at whatever pace felt good for 8 miles total; I could walk at the mile markers for 1 minute if needed. I headed out with Sally at 6:00 AM to beat the heat since we are still having above-average temps here in SoCal. I felt great for the first 4 miles and then it just felt like I hit a wall. I walked for a bit and felt a little wobbly like I had run for much further than just 4 miles at a very easy pace. I did 8.6 miles total, but walked a LOT of them after those first 4. I thought at this point that maybe my dinner from the night before was coming back to haunt me, or that perhaps it was Aunt Flo being the major PITA that she can be since she was here for her "visit". Wasn't really sure which of those was the culprit though...maybe even a little bit of both?

When I got home after running I did 15 minutes of stretching, ate a couple pieces of French Toast since my DIL happened to be making breakfast (runner's dream right there - coming home to breakfast!! Woot!) and then started up some coffee. And then I got hit with a wave of nausea...I thought for sure I was going to toss my cookies. I didn't but I got those cold sweats and weak feeling. It was not fun, but it did pass fairly quickly. Thought maybe it was just from the exertion of running or something and continued on with my day. I ended up getting a really bad headache and having a few more isolated bouts of nausea on Saturday and Sunday. So I'm thinking I must have gotten a mild flu and that's probably what was going on with me the entire week...my body was fighting something. I can't say for sure, but that's my best guess. I never did get physically sick, but my stomach and body felt "off" the entire weekend.

And today, everything feels fairly good so far! I really do think that I got a stomach bug. A couple of my co-workers had stomach bugs a week before, so I think they probably shared the "love" with me. Thanks, girls for sharing your germs!!! :-| But whatever it was, I'm hoping it's moving on now because I was really loving how good my workouts were feeling the week before!! I don't have time to deal with that kind of fatigue. LOL

My philosophy for this week is to beat the mental game. Coach Tiffany has me do a little reflection at the end of each week and this past week one of the questions was "Where do you want to be with your running in two months?" My response was: "I would really like to be mentally stronger in two months even if it isn't reflected in faster times. Faster times would be great, but I would love even more to be able to say that I'm comfortable pushing through discomfort."

So that's my push right now...I've got to find a way to break through the mental barriers.

Don't forget to enter for your chance to win a Skirt Sports Vixen Capri Skirt! You have until October 7th and can earn additional entries by tweeting daily! Have a great week everyone!