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! 

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... :-)

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!

FOCUS Grasshopper...

Ya'll know that I've been working with a running coach for a little bit now - Coach Tiffany with Thoroughly Thriving. And I absolutely LOVE it!! Having the guesswork taken out of the equation is so nice. And I really do feel like I push myself at least a little harder because I want to make my effort worthwhile. BUT at the same time, I know that I still slack off way more than I should. Sometimes there might be totally legitimate reasons for it, but really, 90% of the time that I slack is just because I'm losing the battle of the lazy brain. I know that. But you know how when you see some cold, hard facts it brings it all into FOCUS just a little more???

This morning I looked at my new week training report and this is what I see: Looking at October so far you've skipped about 28% of your workouts and modified 15%.

Just a bit of a gut kick on that one. I shouldn't be surprised that the hilly half marathon last weekend was so tough and I shouldn't be surprised that I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck for most of this week. Not when I look at the fact that I've totally and completely SKIPPED 28% of my assigned workouts. More than a quarter. And of the 72% that I have done, I've modified 15% of those.

So in other words, I've nailed 57% of my workouts during the month of October. Sure, sure - that's a little more than HALF that I've done. And that's not necessarily bad...BUUUUUUTTTTT, if this was a test, only a little more than half is definitely failing.

Why, thank you Dwayne - there are not truer words you could speak to me! And thank you for that dazzling smile while you're at it. ;-) haha

What it all boils down to is this. If I want to run a personal best at my goal race in January 2016, then I'd better focus and I'd better put in the effort. I can get to that finish line feeling like I got thrown down by The Rock in an epic wrestling match, or I can get to that finish line feeling like I just ran a hard race but that I just ran a race that I was totally prepared to run. And whether I meet my time goal or not - the real goal is just that - I want to KNOW that I put in the effort during training and that I really did leave everything I could on that course.

I will get there...and the effort and the focus start now!! My goal from my coach is to hit at least 90% of my workouts going forward. Okay, okay - game on, Tiffany!!

Question: How do you keep your focus on the goal?

Let's Talk Goals...

I would say that it has been way too long since I have set actual goals. Sure, I may think to myself that I want to accomplish x, or it would be awesome if I could do y, but I don't actually do anything to make a PLAN to meet those goals. So all they ever are is a wish. And wishes can float away on a stiff breeze; believe me, I know this because all of my wishes float away as soon as the going gets tough. LOL So it's a good thing that our Sweat Pink/Fit Approach blog prompt for this period is "What are your current fitness and healthy living goals? What's your strategy for staying on track with achieving your goals?"

Honestly, if Sweat Pink hadn't prompted this, I wouldn't even be thinking about it. Sad, I know...but perhaps you're in the same boat and need a little kick in the rear to think about your current goals and strategies for staying on track just like I did!! If so, then I definitely encourage you to create a list of your own goals and SHARE IT, because remember how I talked earlier this week about tips for beating the dog days of summer and one of them was to create a plan and write it down and another was to keep your goals in sight? Yup - turns out I could use a little dose of taking my own advice! ;-) So, I for one, am thrilled with this prompt because it's making me really take a good look at my goals in a SMART way.

I talked last week about my racing plans for fall, but I didn't necessarily talk about my goals for fall or how I am going to achieve them. Keep in mind that when setting goals you should be using the SMART method to ensure it is more than a wish.

So let's look at some goals for a moment...

1. My absolute biggest fitness goal right now is to work my plan from Coach Tiffany: S: Do every workout to the best of my ability on that day. M: I'm reporting back to her via our training document, so I'm definitely measuring not just if it got done, but the quality of it as well. A: Through baseline testing Coach Tiffany knows what I'm capable of and is giving me workouts that should be attainable, yet challenging. R: Definitely relevant as I have a jam-packed racing schedule and want to show up at my January half marathon feeling totally prepared and confident. T: January 9 is the deadline, and with a weekly plan being given to me I have mini-goals to accomplish each week that are part of the bigger picture. This is definitely a really good goal for me right now!!

2. My biggest health goal right now is to lose some weight so I can go into my half marathon in January a little lighter: S: Lose 20 pounds by January 9. M: Definitely measurable since there is a number on it and not just "lose some weight". A: Attainable - yes, this is totally attainable. It is just about 20 weeks until my half marathon so if I go with a very conservative 1 pound loss a week, that takes me right to the deadline. R: Relevant yes, because it will help me meet #1 goal above. T: Again, totally time-bound because it has the built in deadline of January 9.

3. My biggest wellness goal right now is to get a solid routine in place so I am in a better place to handle life's little bumps and detours: S: This one is a little less specific, but I'm going to go with it anyways because it is something that needs to happen. We had a lot of changes around our house with kids in school and people in jobs, and babies on the way, so getting a routine is critical. M: I'm going to need to dive into this goal a little deeper and give myself specific steps toward achieving the larger goal; such as have all big items on the calendar by Sunday of each week; do my grocery shopping by 3:00 PM each Saturday, etc. A: Again, a little harder, but I think it is attainable. R: Definitely relevant as if I'm on a routine I am much more sane and if I'm not sane I'm going to really stumble on goals #1 and #2. T: Eh, this one is tougher, but if I set some mini-goals like I mentioned in M then it will become time bound. I am hopeful that by the beginning of September I will have a fairly solid working routine and then I can assess how it is working throughout September and make tweaks if needed. I'll be headed back to school in late October so it is absolutely CRITICAL that the routine is highly functioning when that happens so I don't just keel over and die.

Question: What's one of your current health, fitness or wellness goals? How are you going to ensure you stay on track to meeting it?