2017- The Year Of

It’s that time of year where social media is full of reflections on the previous year (mine is here!) and goals or resolutions for the new year to come.  This is not that post.

I don’t do goals.  Goals are a 4 letter word in my book, literally and figuratively.  When I first joined the blogging world and Instagram, I followed along, all the cool kids were doing it- why not me?  I tried, I did.  95% of the goals I set for 3 years were spectacular failures.   The more I tried, the more I failed and the more I stressed.  It was a vicious cycle.

The problem is that I don’t like goals.  They rate up there with the word “potential”.  I hate that word.    90% of the time potential is always followed by the word “but”.  I’ve told employees over the years that I will never use it in their performance review and so far I never have.     But I’ve gotten sidetracked.

Goals don’t work as incentive for me.  They work for some people and that’s great,  they’re just not my jam.   Fessing up to a goal free 2016 took a lot last year, I was afraid of the reaction.   That said, I think a goal free 2016 went quite well- most miles run in a year and I ran a freakin’ marathon.  😀😀 Yeah, I’m still on that.

So that brings me to 2017.  I may not have goals, but I do have a word.


2017 is all about the challenge.  I want to challenge myself, not just in running but in multiple ways in life.  2017 is shaping up to be an interesting year in a variety of ways but instead of letting it push me along, I want to do my best to be driving the bus not just a passenger.


This is primarily a running blog so lets talk about running.    In 2017, I want to Challenge myself with some speed.  I have never been fast but I used to be speedier than I am now.     I’m not putting a number on it, I’m not even putting a finishing time on it.  One race finish does dictate speed.     I let myself use my health issues as an excuse for far too long, I was too lazy to put in the work, whatever the reason was, it’s time to put in the work and see what I can do.

Right now I only have a few half marathons on the race schedule, Livermore and Destination Races Santa Barbara being the key ones.  I do have the crazy desire to run another marathon but the only one that really intrigued me was Revel MT. Charleston.  However, it’s April 29 and I just don’t think there’s any way that I will be ready to run it.  Plus, it’s in Nevada and well, that’s a drive.  😛  So instead, it looks like I stick with my 1 half a month schedule February to summer and then reassess for a fall marathon.   While I am Challenging myself this year, I don’t relish the idea of 20 milers in the CA summer heat.    😛  I’ll do it if I have to; it just doesn’t sound fun.

I want to apply Challenge to more aspects of my life as well.  There are so many ways that I need to expand my horizons and step outside my comfort zone but I’m saving those thoughts for later date.   The water hasn’t quite boiled yet.

So, 2017- Year of Challenge…

Let’s do this.

–Slacker 

Week 53 – Goodbye December

And just like that, another week, another month and another year has come and gone.   Busy 7 days!

Last week was interesting to say the least.     I ran!!  Some at least.  However, sleep was not my friend and by the end of the week it was all I could just to get through the day.  The long days.  But let’s back up.

Monday- 4.5 miles A day off work means I have to run right?  It’s like a rule, right?  I waited until what I hoped was the warmest part of the day and headed out.  The whole flu thing turned me into a big baby in the cold.  😛  Man, was I slow.  But I ran!!!    I thought I would feel miserable after such a lackluster month of December but other being slow, I felt pretty good.  I think I was just excited to be running.


And then Monday night.  Everything was normal until I tried to go to sleep and failed.  I tossed and turned and paced.  Covers on, covers off, sitting up, laying down, 2 pillows, 1 pillow, no pillows.  I felt like my heart was racing and I could not fall asleep.  I even texted my boss at 2:30 AM to let her know I may not be on time to work because of this.   Don’t worry, I didn’t wake her- I know she puts her phone on do not disturb but I figured this way she would see it first thing in the morning.   I was also hoping that taking that little stressor away would help me sleep.  Yeah, not really.  I dozed a bit between 2:30 and 4 but that was it.  90 minutes of crap sleep.  Sounds like a recipe for success, right?   I was up and oddly energized so off to work I went for a very busy Tuesday.

Tuesday night– more of the same.   What the hell?!  This was a slight improvement in that I think I managed around 3 hours of sleep.   Oh yay.  All right, Wednesday, let’s do this.

Wednesday night– about 4 hours of sleep.  Ok now, this is getting ridiculous.  By Thursday, the cumulative fatigue was adding up and I was fading.    Combine a day where we down 2 people at work, a vital piece of equipment broke and we were so busy that I didn’t get to lunch until after 3:30 and I was fried.   I had brought my running gear with me to go for a run but I barely had enough energy in me to just drive home after work.  There was no running that night.

Friday- Rest  Yeah, Thursday night saw about 5 hours of sleep and I worked open to close.  That same piece of equipment was still broken 1/2 the day and we were still down 2 people, it was a much calmer day though and we all made it through.  Woo hoo!  From there I only had one more work shift to get through.

Saturday- Rest   I wanted to run, I really did.   I worked in the morning- maybe my last Saturday shift?!?!- and while I had actually slept the night before, the damage of the sleepless week had caught up to me.  I was so damn tired.  My New Year’s Eve was spent chillin’ in my chair watching Netflix.   Party animal right?  😛

img_0413

That brought my December mileage to a stellar 14.74 miles.   I think that may be the lowest month since I started tracking years ago.    Oops.     That also brought my 2016 mileage total to 851 miles.  Highest number yet!


Sunday- 5 miles  My Smashrun politely told me that this was my longest run in a month.   I’m trying a new strategy with my long runs and while this wasn’t exactly long I figured why not?  I recently bought a book on Galloway’s Run-Walk-Run method and thought why not?   So I tried intervals of 3:00 run and 1:00 walk for this run.  I was still slow but I wasn’t miserable.  I also noticed that I had more energy at the top of the last hill.   Now, let me clear, I’ve been running for 6 years and I have never run this hill, just walking up it kicks my ass, I felt a little less tired this time though.   Granted it could have been a fluke.  I’m still not sold but I’m giving it a try.

9.5 miles for the week.    Not great but it’s a start right?  I have plans for 2017 so time to stop Slacking!  Ok, well not completely.  😛

How was your New Years?

How was your week?

Can you function on little sleep?

Happy 2017!

 

 

2016- Shiny and Dull

It’s that time of year again- time for the Slacker’s recap of the Shiny and the Dull for the year.


Let’s get the dull out of the way so we can move on to shinier things.  We all need shiny right?  So without further adieu, the Dull of 2016-

  • I lost both grandmother’s this year.   While one was kind of expected, the other was a total blind side.   Either way, both sucked.   I don’t handle loss well.  I don’t adult well in that way.
  • My identity was stolen.   That was fun.
  • 3 debit cards were hacked.  All at different times. Separate issue from above.
  • My credit card was also hacked.   And who the hell spends that much money at Whole Foods??!!?!
  • I added 10 pounds to the 10 pounds from 2015 I needed to lose.  Probably from a combination of my litany of meds and my reliance on chips and pizza as comfort food.  Like I said, I don’t adult well.
  • I officially DNS’ed my first 2 races-  Rock n Roll LA and Spooner’s Cove Trail Run.  Grrr.

Ok, ok, enough Dull.  Bring on the Shiny!!!!!!!


I started 2016 by kicking goals to the curb.  I do not regret that decision.   As far as I am concerned goals can get taken out with the trash.  They work for some people but they do not work for me.  I did not miss them this year and I will not miss them in 2017 but, oops, spoilers.  😛  So why did my goal free year work for me?

I ran 12 races this year.  6 half marathons, 1 8 mile race, 2 10k’s, 2 5k’s and a little something else😉😉.    Fewer races than previous years but I tried to approach this year differently.

As of the time this post goes up, I have run 850 miles in 2016.   100 more than my highest previous year.     Woo hoo!  Do I wish it was higher?  Sure.   Had I not had such a lackluster November and December I might have come close to that ever elusive (for me) 1000 mile mark.   One day I will get there, until then I can dream right?

I had the opportunity to join Bibrave.   Join a group of  runners where we can talk about running and races all the time??? Sweet!  I’ve also been able to meet some of them in real life except I’m fired because I now realize I’ve never taken pictures.  Boo.  I’ve had the opportunity to try some really great products too.    Which is awesome because I use a lotof them on a daily basis now.

I road tripped to 3 races- Huntington Beach for one and San Francisco for two.  I went to Disneyland twice.   This from the person who used to never go anywhere.  Woah there!

And that little something else race?

I TRAINED for and RAN a freakin’ marathon!!  This from the Slacker who said she would never run a marathon.  Not only was the distance daunting but I couldn’t imagine that I would ever stick to the training.  I am not the type to voluntarily get up early and run 20 miles on my own.  And yet I did and I was smiling at the end.  Ok, smirking.img_7233

Even more surprising was the marathon itself.  If you followed along during training, you know I was a hot mess in July leading up to San Francisco.  When I left for race weekend, I was seriously considering dropping to the half, I was still thinking that when I picked up my bib.   Then race morning dawned and I was cool as a cucumber.  I had no doubt I was going to finish… and I did.  Without hitting a wall.  Who am I????  Granted I was slower than I wanted to be and went over 5 hours but you guys I ran a marathon!   And somehow looked like that after 25+ miles.

img_7931

2016 had a mix of the shiny and dull.  I let myself get mired in the dull a little too often.  It’s something I need to work on.  Overall, there were some really Shiny moments in there though.  As for 2017?  More on that to come.

How was your 2016?

Name your Shiny?

Name your Dull?

 

Week 52- Christmas

Is anyone else loving the Apple commercials with Frankenstein’s monster as much as I am?  Random, I know, but I can’t help but smile but when I watch them.

While last week seemed to be prolific in writing- I wrote 4 posts!- it was less so in running.  No lies, I did nothing that even remotely resembled exercise.  I meant to but it just never happened.   Oh well.    I made through a full week of work, that counts for something right? 😛

I caught up on everything I missed while I was gone from work for 2 weeks.  I don’t really know anything more than I did before in regards to the merger but I am choosing to remain as optimistic and open about it as I can.    I did some last minute Christmas shopping.   I tried to help my mom with some last minute Christmas shopping.  It kind of failed.   We tried, though right?

Friday, I kind of felt like my day turned into a bad country song.  It’s not even that the day was bad, it was just a rough start to the morning.  Then I was delivering chocolates and cards to a few of our customers and realized that my old boots really need to be retired.  That same puddle I parked in rewarded me with wet feet for the rest of the day.  Then the end of the work day turned classic.   You know those scenes in movies when cars drive by and drench the person and you think that doesn’t happen in real life?  It so does!  One lingering employee caught the action and we just stared at each other in disbelief.  Well, she was in her nice dry car laughing and I was in a new puddle by my car.😔


Christmas eve dawned and it was freaking cold!  I was hoping to get in a short run before Christmas Eve dinner and movie but instead I helped my brother do some very last minute Christmas shopping.    Family had a very low key Christmas, comfy clothes, yummy food and movies for the weekend.   This year’s viewing choices were Sully, Star Trek Beyond and a Netflix series called Travelers.  Just the way we like it.   It’s been a sad year family wise, so it was kind of an odd Christmas too but that happens sometimes too right?

How was your Christmas?  or weekend?

Did you run? 

Best gift?