An Evaluation of 2012 Resolutions

I made a ton of resolutions last December!

• Run 6 races (that is double the amount that I did last year)-Check
• Run an entire half marathon without any walk breaks- Negative, I only did one half marathon, and it was with my BFF/ Roomsizzle Kim.
• Complete a marathon in 5:22:30 or faster (beat my last time by 1 hour)- Did not even attempt another marathon, but I am registered to do one this spring. I hope to accomplish this one in 2013.
• Run a 5K in less than 30 minutes- Sadly, this is another flop. But I did set a new 5K PR! Run a mile in less than 9 minutes- Did not even attempt it.
• Complete a 25 day running streak- Running streaks aren’t really my thing.
• Meet my goal weight and stay there- Y’all know how excited I am to say that I managed to achieve this one.
• Buy a group fitness class pass and use it- I went a little overboard on the GroupFit. Now I’m actually an INSTRUCTOR!!!
• Try a hot yoga class- Tried it and loved it.
• Try a Pilates and spin class- There is not a reason why I can’t check this one off, but I can’t. I just never got around to trying these classes.
• Swim 450 yards in 10 min. (This is the time requirement for NAUI Dive Master certification)-I think I swam like five times this whole year, so it’s a big NO.
• Use a system to track my workouts- Nope.
• Complete a half marathon with my roommate- She was pissy and miserable the entire time, but we finished (barely).
• Donate a medal to Medals for Mettle- Not yet.
• Add 10 more reviews to my Book Worm section- Yep
• Try out and post 12 new recipes- I’m pretty sure I posted ZERO recipes and I think it’s to everyone’s advantage that my blog remains recipe free.
• Graduate- YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
• Find a grown up job- I decided to kick it in school a little longer, but I am teaching college classes, so we’re going to count that as a yes.

Some of my goals I crushed. Some of them I failed miserably. The next question becomes, “Was 2012 a successful year?”. My answer would be, “ABSO-freaking-LUTELY!”. The goals that I did not meet don’t even bother me, because they were not that important. I became interested in other things. Failure Schmailure. A lot of super cool stuff went down in 2012. Would I change any of the experiences that I did have in order to say that I posted x number of crappy recipes to my blog? Hmmmmmmm NO. I’m proud of what I did achieve, and I am able to go into 2013 with a clearer vision of who I am, and what I want out of life.

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Looking Back on 2012

January: I started regularly attending group fitness classes, and tried hot yoga for the first time.

February: I ran two 5Ks. One was FANTASTIC; one sucked.

March: I decided to apply to Grad school and started studying for the GRE.

April: I took said GRE and kicked it’s butt!

May: I graduated from college!!!

June: I went to my sister’s dance competition in Charleston and while at the beach I found out that I had been accepted to Grad School.

July: I was hired to teach undergraduate classes, and group fitness classes. I moved out of the apartment that I’ve called home for the past two years, and I said good bye to my best friend when she moved ten hours away.

August: I started teaching and met a ton of incredible new people.

September: I rescued this precious kitty, which started a war with my roommate.

October: I set a new PR in my sorority’s 5k.

November: I celebrated my birthday, reached my goal weight, and participated in a Turkey Trot with my sister.

December: I helped these adorable kiddos complete their first 5k.

This year has involved a lot of adjustments. I’m living in the same town, but I feel like everything else has changed. I miss my best friend, and my sorority, but I love my new jobs, classes, and friends.

My Christmas

When I was little, my siblings and I would open our presents from Santa at unreasonably early times. I’m talking like four in the morning. Basically, my parents were not able to sleep at all. Nowadays, my mom has implemented a new rule… No opening presents before six. This means that I was ready to rise and shine at five thirty, but waited until six to wake up the rest of the house. Yes, I was up first. I was EXCITED!

I had given my mom a wish list with about ten things that I wanted, but there was one item that I was especially hoping to find under the tree. I have been wanting a Garmin gps watch since I trained for the Chicago marathon, but could not justify purchasing one for myself. I marked it with five stars, so that she knew how serious I was about this. (FREAKING SERIOUS!)

And what do you know… BOOM! Adorable pink Garmin.

My first run with my new accessory was okay. My expectations were low considering my diet has recently consisted of too much sugar and alcohol, and not enough protein or vegetables. But what are you gunna do?

And since obviously I had no intentions of reversing this pattern, I followed up my run with some delicious recovery eggnog (the Christmas version of a protein shake-CLEARLY).

Twas the Night Before Christmas… and Santa’s not Skipping a Workout

Happy Christmas Eve!!! In light of the approaching holiday, I wrote (or I suppose I should say REVISED) a Christmas classic… sweaty style!

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the gym,
not a person was sweating or trying to get slim.
The towels were hung behind the counter with care,
In hopes that some exercisers would soon be there.

The treadmills were silent and powered down.
With visions of speed and going around.
And the weight room was empty of jocks making wise cracks,
The dumbbells and weight plates were set on the racks.

When out in the parking lot there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my workout to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Imagining I was racing and making a dash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my sweaty eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

With an awfully thin driver, so lively and quick,
I knew after a moment it was a fitter St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!
To the fitness center! Be careful don’t fall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So into the parking lot, the reindeer they flew,
With the sleigh full of work out apparel, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I they landed so quick,
I thought for certain Santa would be carsick.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Through the front door St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in lycra, from his head to his toes,
I wondered why he was there and if he’d be opposed to some photos;
He had a race bib pinned to his front and his back,
And he looked like an athlete, right down to his six-pack.

His eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The last of a protein bar, he held tight in his teeth,
And washed it down with a bottle of water from beneath;
He had a happy face and a very flat belly,
It no longer shook like a bowlful of jelly.

He was muscular and toned, but still a jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And turned on the treadmill; it started with a jerk.
After five miles, he wiped off his nose,
And dashed to the locker room to change his clothes.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“A GREAT WORKOUT TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!”

Goal Setting: Creating Quality New Year’s Resolutions

Goal-setting is a subject that I feel I have become intimate with while studying sport and exercise psychology. I not only learned about it in class, I actually taught strategies for effective goal-setting to my college students and the teenagers participating in the research study that I will be using for my thesis.

With New Year’s Eve quickly approaching I’m sure that many of you will be (or already have been) brainstorming your resolutions for 2013. I know I sure am. Last year, I came up with a laundry list of goals (some I met, some I didn’t). This year, I want to be certain when I publish my 2013 goal list, that I have put plenty of thought into my goals.

Most of us are familiar with the acronym S.M.A.R.T. I do want to mention it because it  is a great starting point when evaluating your goals, but I’ll try not to insult your intelligence.

S-Is your goal SPECIFIC? Goals that are very vague and general are difficult to work towards.

M– Is your goal MEASURABLE? A quality goal is one where you are able to track your progress.

A– What ACTIONS are you going to take to achieve your goal?

R– Is your goal REALISTIC for long term maintenance? We can all make dramatic changes for a limited period of time, but if your goal is long term you want be sure that you will be able to maintain those changes for an extended period.

T- Does your goal have a short-term and long-term TIME FRAME?

In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of a quality goal is not included in the S.M.A.R.T. acronym… How IMPORTANT is your goal to you? An analogy that my mentor uses every time he talks about goal-setting (and I mean Every. Single. Time.) is, “Think about when you were in high school and you were almost ready to get your driver’s license. Remember how excited you were? When you thought about being able to drive yourself, didn’t the hair on the back of your neck stand up?” A goal should have the same effect. Ask yourself, “On a scale from 1-10, how important is your goal to you?” If you did not answer at least an 8, then chances are it’s not all that important. Why waste your time trying to achieve something that doesn’t excite you? Chances are you won’t.

The same 1-10 scale can be used to evaluate how confident you are that you will be able to achieve your goal. Eight is the magic number here too. Remember, if you find that your goal is either too difficult, or too easy, then you always have the option to reevaluate it.

I know that people are in a goal-setting frenzy, and it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement. I hope that these tips can help you to set meaningful, quality goals for yourself that lead to a successful 2013.

School Stuff

Do you guys remember how at the end of the summer I was all, “Oh my gosh I’m so nervous about grad school!!! What if I’m not as smart as everyone else? And what if I’m a terrible teacher? And what if this whole thing blows up in my face?!?!?! BLAH. BLAH. BLAH.”?

Well guess what?

BOOOOM! STRAIGHT As!!!!!!

I had some internal conflict about whether or not I should post about my grades. It feels a little classless, but it’s my blog and it’s about my life, and I am really proud of myself.

Don’t get me wrong. This semester was not easy. I worked INSANELY hard, possibly the hardest I have ever worked at school. It’s just a good feeling to know that my hard work has started paying off.

Ready, Set, Run!

I had been debating on whether or not I wanted to participate in the Reindeer Dash for Cash this year for a few weeks. I enjoyed the event last year, but I just ran a Turkey Trot, and intended to participate in another Christmas 5K at home in a couple of weeks. Plus the t-shirt was not all that cute this year.

I mentioned my dilemma to my friend Emily, and she told me that she would be running in the race with a group of kids that she has been coaching for the past twelve weeks. She said that she was going to be responsible for fourteen kids and would love to have some extra help if I wanted to run with them.

I LOVE KIDS! So, that sealed the deal. I registered on Sunday morning and joined the gang.

There was one little girl who was struggling to keep up with the group. She wanted to take some walk breaks and the other kids were being speed demons. I asked her if she wanted to be my friend for the day and we could stick together- so that’s what we did.

She is in the second grade, her favorite thing about second grade is typing (she’s really good at it.) She is hoping that Santa Clause brings her a new kitten (preferably orange). Her name will be Kate. She talked my ear off the whole race.

It was a blast. And yeah, I did my slowest 5K ever, but you know what… WHO CARES?!?!?! That little girl was so proud of herself, and so excited that she finished the race. I was really proud of her, and thrilled that I got to be a part of her special day.