The Whole Me: Midyear Check-Up

I really (like, really really) enjoy the opportunity, whether at work or in my personal life, to pause and reflect.  I do this weekly, reviewing highlights of the previous week and setting mini-goals and focus areas for the coming week. I mimic a similar process monthly.

It’s this pause-and-reflect approach that keeps me on track. I'm tuned into my goals and my priorities, and I can make adjustments and redirect attention along the way.

So it seems like the mid-point of the year is a good time to check in on my 2018 goals.  It’s also a good time to adjust the goals as necessary, even if it means moving the finish line when it’s in sight (or crossed).

There’s a good mix of hitting some out of the park, tracking right on pace for others, and missing the mark on some. 

Health

1. Run a Half Marathon.

• Status: DONE! (read about it here)
• New Goal: Run second half marathon in 2018 in less than 2:07 (my time from my May half marathon). Signed up for half marathon in Newburyport in October

2.  Log 500 running miles this year.

• Status: 376 miles run to date. Hitting 500 is almost guaranteed.
• New Goal: Log 800 running miles in 2018. (*gulp!*)

3. A not-to-be-revealed-online “weight goal” that lines up with my birthday in July.

• Status: Nowhere near close to accomplishing this one, which is no real surprise because it’s one goal that I haven’t really focused on or approached with a plan. 
• New Goal: Adjust timeframe to Oct. 5 (anniversary date). And come up with a plan.

Mind

1.  Read/listen to 30 books.

• Status: 19 completed 

2. Disconnect from social media for at least two full weeks. 

• Status: Currently on social media hiatus as part of vacation week (so this post will probably not get shared until I re-enter the social media world). Plan another disconnected week for our family vacation in August. I need to be better at disconnecting, overall.

3. Write 25 blog posts.

• Status:  While I'm pleased that I've revived this old blog, I'm lagging behind here with only seven post completed (eight after I post this one). On the upside, I have a dozen potential post ideas documented in my journal.

Family & Love

1. 10 date-nights

• Status: 5 done, 5 to go (not including our amazing weekend away to the Rocky Mountains!)

2. Complete family photo books

• Status: DONE! I love documenting our family adventures and seeing the completed book from last year.
• New Goal: Upload photos monthly to make putting together 2018’s photo book a breeze.

I had some other goals documented in my journal that didn’t make my original list at the beginning of the year. I thought it best to focus on a few in each category. I checked in on those this week, too. I’m trending pretty well on those, and added a couple of others since January.

Health

4. Log average of 10,000 steps/day each month.

• Status: Achieved in both May and June, not in April (when I started tracking steps).

5. Run Feaster Five <45 minutes.="" span="">

• Status: November race

6. Secure top female spot on Johnny Cake Strava segment.

• Status: DONE! (read about it here)

Mind

4. Attend/participate in three development classes at work.

• Status: Completed (mEQ Leadership Mindset, Agile Leadership, Business Brain)

5. Post three articles in new places (LinkedIn, etc.).

• Status: Shared two blog posts on LinkedIn. I also joined the Working Parents Group to lead communication efforts for its Steering Committee. Have authored three articles for our internal online news site as part of this work.

Family & Love

3. One kid-free weekend away.

• Status: DONE! (*heart* Denver…)

4. Implement “no phone hours” 8p-7a.

• Status: Definitely a work in progress here… (this one could also fall under “Mind” but placing it here as a reminder of the importance of BEING PRESENT with my family).

These first six months have been a recipe of hard work, focus and intention that has resulted in some great things, like an uncluttered mind, a reduction in my stress level, continued success at work, improvement in fitness, and most importantly, so much love and laughter. Yes, you've been good to me so far, 2018.

Here’s to a great second half of the year, friends!

Finish What You Start

Four years ago, I had some lofty running goals. At least they were lofty for me. My running was strong – again, strong for me. I ran consistently and incorporated it into my life’s routine. I had completed two marathons and a few dozen half marathons. I completed my arbitrary mileage goals and consistently knocked out 100-mile months.  

So I wanted to focus on a new type of goal: time.  In my 2014 goals, I set out to run a sub-25 5K. Today, I can’t even recall how big of a stretch goal that was, although I’m still certain it was a big one since I remember reading articles and blog posts on how to break the sub-25 mark.

Runner’s World declared that “busting the 25-minute barrier marks you as a ‘serious’ runner. It requires commitment to more mileage and focused workouts, and can take years to achieve.”

As a middle-of-the-packer, I knew I’d have my work cut out for me.  

So I joined a local running club, and signed up for track. It was the early, cold months of 2014. Track was held at a nearby high school, where dozens of runners made their way in the dark evenings to do laps around the indoor track with support of a coach and workout plan.

Each Tuesday we were to meet at 6:30 p.m. for group drills. The first week, we did a timed mile.  On the second week, a wave of nausea came over me. It felt like extreme car sickness that just wouldn’t go away. A day or so later, I found out I was pregnant.

I knew women could run through pregnancy, and I had every intention of doing so. But I wondered if running hard – like I’d need to push myself in track – was wise for a newly forming baby.  Plus I just couldn’t shake that nausea. I skipped a week of track. Then another.

I decided to skip the rest of the session, in favor of reading everything I could about growing a healthy baby, and following most of it. The decision on whether to focus on a sub-5K or the baby was an easy one.

I jumped in fully to being a mom-to-be.

In October 2014, we welcomed a healthy baby girl, Lily, who forever changed our world for the better.  A little less than two years later, her sister, Sadie, joined the crew, showing us that our hearts’ capacity for love could grow when we didn’t think we could love any more than we already did.

In those early days and months, I dabbled in running but shelved the idea of “big” running goals while I muddled my way through new motherhood, then through the working mother world. My running goals became simpler: find ways to incorporate running into this new crazy life, run a Mother’s Day 3K on my first Mother’s Day, and enjoy the short window of life where I could push my new little ones in a jogging stroller while they slept.

As I set out my 2018, I knew I wanted to incorporate running into my life again in a more intentional and focused way. I bought a new Garmin, and set a goal to run a half-marathon and a longer-term goal to complete 500 miles this year. Both would require consistency and focus. Just what I needed.

I followed the local running club on Facebook to keep up with the local scene. A post about early-morning spring track caught my eye.

This could be my chance to finish what I started.

I’m a finisher by nature. If I do something, I do it fully. And on time.

So bailing on track four years ago has stuck in my mind. Not quite a failure, but definitely unfinished business. I knew evening track was out of the question. Adding anything into the intensity that is the after-work hours is unthinkable. But early mornings? Maybe.

Just how early are we talking? The coach’s instructions called for runners to arrive by 5 a.m. to warm up on their own. Group warm-up would start a 5:15 a.m., followed by the day’s track workout. I’d be home before 6:45 a.m., just in time to jump into the morning routine at home.

I set my alarm for 4:15 a.m. on a Tuesday in early May. 4:15 a.m.?? Who does this? A better question would be, why am I doing this? I wasn’t training for anything. I quickly learned that I was like most of the other 15 or so people who showed up at sunrise each week.

We were mostly women, none of us really training for anything in particular. Most were like me, just wanting to improve, to push ourselves, to run with others, and to learn.

Day 1 started with brief introductions, led by Coach Sharon, followed by a timed mile. My mile ended at 7:48, which I felt pleased with. We were grouped by like-abilities, and I ended up in the Purple Group. The workouts varied weekly, and we sometimes did laps focused on form and breathing. I felt myself improving and learning. I pushed myself to hit the time targets.

Most importantly, I felt AMAZING after they were done. I felt so energized and accomplished. I felt strong. My head was clear. My legs were just the right kind of tired. Between the warm-up and workout, I usually logged 4-5 miles, at paces above my average. All before 6:30 a.m.

The eight weeks passed quickly, in total and the minutes of each weekly session. I noted that it didn’t rain on a single Tuesday in May or June, except maybe the Tuesday track I missed in favor of a trip to Colorado.

My non-track runs were improving. My paces improved. I felt strong and steady.

On the final week, we ran another timed mile. I hoped for marked improvement, given how I’d been feeling and running. As I passed by the timer’s clock (yes, there is an actual clock), I noted my time: 7:47. I had improved by one second. One second?!

At first I started to question why I’d gotten up so early and put in the energy each week. The thoughts were fleeting, though, as I remembered how much my running had improved, overall.  I couldn’t let one day of testing reflect the effort and performance.

But it wasn’t just about improving. It was about finishing what I started, even if it took me four years.

I had barely started my internal celebration when I saw the announcement that summer early morning track would be starting in two weeks.

So I signed up, committing to a summer of weekly 4:15 a.m. wake-up calls. After all, I may have been checked the track program off my to-do list, but that sub-25 5K is still lingering out there…