Starting a New Year!!

 

I celebrated a milestone this month, I turned 50! I celebrated with family and friends but made a special trip to my little piece of heaven in Lake Placid, NY. This is my happy place. It empowers me and brings me a sense of peace. 

I shared the trip with 6 friends, we laughed, we cheered, and we cried with each other. We shared goals and empowered each other to reach for the stars and make them happen.

I made a list of what I want to accomplish within this next year:

1. Create Happiness

2. Finish School

3. Run a sub 5 hour marathon

4. PR Tupper Lake 70.3

5. Podium at a 5K or Sprint Tri

6. Start Hiking and explore more of the ADK Park (if Covid - 19 lets me back into NY)

7. Explore Western Mass.

8. Be at a certain weight by 10/19/20

I would also like to learn to make pie crust. 

I have challenged myself to be present with every workout. I have challenged myself to approach each workout with Joy and to push myself to be stronger and better every time!!

As I approach this next year I want to inspire ... I want to be better ... I want to be stronger ... I want to approach everything with joy and passion, personally and professionally!

Every year, every month, every day we have the opportunity to be better ... not measuring up to other individuals better but your better!

Bring on this next year!! I am ready to embrace it!!

Thank you to my dear friends who helped me celebrate this milestone!!

Being Patient ...

 

Being Patient is not my strongest attribute. I recently read an article, The Benefits of Being a Patient Person and according to this article Patient People enjoy better mental health...I don't know if this is true or not. The article also stated that being patient helps us achieve our goals. The author of this article quotes, "The road to achievement is a long one, and those without patience—who want to see results immediately—may not be willing to walk it". Now I have achieved a lot of goals but I still wouldn't consider myself as someone who has patience.

Back in January I fell on some ice that was covered in a light layer of snow while running. I ended up in the splits and aggravated my Piriformis muscle and my gluteus minimus. I went through PT and was cleared to run the end of February just in time to run a half marathon pain free. Since I was cleared this injury has not bothered me one bit until the weekend I ran my 20 miler. I ran my 20 miler on a Saturday and then did a 5 miler on Sunday. I felt sore on Sunday and Monday but didn't think too much of it. On Tuesday I headed out to run 6 miles and ended up only doing 3 because I was in so much pain. It was the same pain I felt in January. I tried it again on Wednesday and was in tears by the end of this run.

A year ago I ran my fifth marathon and finished with a PR 16 minutes faster than my previous marathon PR. This year my goal was to run the Hartford Marathon (October 10) and finish with a sub five hour time. Well while I sat on the coach, sitting on a heating pad in pain, a week ago I had a feeling this was not going to happen. I took seven days off from running and tried to run a 5K a week later. I completed the distance but I was in a lot of pain and probably wouldn't have been able to go much further. My coach has now sidelined me, from running, for at least 10 days (the day I was supposed to run my marathon). Next weekend we will see how I am feeling and re-evaluate if I should run. I have completed some swimming workouts and I have been on my bike. It is amazing how often you use you glutes in every day life. My glutes were inflamed after my most recent swim but thank God I am able to bike without pain. 

I realize I am not the only person who is injured or who has ever been injured but slowing down or

stopping is tough for me. There are some underlining psychological reasons why. The thought of starting over ... the thought of who I was over four years ago terrifies me (even though I see her in the mirror every day). I feel like the whole world is moving forward and accomplishing goals as I sit on my ass. 

But maybe I need to go back to that article I referenced earlier. Maybe I need to practice a bit of patience. Maybe I need to take this time to re-evaluate my goals and embrace my "why" again. I can take this time to be grateful that I can still bike and swim (kinda). Reading other articles and posts about goals setting, many encourage you to step back from your goals and re-evaluate them and come up with new intentions, since often your life changes or you may not be making the progress you thought you should be making.

Trying to keep going when you are injured is not smart. I know I cannot complete the distance or speed I want to when running if I am injured. Crying while running is also not a good look!

So I am going to try to be patient and listen to my body. And eventually if not better I may need to go back to the doctors (UGH). And I will try not to think about everyone else running by me or that I will be sooooo out of shape!

I will share one thing before I end. I was challenged 25 days ago to do 25 pushups every day for 25 days. By doing this ritual you would bring awareness for PTSD anxiety and depression amongst members of the military. I completed the challenge but then challenged myself to continue through the end of the year. I will not be posting a video on Facebook, as the first challenge instructed you to do . However, I will be posting updates on Twitter and here in my blog. 88 more days until the end of the year. My twitter handle is @keepmovingmaura