14 Challenges in 2014

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2014 Challenge, Barre, Biking, Exercise, Mental Health, Pilates, Plank, Planks, Race, Racing, Relationships, Running, Self Care, Walking, Wellness

I’ll be back tomorrow with another post about my trip to Ecuador… 

Last year I set 13 challenges for myself for the year, and I loved having these to push myself throughout the year. Why challenges? I want to give myself the freedom and room to take new paths for myself that may arise throughout the year. I like the freedom as well as determination that a challenge gives. So, because I loved it so much last year, I am setting 14 challenges for myself this upcoming year:

1. I challenge myself to run 200 miles. Again, I shoot very low, knowing that I get injured easily. I would love nothing more than to have 500+ mile years, but I know this isn’t practical for myself.
2. I challenge myself to walk 275 miles.  I enjoy walking, and used to walk much more than I do now. 275 might still be high, depending on how my fitness plays out throughout the year. I refuse to give up what I WANT to do just to meet a certain number.
3. I challenge myself to bike 900 miles. This would solidly mean the highest biking mileage I’ve ever done in a year before, so we’ll see if I can make this happen. I would be solidly happy with 700+ miles for the year.
4. I challenge myself to 75 hours of pilates. This is pretty much hardly over an hour a week, which I think is reasonable. I’ve never kept track of how many hours I’ve done pilates in a year before, so we’ll see how this one goes! I love pilates though and think that it’s incredibly beneficial for life. (I’m counting reformer, mat, and barre pilates here)
5. I challenge myself to 250 minutes of planks. I chose 250 minutes of planks last year, and I felt like that number was pretty reasonable. Instead of trying to go up (because…why?) I decided to keep it at a number I was happy with for the year.
6. I challenge myself to run 10 races for the year. Like 2013, these races can be in person or virtual, but I’d like at least 5 of them to be in person!
7. I challenge myself to read at least 14 books. Just like the books I read in 2013, I want them to be a mix of fun, health, and educational.
8. I challenge myself to go through all the clothes that I own. I almost feel like I’m cheating with this one since it was on my list from last year, but making it a challenge somehow made it more fun (and a little easier to part with clothes). I want to continue to make space in my closet for the clothes that I really wear.
9. I challenge myself to continue to be present. I talked about the benefits of being present last January, and I felt like it was really healthy for me throughout the year. This one is a huge priority throughout the year for me.
10. I challenge myself to continue to hunt for provisions and blessings (continuing to develop gratitude in my life). I will write down at least once a week what I am thankful for (I’ve officially started a specific gratitude journal for the year), and will continue to hunt throughout the week for the things I’ve been provided. I really feel like this makes a huge difference in mental health.
11. I challenge myself to read the entire Bible this year. I’m pretty sure that I’ve read it all in bits and pieces, but I’ve never read the entire thing in a condensed amount of time. This one will be an average of maybe 15ish minutes every day, although obviously there will be somedays that I’ll have to play catch up for other days that I’ve missed. This one has already been interesting so far.
12. I challenge myself to publish an article this year. 
13. I challenge myself to put more time and energy into friendships and relationships. This is something that I have really done in the past 3 months, and I want to continue to make this a priority in my life. This involves both keeping up with a few close friends from my past, current friendships, and maybe making a few new friends as well!
14. I challenge myself to be brave. Brave (or courage) is my word for the year, and while this probably deserves an entire post of it’s own, I thought I’d throw it out there anyways. I want to continue to push myself to be brave in any area of my life…

So, that’s it-my 14 challenges for the year. Obviously, like I mentioned on my final update for my 13 challenges, I am giving myself the freedom and space to take the year however it comes. I have no idea what the upcoming year holds, so I don’t want to make my goals to rigid. So- here’s to a great 2014 for my own personal growth, and it’ll be interesting to see how it all turns out!

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s a challenge for yourself for the upcoming year (or month or week- you can choose!)?

September Recap & October Goals

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Exercise, Half Marathon, Health, Plank, Race, Running, Self Care, Training

Happy October! It’s time to fully embrace all that is fall in my life and enjoy this season for what it is! It seems like a long time ago that I sat down to type my August Recap. September was a very full and busy month, and October is looking like it will be even busier and crazier (including a trip to Europe!). Here’s a look back at this past month:

• Training is now well underway for my 2nd half marathon. This is what my training looked like: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, and Week 5!
• I celebrated Labor Day by resting and having fun!
• I had to work through a stressful situation. While I can’t go into details about it on the blog, I talked about one of my favorite ways to help decrease stress: by exercising!
• In September we hit the 11 year anniversary of September 11th. I talked about my trip to the 9/11 memorial this past April and how that changed the day for me.
• I became a Sweat Pink Ambassador!
• I talked about two fantastic runs I had: a 6 miler and a 7 miler.
• I celebrated my 1 year blogiversary!
• I talked about the benefits of having an exercise partner.

September, while the weeks seemed to fly back, actually seems like a long month. Like I said, I’m really looking forward to October. I get to see my family, I’m attending Homecoming at the college I attended, I’m going to Europe, and it’s my final few weeks of training before my second half! So much excitement, but it will also include the stress that comes with being busy and actively on the go. That being said, I want to stay as healthy as I can this month. Here are a few goals:

• Get back to doing planks regularly. I used to do them almost every time, but I got out of the habit this summer. My goal for this month is 30 minutes of planks.
• Sleep! While I can’t always control this while I’m traveling, and I can’t force myself to sleep at night, I will try to be as healthy with sleep as I can. This will involve being in bed for 8 hours a night, even if I can’t sleep.
• Staying healthy and feeling good while traveling also involves staying hydrated. I will drink 8 cups of fluid each day, more if I’ve worked out a lot that day.
• Enjoy Europe and focus on living in the moment!
• Ice, foam roll, and stretch after every.single.workout.
• Avoid injury, take rest days, and be smart about training for my half marathon.

There you go: a look back at September and looking forward throughout October! This month is all about balance and health for me as I train and travel throughout these weeks.

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s one accomplishment you had from September? What are you most looking forward to in October? How will you try to maintain balance this month? 

Recent Eats

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Cooking, Food, Plank

This is actually much more of a “What I Ate Wednesday” post. Today was a pretty typical day, minus a few foods I’m currently out of. I need to go to the grocery store, but I don’t like going during the week if I can avoid it.

Breakfast: 10 ounces orange juice, 16 ounces combined coffee & almond milk (unpictured)

Mid-Morning Snack: 4-5 handfuls of mixed nuts (unpictured)

Lunch: Whole Wheat & Flax Wrap w/hummus, ham, and spinach, 1 apple, Blood Orange Chobani

Lunch almost always consists of a sandwich, 1 pice of fruit, and yogurt. Sometimes a soup or other “main dish” replaces the sandwich

Late Afternoon Snack: 1/2 Lemon Luna Bar to get me through my run after work

Dinner: 2 eggs with fresh spinach, ham, and red onion w/nutritional yeast on top, 10 ounces orange juice, and canned pineapple slices

My lunch and dinner was made up of many similar items although this rarely happens. The pineapple slices I had in the back of my cupboard, and I’m out of all other fresh fruit except for apples. There will be some pre-bedtime snack, but I’m undecided on this right now.

And that’s a sort of typical day for me, although definitely on the boring end of what I eat. I try to have a banana or something like that for breakfast, but again, I’m out.

In other news, today starts the Plank Challenge that I’ve set for myself this month. I will be doing 45-50 minutes of planks this month! Does anyone else want to join in with me?

Now you get to share: Do you eat breakfast, drink something for breakfast, or skip it all together? What’re your favorite snacks to eat throughout the day? Do you have a plank goal for yourself this month?