Healthy in 2017!

LOL yes, that is 2 years out!   But's that's the message from my doctor.  He doesn't want any sudden weight loss - just slow and steady (similar to how it was put on).  Given the amount to my goal weight, that will take 2 years or so -- so healthy in 2017!!!

This post may be a bit scattered - it's again been several months since I posted and there is much to catch up on.

First update, the secret goal was not yet successful - the goal is the same but the new timeline is Hikeapoloza .

Back to the doctor's visit.  It was a semi annual physical exam - my doc thinks yearly is too often so it's usually every 2 to 3 years that we do the full blood work, etc.  And the very good news is all but one of my numbers were good and most are very, very good!  The only number that is unhealthy is my weight.  So he suggested I go on the wheat belly eating plan where you cut out breads, rice, pasta, pineapples, bananas, and other high GI indexed foods.  This is a variation on the Mediterranean  Diet. My doctor's plan calls for eating this way most of the time and adding in one cheat day a week - the cheat day is important in his mind because it helps keep your body from fully resetting to the new diet.  And as long as its new your body responds bigger/faster.

So far, this is going pretty well.   I've have been changing my eating  habits.  I'm eating close to the plan but not 100%.  It's only been a few weeks and for the most part I'm getting better and better at it as I go.  New habits are forming, which I absolutely love.

And I'm back to trying to set little weekly goals - as you know if you've been a reader here, I do better when I challenge myself.   So here goes....

1) reach the fitbit goals every day this week- most important is the Active Minutes, followed by steps and miles.  Now as an aside the fitbit dashboard may not show the true results since I hope to start biking and the fitbit doesn't show any of those petal (steps) or active minutes.   This is due to where I wear the fitbit on my body.

2) 5 Salads meals this week - one a day for the work week, but depending on schedule and quick meal requirements (ie, eating on the go) this doesn't have to be one a day - as long as 5 get in for the week.  Five meals or until the lettuce mix runs out.

3) walk the dog daily - this is subject to the weather.  It's predicted to be a very rainy week.

4) Getting the Lawn taken care of - we're off to a decent start.  Monday I cut the grass over lunch and the weather looks like it will be good for me to spread the weed protection on Wednesday.  The bag needs to be spread when the grass is wet; they recommend first thing in the morning while the grass is wet with the morning dew.  But then it needs to have 24 to 48 hours of no rain.  So far, it does look like I have a window on Wednesday.  I'll continue to watch for it.  The dandelions are starting to pop up so its very much the right time for this to be spread on the lawn.   -- like the dog walk this is subject to the weather.

5) oil changed - this is overdue and I need to get it done. period.

There are a lot of other things to get done - there always is - but I'm starting with the focus on these 5 areas.  Anything else is a bonus.

the winds are a changing

Taking a few minutes for a quick status update and adding a personal (read secrete goal).

The plan is beginning to work; part of what I desired was a change in me in how I approached food and exercise.  I saw that change in action today - and in the venue of celebrating small victories I want to do a shout out and help encourage me to continue on this road.

Today I had the upset stomach from eating too little for breakfast and drinking too much coffee (caffeine) - I get that occasionally.   As per my usual behavior I started poking around the kitchen for something to eat.  Eating balances out the food to caffeine ratio in my stomach and resolves the upset stomach feeling.

I looked around and nothing looked good.  I considered making popcorn, as that is my usual substitution for chips, which is what I really wanted.  I considered having a ridiculously early lunch, which was a bad idea since dinner will be a bit later tonight.  But instead I ate some fruit (oranges) and veggies (the edamame pea pods).

That is EXACTLY how I want to change - going from wanting chips to instead eating fruits and veggies.

Yeah, this is day 3 so it's not that the battle is over. But this is a victory and it does need to be shouted out and celebrated.  Yea for me!

Secrete goal is the number 14.5 -- I'm not telling how this fits, what that measures, or giving you any other clue.  I'll keep this posted and updated as the progress goes.  It's not exactly what I would like - I'd love to blow past this goal and exceed it.  But I'm sticking with something that is both challenging and still realistic.   And I'll keep dreaming and pushing for even more!

Lent 2015 - working on transforming my world

I'm not sure where this will take me, but the journey always begins with a simple step - so here goes with some simple steps.....

I know I titled this Lent 2015 but these challenges are steps to a bigger change for me.  These may start with Lent and give me a time frame to track things, but this is bigger, much bigger than Lent for me.  Some challenges are more Lent specific than others.  All are steps in the right direction for me.

So here goes!

There are 6 and half weeks in Lent - 40 days if you don't count the Sundays.

1) Participate in 7 Lenten / Spiritual activities.
There are a ton of things that fit into this category - Stations of the Cross, walking a labyrinth, attending the Zion Passion Play, going to confession, etc
I think I can average one a week if I focus and make this a priority.

2) No purchasing of chips 

This is hard for me, and to be clear this is not no eating chips - it's no purchasing chips.  I can eat chips if it comes with a meal or at a party, etc -- but I can't buy them and bring them into my house.

3) Limited candy to the skittles on hand
I split the skittles into 7 containers and I can have one a week through Lent.  No purchasing of new candy - with the exception of some things for St Patrick's day.

4) 9 bags of frozen veggies 

This is a crazy non standard Lent challenge.  But like most Americans I don't eat enough vegetables. I first thought 2 bags per week but 12 bags in 6 weeks sound crazy, especially when it's just me eating them and a bag of peas can easily have 6 to 8 servings.   So I compromised and went with 1 1/2 bags per week - total of 9 over that Lent period.  Still a lot, but the point is to try to add them into more and more of my meals - replace snacks with veggies.  And to be clear, listing these as frozen veggies is just an easy way to count - but fresh veggies will count towards the total.

5) Be good to myself at least 7 times
Similar to the first challenge, I'll try to average one per week.   I tend to be too hard on myself and too cheap on spending on myself.   This is one of those longer term goals about needing to be good to myself and celebrate the small victories and celebrate the now (celebrate the season).  I need to make sure this is not only food treats and special meals, etc - just needs to be something I like to do or want to try.  

• There is at list one that is a food item I want to include - having a shamrock shake.  It's been years (maybe 10 years or more) since I had one.  I hear they are really different and very good.  Its time for me to try one and not worry about the calories - just to enjoy the very infrequent treat.  
• I also want to include a couple of movies - aiming to going to the theater 3 times.  That seams like too much and I'm not sure I can fit it 

5) Training

This is is the big one for changing my lifestyle into the type of person I want to be.  And is so very critical for the June hike with Luann.   I'm not sure how to start this.  I worry if I do too little I won't be prepared, and I worry if I try do too much I'll injury my knees and not be able to do anything.  So I'm taking a leap and committing to 4 times per week - that is 3 times with the Couch to 5K program and then 1 additional activity.  I think that is doable, if I keep focus on it.

So that's the plan - wish me good luck

I'll keep you posted on progress as time flies,

 

Kick starting (again)

well hello!  it's certainly been a while since I posted.

I've had a tough time getting myself motivated to make the right long term choices.  My exercise is sporadic, my eating has been less than great, and my overall attitude could use a little work.

There are a multitude or real and fake reasons on why that was happening.   I'm not sure I'm going to go into any details - that's in the past and let's let it go!

I have a friend that is a coach for Beach Bodies and she has regularly checked in with me to see if I want to join.   Overall I think its a good program but the key thing I don't like about it is the shake replacement meal.  The shake is on an auto-renewal on your credit card -- I HATE that; it often so hard to cancel those deals.  I'm still fighting that with the old Bally's gym that was taken over by Blasts.   Anyway, the other main issue - it this is really nothing new -- I know what to do, I know what to eat and what not to eat.... but I don't do it.   That is my real problem - I know it but I don't act on it.   Yes, her coaching and being in the group would help my progress.  But is it really worth the cost?   I don't know.   If it didn't have the shake part then I would sign up, if nothing more than to support a friend.   But the shake and its auto-renewal are making me lean towards 'no' once again.  

Instead I did day one of Julian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD today.  I figure I can do my own kick start on fitness.   I realized reading my friend's post on FB that she exercises almost every day to one of her Beach Body DVD programs.   I have enough exercise DVDs, and even some in VHS format,  that I don't really need a new one from Beach Bodies - and the other side of it is I am really so out of shape that I'm not sure I could even do a Beach Bodies program any justice.  Plus our library has 100s of exercise videos that I could borrow for free.  I have less than 20 days to Crazylegs (8K run) - I'm hoping the 'shredding' helps me get going again on the running.

I know I can do the distance.  That is not my issue at all - my main concern is reaching our goal of finishing it within 1 hour.   That's really only about a 12 minute mile - which I can do no problem when I run regularly.  But this last month has been so up and down for running that on those restart days my time can be at a 13+ minute pace.   That's the opposite of motivation and causes me to lose interest.   I hoping the shred helps keep my motivation high.

Yesterday I had a bad eating day - these have lately been hitting me in the post lunch time frame.  It's like my lunch never ends and I end up snacking from lunch till dinner time.  Sometimes I skip dinner because I'm full.  But it's not healthy and needs to be reigned in.  Yesterday I could actually feel my jeans getting tighter in the thighs.   It was the saddest of feelings.

And it may have been my rock bottom.  Today I feel like I need to do something, anything.   30 Day Shred is a good start.  Although it is demotivating to see how much I had to modify the exercises just to keep moving.   But Day One is always the hardest - I know it will get better.  

The nice thing is I already have several events that I hope will help motivate me - Crazylegs on April 26, BLS fun runs start (most Wednesdays starting April 23), Ice Age Half Marathon on May 10, HB Girls weekend in Milwaukee on May 16-18, and the June Arizona hiking trip.

I know this post is all over - but it shows my mindset - I'm all over and have a hard time completing and focusing on one thing at a time.

Wish me luck on this kick start.  I need to find my true north for fitness.

January Update

This is the first of what's planned as monthly updates for my 2014 Resolutions.   The hope is that having a monthly checkpoint will keep me accountable to myself and help me from slipping off the desired track.

 the Year of Use It or (and) Lose It
and my goals are:

• Lose 14 pounds - I am down 1 pound.  I think that is a good start.  January was a stressful month and could have lead to a lot of stress eating.  Also I was trying to clear out the pantry and freezer to prepare for my month away, so that was not as healthy as fresh fruits and veggies.  Overall this is a good start.  
• Keep bank fees under $50 for the year - I'm under but I'm already over half way through this budget ($26.08) in the first month alone!  Yikes!  I knew I was letting my quicken and bill paying slip.  I have enough automatic transactions in place to no longer get the dreaded late payment fee - but since the automatic payment does not necessarily cover the full balance sometimes (as it happened here) I get the finance charges.   I need to keep a better eye on this one.  Still good, but I've burned a lot of the workload already.
• Average $30 or less per week on Groceries - I'm well under this for January ($82.72) - mainly because of trying to eat from the pantry and freezer to clean out those areas before my trip so that nothing goes bad.  I expect the February number to be much higher because of the lack of a pantry for the rental - plus eating more prepared foods.  So I'm expecting this to even more out by the end of February.
• Average $400 or less per month on Household - This one is also well under (only $95.63), and again I think it's an impact from the Texas trip.  I was doing less shopping and trying to use up more from home as I prepared for the house to be empty for a month.   But since then I spent around $360 for lawn services for the year (prepaid to get a small 3% discount, but every dollar counts) so I can see how this category will have big swings in it from month to month.   
• Do not purchase soap before Nov 11 - I did purchase the planned exception for the after Christmas Bath and Body Works sale.  Other than that, nothing!  and I'm making use of some good soap I had been 'saving'.  Saving for what, I'm not sure.  But I'm glad I'm using it now.  It smells good and brightens my day.  

Overall a very good start to the year.  My world is thrown off by living and renting in Austin, TX for a month - I can see it affected, mainly in a good way, my January numbers.   I can only guess what it will do for my February numbers.

more on 2014 goals

Time to continue the annual resolution process.

Start with one of the most common and traditional goals - lose 14 pounds.  I was reading that you should limit this goal to 5% of your current weight.  This is slightly more, but I like having the goal be 14 in '14.  While I would love to lose a lot more, this is more realistic.    We are redesigning the Light Weigh group to start in January with on line meetings.  This group helped me before (but I regained weight when we stopped).   I've also restarted the running in the right way - I'm dong the Couch to 5K program with some friends through a facebook private group - this has helped keep me accountable and motivated.  I've signed up for the Ice Age Half Marathon again.   I'm optimistic and positive about this change.

Another common and traditional goal is financial based.  Overall my finances are in good shape - thanks mainly to delegating much of that to my financial planner.   But where I get sloppy is the more routine day to day stuff.   Last year I wasted about $175 on bank fees mainly on late payments - very frustrating for me.  I had the money.  There is little to no excuse for this waste.   So I'm setting the 2014 goal to be no more than $50 in bank fees.   I've added a 45 minute tasks every other week to my calendar to keep track of bills and updating quicken -- hopefully this will help to keep things in sync.   Also on my 2014 list is to get a new personal laptop.   The one I have is old and slow, and to be honest I know I would update my quicken more frequently if it wasn't such a hassle to work with that old laptop.

A third goal for myself is pay closer attention to my food usage.  I've been trying to eat healthier and cleaner - with less processed foods.   I also find I sometimes overbuy when its a good deal and then the stuff gets wasted.   I'm going to set a 2014 goal to spend $30 per week on groceries - this comes to about $130 per month (and note in 2013 I averaged $32.50 per week so this is not a big change) .   This is a bit hard to track and qualify because I don't break out my purchases - anything purchased at Aldi or Pick n Save is "grocery" and often those purchases include non grocery items - for example I just purchased 80 pounds of water softener salt with my last Aldi stop.    And anything purchased at Target type stores are Household, even if it includes grocery food type items.  Plus as I try to move even further from packaged food to more unprocessed foods it could have an impact on this number.   The ongoing resolution to eat cleaner is a higher priority than the grocery totals so this goal by go by the way side.  The goal's main focus is really to help stop me from overbuying and wasting foods. 

Last goal set up this one - spend $400 per month on Household.   The Household category is a bit of a catch all for me.  In 2013 I averaged $417 per month - so again this is not a huge change.  But in this category I also tend to over purchase, and with my on going goal to declutter the house - the year of use it and/or lose it - another tracking point will be to watch how much I'm spending on Household.  This number can greatly be influenced by the category selected - so I have to be careful that I'm not just reclassifying things out of the catch all category.   And up front I'm going to exclude a planned TV purchase.  The current one is about 12+ years old and is starting to go.   Normally a TV purchase would fit into the Household category - but I don't want that large purchase made once every 10 years, or so, to impact these numbers.

And don't forget the weirdest resolution ...  for the next year I will not purchase soap until Nov 11, 2014.

That should do it for me - so in summary:  this is the Year of Use It or (and) Lose It
and my goals are:

1. Lose 14 pounds
2. Keep bank fees under $50 for the year
3. Average $30 or less per week on Groceries
4. Average $400 or less per month on Household
5. Do not purchase soap before Nov 11

Those are the measurable goals.  I will (try) to post an update each month - that will help keep me accountable and also help me focus on the on-going numbers so that I can see when I stagnate and need more focus or need to change things up.  I have a google doc spreadsheet going to help me track this.

The unmeasurable goals are to live a healthier life - need to get back in shape for the hiking trip and general overall better health and to prepare the house for selling (declutter, organize and stage, and landscape).  This second goal is a long term goal - 3 to 8 years out.  But I do want to keep a focus on it and to have my annual goals help lead up to it.   By reducing my Household purchases this should reduce the amount of 'stuff' in the house, etc.

Weirdest Resolution

This is the weirdest resolution I've ever made.  But before I get it to it some background info....

I feel a bit overwhelmed with the volume of stuff I own.   I've written about my clutter before, and my attempts to reduce it.  I am conflicted by my frugality and not wanting to get rid of something that is still usable, and also conflicted because I still want to pick up 'good deals' even if I don't need it right now.  I've also written about my Zen side that makes it hard for me to donate my stuff when I'm not sure it will be treated with love and respect.  That's a whole different challenge to deal with. 

So back to the weirdest resolution ...  for the next year I will not purchase soap until Nov 11, 2014.

Weird!

I know - very weird.   But I have so much here and its time to use it up and reduce the stock pile.  I have a deep love for Bath and Body Works scented shower gels.  And my frugal side kicks in when the have a good sale and stock pile too much.  So I'm going to do something about it.  I'm not going to add more - I'm forcing myself to use it up. 

This includes the shower gels, bar soap ( have a ton of that too, especially gift and travel sizes), shampoo (I have a lot of travel size), and hand washing soap.   This does not include laundry soap, dish washing soap.

I can use it up, throw it out, or gift it away; but I can't purchase more until next year's bday or if I run out before that.  I will accept soaps when they are given to me or included with other items. 

I need to get rid of anything that doesn't work for me.  Some soaps try out my skin too much.  But it does me no good to keep them - so if they don't work then git them out of the house - donating, trashing, gifting are all possible options but they can't stay here. 

I am going to make one exception - holiday scented shower gel.  These do add to my enjoyment of the season.   And my frugal side kicks in to say I should purchase these at the super discounted day after Christmas sale.   Otherwise I would be purchasing them at full price around Thanksgiving - and that would bum me out.   So I'll do a check on what I've used up this year (I have more than enough for this year, maybe even enough for 2014) and see how much remains - then make a decision on if I need to purchase more for 2014's Holiday Season, or if it can wait till the 2014 day after Christmas restock.

39 and Holding

I played with my Wii Fit today.  First time in a long time - probably over a year, but I didn't watch the number of days between last workout too closely - I can tell you the it was 300+ days.  The nice thing is I was 13 pounds down from the last time I played it, and my wii fit age is 39 - 9 years younger that I am.  For

being obese that fit age is somewhat surprising.  And it's one of my problems - I am fit. So that makes me think my extra pounds are not that big a deal.  And they really are - I have to get my head around that fact.  I think once I truly come to terms and accept that - then I'll be unstoppable at losing the weight.  But I do continue to struggle with accepting that because I know I am overweight at the same time I know I am more physically fit, stronger, and more capable that many of my thinner friends.

Going back a bit, one of my returning volunteers (at the marathon) had lost 30 pounds since last year's marathon.   She did it by following one of the PX90-Guy's program.  I think it may have been Beach Bodies but I'm not sure which of their programs she used.   She is now working for that company and leading on-line support groups.     She sent me a message offering to give me more details for her next session coming up on November 4th.

I thought about it for a good while, but it seams like its another case of me chasing the next thing.  I know what to do.  I already have enough equipment, DVDs and tapes.  My problem is not knowledge, or equipment, or even time.  My problem is staying committed and following through.

So today for the first time in a long time, I pulled out the wii and ran the wii island - twice! Set a new goal to get me back to 'onederland' in two months (in time for Christmas).  The goal sounds small - only losing a few pounds -- in reality, it's not only losing those 6 pounds but also keeping off any new weight which tends to creep up this time of year with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all having treats and over indulgences.

The current plan - do the wii 4 days a week.   I'll rotate between the wii Fit, wii Active, wii Sports, and My Coach.  If things are going well - ie, I'm using it regularly and seeing results, then I'll reward myself with a new game or two.  Not necessarily purchasing new games - instead I'll look to borrow from family or friends, at the library - although my local doesn't carry video games and the library system doesn't allow them to be reserved so I'll have visit one of the others (Muskego, Delafield, and Sussex-Lisbon seam to have the most), or I'll buy from a 2nd hand store (half price books, game stop, etc).

I have found that small changes and commitments lead to bigger changes - it's the spiral affect, do something good and it leads to more good choices.    Wish me luck in making this small change and having it lead to bigger things!

My 'Year of Reduction'?

I normally do an annual review and set goals for the coming year.  I never got around to it at the end of 2012 because of a bad cold that kept me from doing almost anything more than I absolutely had to, plus this introspection is hard for me to do while I have a house full of guest staying with me for the holidays.  So I'm a little late in getting around to it but you'll see more about this in the next few days and weeks.

From one of my favorite bloggers, JD Roth at More Than Money, I found a link to Chris Guillebeau's The Art of Non Conformity and his guide to doing an annual review.  I plan to take some time and follow his approach - its not just setting goals but doing a meaningful plan to accomplish them.  And as he says, people tend to understand what they can accomplish in a year.  Planning can make it happen.

His review consist of a Review of the Prior Year - looking back what worked, what didn't work, and Outlining of Goals and Focus for the New Year, and finally Make Decisions in Support of the Goals and Focus.  My question mark on the post title is because I'm jumping to the Year's Focus already - year of reduction - without having done the other steps.   He warns that it is better to work through the process and see what goals you are excited about before you set your focus and push goals to fit it.

So I'm knowingly jumping the gun, but I'm expecting I'll develop goals for health (with weight loss being a reduction), goals for decluttering (ie, a reduction in stuff), possibly a reduction in mortgage debt (obvious reduction goal).  These are areas that have been on my mind and active in my todo lists so its reasonable to think this will dominate my goals for the year.

The other key goal, that doesn't fit so well into this theme, is working with Zeus.   Things have improved tremendously between us this year, but there is still so much to go.  Let me be up front about this - the problem is more with me than it is with him!  He is a very sweet and well behaved dog.   The problem is he is a dog.   And dogs take time and effort that cats do not.  I don't yet know how to live with a dog and still do the things I want to - for example, today the Ice Age Club was hosting a snowshoe hike through Laphem Peak State Park - something I would love to have joined.  But it was from 11 am to 2pm with socializing / bring your own lunch afterwards - so I would not have been home till about 3pm and then needing to leave almost immediately for a Rose Bowl party.  If I had a cat pet, then no problem.  I could have easily make these times work for me.   With a dog, not so much.  At somepoint in between those I need to feed him and walk him.  And actually getting out of the house this morning was delayed by two walks cause not all the bathroom business got done on the first walk.  It's not overwhelming and certainly other people have much bigger problems (in life and with their own pets) but its inconvenient and I have not yet adjusted my thoughts and actions to take living with a dog into account.   Some of this is my own doing - I haven't trained Zeus to go out by himself and I don't have a fence installed to allow it.  So I envision some goals and major actions on my part to make this better for both Zeus and me.   It needs and deserves some focus - this is the area that is keeping me from being happier.  It brings me down often so need some serious review and planning for 2013 to be better, especially because this has long term impact as I expect Zeus to live another 10 years or so.

Another potential goal that doesn't quite fit into a year of reduction is to blog post more - I'm thinking 50 post this year. Fifty sounds like a lot - last year was only 39 and a good 10 of those were directly related to the New Mexico trip and storing directions and links.   I feel compelled to have a goal like this to help push me to get both more open about sharing things and also to help maintain good writing skills.   I have that vague ideal job of being a movie critic so posting more seams to moving in the right direction.

Guess I will have to go through the process and see where my focus and interest really lay - because while I started with the what's been current on my to do list - with all those reduction items, at first glance I think I'm more focused and excited by these last two goals which don't fit the year of reduction. 

Milestones

Just a quick update on the weight loss progress.  I don't like to leave too many personal details out here on the web so this may seam a little nebulous but I know what it means and if you have questions, ask me!

Our St Joe's group has complete our first Light Weigh program and are about to repeat it starting next week.  Through the first session I've lost 10 pounds!!  That's a big accomplishment for me; I usually lose between 1 and 2 pounds a month - and this is 10 pounds in 14 weeks!! (12 week program plus I started a week early on Ash Wednesday with my own Lenten plans, and our week in-between the program on the back end.)  Very nice achievement for me.  Last year's shorts are no longer fitting me well; I've purchase new one and the new size is one "X" less than last year. Very nice feeling!

I still have another 35 pounds to go to get to my desired final BMI category.  That is too big a goal for me to directly focus on, I need to have some intermediate goals.

I am now within 3 pounds of my next weight lose goal of reaching the next level on the BMI scale.  I would really like to reach this goal before my New Mexico trip at the end of June.  Honestly, this is a stretch goal - I have about a 50-50 chance of reaching it.  It will take a lot of hard work and dedication to reach it.

Next goal is for the Houseboat trip and this goal is not fully set yet.  I would absolutely love to have lost 19 pounds at this point in July.  That would put me at a nice round number that would feel like I've made a lot of progress.  I'm down 10 but getting another 9 between now and mid July is just not realistic for me.  So I'm setting this goal as 5 more pounds - its takes me not to a nice round number, but a pound under a nice round number so that I'm under NNN.

I have a feeling the New Mexico trip will give me a temporary bump up in the weight so the near term goals are 3 more pounds between now and New Mexico and then losing any gains from New Mexico plus 2 more before houseboating.  These are flexible goals that I may change - they feel realistic and something that I can accomplish.   But I really would like even more weight loss and I am feeling like I'm in a good pattern so I'd like to take advantage of that good grove and set new challenges for myself if it looks like I can reach these too easily.  I have a long way to go and I want to stay both motivated and pushing to reach these goals.

Ultimately, I would like to reach my BMI goal category by Ash Wednesday 2013.  That would be a year of focusing on this and losing a total of 45 pounds.  I think it's possible and will be a great accomplishment!  Secretly I want to reach it by Christmas 2012,  but I think that is too much for me to reach by then so it is not an official goal but a huge desire.  I'll keep you posted on my progress and if we can pull this in.

2012 Summer Running Season Goals

Had another successful run this morning.  Still short and many would not see the success I see, but like beauty, success is in the eye of the beholder.  I had three runs this week; just like I planned.  None of the runs were more than 1 1/2 miles and all of the outings were less than 30 minutes.  A lot would claim that was 'nothing' but to me each outing was longer and farther, and consistent pace even with basically doubling the mileage each run.  This is the first week back at it since about last Spring - yes there were a few running efforts last summer but they were few and far between. 

I'm not upset about this slow start because it has shown great progress and it is very similar to how I started out running.   Back when I lived on Lake Harriett in Minneapolis I started by running from my apartment to the Band Shell, then a few outings later made it a loop - running to the band shell and back. This continued for weeks as I increased the distance to my turn around point: the band shell, end of band shell's parking lot, first dock, second dock, rose garden, and finally the canoe rental storage  By the time my turn around point was the canoe rental storage it was more than half way so the combined there and back was more than all the way around the lake - but it took me weeks before I was ready to run that full lake circumference!  And the first time I ran all the way around the lake I felt like Rocky when he runs up the Philadelphia steps.

I'm pleased with my restart and its time to make some goals for the season.

First goal is to be ready for the BLS Fun Runs.....what does ready mean?  it means being able to run feeling comfortable and confident for the 3 miles.  Okay...so what does comfortable and confident mean?  it means feeling good with running/jogging the full distance without need any walking breaks (with exception for a couple of the hills), it also means being able to finish the distance in under 35 minutes  The BLS like to claim that there is more than enough to go around, but in reality there is not enough bottles of water or the special food (ie, ham roll run, etc) for all the slower runners.  The faster people take more than one so there is often not enough left to go around.  My goal is to be fast enough to make those BLS fun runs be my dinner.   My starting pace is slow enough to affect getting things at the fun runs, so my immediate goal is to shave 2 minutes off my starting pace in time for the April fun runs.  Overall summer pace goal is to be a 9+ minute miler by the last of the fun runs.

Second summer goal is compete a long distance race.  I have the Ice Age Half Marathon in May, but my expectation is that I will hike that more than I will run it; although this year I would like to add some running to the course.   I'm open to counting this as any run of at least a 10K.   There are a couple 10 miler races in Chicago that look interesting, and there is always the BLS Cudahy Classic 10 miler.  Or another half marathon could be a good fit in September or October.   I'd even consider a full marathon if the time limit was long enough to have me walk parts of it.   Ultimate running goals include a full marathon but I'm not sure this is the year for it because once again I'm starting my spring running over almost from scratch.  The full marathon may have to wait for a year that I'm RAW (Running All Winter).

Third running goal is to run with Zeus.  This will take time and practice to get us to a mutual pace - he is a sprinter and I can go longer (but slower) distances than he can sprint.  He also has to learn to run and not stop at every interesting leaf or mailbox!

Right now these are my personal plans for the running season.  Simple and doable, but still challenging.   I promise to give an update at the end of each month through October.  Let's see how I do.  Good luck to all your running goals for the season!