There are awards?

An interesting thought came up in a conversation today.

In my 5K race on Saturday, I placed 662 out of 779 people. I was 51 out of 63 in my age division.

This got me to thinking...why do runners race?

I can't speak for all runners, but I can speak for myself (and we'll use the term 'runner' loosely here). I entered this race not to win the overall race or to win one of the three awards given in my age division. I entered this race to REACH A GOAL. I entered to cross it off my bucket list. I entered it as part of the overall goal to lose weight.

But most of all, I entered it to know that I could race a 5K.

So often, we hear that people only enter a competition to win. And when they don't win, they're disappointed.

Of course you're disappointed - you had no other reason to enter the race than to win. And when you come in 662 out of 779, you're going to be extremely disappointed. When you come in 4 out of 779, you'll be disappointed because you didn't receive a little trophy.

But if you enter the race to finish; if you enter it to reach a personal goal; if you enter it to take a step towards a bigger goal, then there is NO WAY you can be disappointed if you finish. And the best part? Even if you didn't finish, you still tried and made the effort. And I bet you learned something from it.

For all of you who don't think you can do something, or think that since you're not going to win, you're not going to play, I urge you to consider to think again. I told myself for years that I wasn't a runner and I finished my first 5K this past weekend.

Show the world what you're made of, and go out there and do it. Learn from it. And do it better the next time.

"No, maybe I can't win. Maybe the only thing I can do is just take everything he's got. But to beat me, he's going to have to kill me. And to kill me, he's gonna have to have the heart to stand in front of me. And to do that, he's got to be willing to die himself. I don't know if he's ready to do that. I don't know." - Rocky IV

Week Two, Days 6 and 7

So, I'm back at it again.

Friday was a bit of a slow day, after having been off since Sunday due to illness. However, I think I did ok even though it was a walk. I took Dakota out because she's been kind of cooped up all week.

Stats from Friday, Day 6:

1.73 miles

25:47 minutes

161 calories

4.0 miles/hour

Today, I had to try to get a quick walk in before I took off to work Texas Hold 'Em. It was pretty decent though because I jogged 5 1/2 minutes out of about 29 minutes.

Stats from Saturday, Day 7:

2.05 miles

29:15 minutes

191 calories

4.2 miles/hour

Tomorrow is walk day, but I'm going to see how it goes. Right now, I'm doing fairly well in how I'm feeling, just a little tired (and sunburned from the Easter Egg Hunt and walking earlier today). Not too shabby though!

Stuck

This week has been similar to last week - feeling a bit stuck. However, there's been a bit of forward movement. My apartment looks a bit less cluttered and I got rid of a lot of stuff.

But as I get on the scale each morning, I'm noticing a trend - I'm hovering around 170, +/-1. Huh, that seems like it could be a political poll result. The interesting thing about this revelation is that so far, I'm ok with it. I know I need to get back to riding my bike and going to yoga, but other than that, I'm not freaking out that I'm not losing anything (I think I'm a bit happy I'm not gaining anything!).

So - the question I've been trying to answer is how to get motivated. I don't have the freaking out motivation to lose weight (by getting on the bike, etc.), but I want to start being active again...so says my brain.

I also need motivation to clean my apartment more (finally started again this week), submit even more job applications (I feel like it's never enough, especially lately) and I need to start being more productive with my time (instead of wasting away online doing NOTHING).

As I'm on my search for motivation - where do you find yours?

Book Goal for 2011

I posted this on Facebook recently - I added a few more to it, and I need one more to make it 15 on a list, and 15 to pick randomly throughout the year. Do you have suggestions for what #15 should be?

I decided that in 2011, I'm planning on reading 30 books. This is on par with what I've read this year (currently at 27, two in the works). I have a hard time sticking to a list - I've tried it before, but then other things come out and I want to read those. So, this year, I'm going to do a hybrid list. Some of them will be chosen books to read throughout the year, the rest can be chosen as I go along. See below for the "pre-determined" books so far...


1) The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett (re-read)

2) World Without End - Ken Follett

3) Full Frontal Feminism - Jessica Valenti

4) Speaking the Unspeakable - Margaret Abraham

5) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

6) Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

7) What is the What - Dave Eggers

8) The Passage - Justin Cronin

9) Freedom - Jonathan Franzen

10) The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin

11) Big Girls Don't Cry - Rebecca Traister

12) The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood

13) Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel

14) A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

15) ?

Goal Update, Week #2

So after a good start to the week, I end not having much going on in the way of my goals. Here's a rundown:

#1 - Yeah, never got there. Thanks to 5 days of primary action, I was dead to the world on Wednesday. Try again.

#2 - I actually did this - took my notebook with me everywhere. It made me a little more conscious this week, but with everything going on, still didn't eat as well as I should have.

#3 - Completed this one too. Keep hoping that I don't finish "Catching Fire" until closer to the 24th, but I don't think that's going to happen.

#4 - After being down 1 pound in week 1, I went back up .8lbs in week to. So net loss is -.2. Still down, darn it!

#5 - Yeah, only made it 3 times this week. If you don't count all the walking done on Monday/Tuesday. But I did make it through the entire cardio kickboxing class on Monday night!

Even though I'm not being completely successful, it's nice to have something to work towards and check in with. So, onward I go.

Good news though - had a doctor's appointment on Monday, and I was down 10 lbs. since my last appointment in early April. Not too shabby.

Goals

New Year's is not the only time to set new goals for yourself I usually don't stick with them anyway. However, with the help of an online tracking system at www.chooseyou.com (American Cancer Society), I have made 5 small short term goals.

#1 - Go to yoga class 2 times per week. (Starting 7/23 and ending 9/3)

#2 - Keep track of all snacks, meals & drinks by logging what I eat each day. (Starting 7/23 and ending 10/15)

#3 - I will read 30 minutes each day. (Starting 7/23 and ending 10/15)

#4 - Lose 10 lbs. in 10 weeks. (Starting 7/23 and ending 10/1)

#5 - Exercise 4 days per week. (Starting 7/23 and ending 9/3)

I will make updates on my blog also each Friday for these goals.

I do have one long term goal that I want to figure out how to get to. I've always wanted to go to France, so I hope within 5 years, I will be able to do so. Let's see how this one will get done!

Goals for the week ahead...

I think there are a lot of them, and I'll probably only accomplish half, but oh well!

First, for the menu:

Monday:
Lunch: Chef Boyardee (you're sensing a pattern, right?)
Dinner: Hot Dogs and chips

Tuesday:
Lunch: Chef Boyardee
Dinner: Sushi with the girls!

Wednesday:
Lunch: PB&J (been kinda craving it for awhile!), chips, applesauce
Dinner: Asian Fried Rice (at home)

Thursday:
Lunch: Leftover Asian Fried Rice
Dinner: Fish sticks and fries

Friday:
Lunch: Breakfast Burrito (ok, breakfast and lunch!)
Dinner: Out - Reno's West

My other goal is to get on the exercise bike for a minimum of 30 minutes each night this week.

And last, but not least, I will finish the book Eclipse this week...

Goals

Last night, I was driving back to Lansing from Muskegon. What normally happens during this drive is that my brain goes a mile a minute. It's when I wish that I had a notepad that would write for me.

However, a few things that I remember thinking during the drive were mostly about goals that I want to set for myself for the rest of the year.

So, here goes:

1) I would like to lose 10 pounds by May 1st. I think this is doable. Especially after I get back on the exercise bike. The holidays really threw me off, and I haven't jumped back on since then.

2) I will participate in Master Speak Up this year. This is a Jaycee competition, and basically, writing and giving a speech based on a given topic. I have to try to overcome my fear of public speaking, and while I've made strides in this, I need to do more.

3) I will become a 7th degree Jaycee. Currently, I am a 2nd degree, but I went through the other night and documented up to 5th degree. So, I will turn those in, and then earn 2 more this year.

4) I will try not to vent so much. There are times when very little things annoy me, and sometimes I tend to vent and not think about it first. So, I will make attempts to keep my trap shut!

5) I will read again...I've already started this, with Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore.



What are your goals? Do you have anything you'd like to accomplish this year?

So much for goals...

My two goals from last night? Eh, didn't do them. Instead, did my taxes and made a new bookmark!

Tonight I don't have anything going on except going home right after work. Hopefully I can do a little more cleaning in my apartment, and some laundry. I'm really not setting the bar too high tonight!

Playing catch up...

I've been keeping busy today - but figured I should post on the good ol' blog. I've got a whole 2 goals for this evening after my meeting.

1) Watch a movie - I have three from Netflix that have been sitting on my table for over a month.

2) Dust off the exercise bike - it looked lonely this morning.

An optional goal would be to make something, whether it be a bookmark, earrings, or SOMETHING....

I will...

1) Clean a little more of my apartment this week. I've been working on this, and slowly, things are being purged, and I'm putting scrapbooking supplies in their rightful place. There's still much more to be done, but I'm excited I'm even getting rid of as much as I have.

2) Go to yoga classes this week. I missed last week, but for a good reason. However, I'm feeling a void in my life where yoga was, and need to get back to it. I also need to look into meditating.

3) Read more. I have two books that I've started, and haven't picked them up in at least a week. This just isn't like me.

4) Take better care of myself. I'm starting off small. Those of you who know me know that I'm pretty low maintenance - an eyebrow wax every couple months, no makeup, let my hair air dry, and if I could wear my yoga pants all the time, I'd be in heaven. However, dry skin is telling me to at least put in a little effort to my daily routine...

5) Buy Michigan products - whether it's on etsy.com, at the store, or anywhere, I'm going to attempt to make more Michigan purchases. Or at least shop at locally owned stores! See this blog!

That's just a short list of what I hope to accomplish in the upcoming months...others include getting back into scrapbooking (too many pictures, so little time!), making jewelry and bookmarks (I really, really need to do this), and get things back to normal.

We'll see how far I get...