With that said, I have four primary goals for 2014.
- Fuel my body well. This is a continuation of my goal in 2013 to eat cleaner. I have made improvements but I feel there is still room to grow. Each day I make choices on what to eat and what not to eat. I want those to be guided by how those foods make my body feel. I am not going to say I will never drink a drop of alcohol or eat a bite of sugar. Yes, those may make my body feel less than 100% but I do feel it is okay to indulge and enjoy life as well. My goal is to get more freggies into my diet and by this I mean perhaps adding in new recipes or new varieties.
- Improve my flexibility. I want to be able to touch my toes again. Hey, I wouldn't even mind being able to do the splits again. I see amazing yoga poses and dream of being able to do them. Are any of these elements truly that important? Yes and no. Yes, because I do want to try to get more limber and yes, because I feel they will help with my cranky hips and running. I feel my tight muscles, particularly the tight hammies that are compounded by having a desk job, contribute to my hips being pulled out of alignment. I know I feel better when my hips are in place and my legs can move freely. I believe working on flexibility will round out me as a healthier person. And the no part? I realize no fireworks will go off if I can touch my toes or do the splits or do amazing yoga poses. I realize I can benefit physically even if my efforts don't lead to those results. But still, I like having those metrics in place since they will clearly show improvements are in place, making this goal SMART. On December 19th darling daughter took a picture of me trying to touch my toes. I know have a reference point and a foundation to measure how I am doing. And how do I hope to achieve this? YOGA! Without realizing it was ever going to happen I seemed to have started a yoga streak! Today is day 6! And yes, my running streak will continue. That brings us to #3!
- Run every day. Today marks day 736 of my running streak and I want to keep at it all year (and beyond). Tied into that I have the new big dream to break a 4:00 marathon. I am already setting the foundation by increasing my easy pace run based on my last marathon performance. I will move to increase my speed work pace as well, probably next month. Yes, I do things in stages. This is all my pre-training as my marathon training will official begin in June with the same coach. I already have him on standby. I still have the dream of running an ultra one day but that road is still blurry. I feel if there was an official ultra on Maui I would pave it better but right now I feel the road to a speedier marathon is the right road for me to be on. I know numbers don't mean everything but my gut tells me there is more for me to learn about me here so I will continue my dream. And yes, I have a big, big goal but if you know me at all, you know I won't vocalize that one yet. I need to get to the big goal first. Baby steps my friends!
- Be a stronger representative of Maui running. I started this with my last race report in which I provided full race results for the local Women Helping Women race. I want to do more of that with the local races on Maui. I can't promise all races since I want to be able to tell a story too but for races my family participates in, I will strive to provide a nice overview of the race with results for all participants, not just me, dear hubby, or darling daughter. Think of it as a race review and a place where all can find results. It may be easier said than done but I will do my best!
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful for the YogaStudio app on my phone to guide me through my yoga practice.Daily Affirmation: I am a caring, giving person.
