I started the year off with a 5K in ridiculously cold weather. Despite the cold, it was a lot of fun. I did the race with my friend Kelley. It was her first 5K and she did a great job, I'm so glad we were able to do it together! The race didn't go as well as I had hoped for today, I came very close to my goal, but didn't quite hit it.
My goal was to be under 37:00, so I was 43 seconds off, but I'm still happy with the results given the cold weather and the fact that I haven't gotten to do much training outside. Running outside is so much harder on my legs than running on a treadmill and I started too quickly so I ended up taking a few walk breaks.
I kind of hate seeing the mile marker signs. I thought we must have been about half way when I saw the 1 mile mark....no good since my legs were already burning. I just focused on my music and kept pressing on, all in all it was a good day! Here is our before and after
2013 is off to a good start and I'm very much looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring. I was doing my daily Bible reading a few days ago and came across these verses from Titus 2: 11-14
11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,13waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
As I was reading them I just kind of got this feeling that God was telling me that this is what he wanted me to focus on this year. So for the first time ever, I have a verse of the year and Titus 2:11-14 is it. 2013 will be a year of getting rid of worldly passions, which is perfect because I've been reading the book "7" by Jen Hatmaker and that book is all about getting rid of our worldly passions. This year will also be another year focused on improving my self-control and growing closer to God. That being said, I have a few goals that I'll be working toward
1) Have a consistent Bible reading/prayer time each morning.
- Right now I usually do my reading at night and I'm usually so tired that I end up falling asleep. I need to do it at a time where I'm more focused and have more energy and morning tends to be it for me. I also want to do a better job of starting my day off in prayer and giving my day over to God.
2) Continue to make healthy choices in the food that I eat and the activities that I do by working out 5 times a week and eating less processed food.
- My Christmas present from James is getting to join a gym. We can swing the monthly fee, but the joining/registration fee was more than I was ready to pay at any point last year. I hate joining in January when everyone else is, so I might wait until February. My main reason for wanting to join a gym is because I want to be able to work more on gaining muscle and moving a pin on a machine is much more manageable for me than moving a bunch of plate weight around on the smith rack at home....I hate plate weight.
3) More joy
- I've spent far too much time crying, stressed and angry lately. I need to fix this. I'm thinking this one will require some external help from a psychologist. I've definitely got some baggage from my childhood that reared its head last week out of nowhere and I need to work through it.
4) Keep on running
- My tentative plan for 2013 is
- Manitou Days 5K
- Color Run
- Dirty Girl Mud Run
- Twin Cities 10 Mile
- Monster Dash Half Marathon
- The last two are big, lofty and pretty much ridiculous given my current size and pace, but I think I'm up for the challenge. The Monster Dash has 12:30/mile pacers, so we shall see! I like races because they give me something to work towards, which I need, but I hate all the stupid entrance fees.
That pretty much sums it up. I know goals are supposed to be measurable and mine aren't necessarily anything that can be measured, but they are what they are and I'll make the best out of them.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful 2013!
