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February 2012 Goals

Jan 31st, 2012
by gazelle.
1 comment

Can you believe that today is the last day of January? 2012 is already 1/12 over! This month was not the way I typically like to start the year, and I think you’ll see that the number of stressors in my life negatively impacted my goal achieving for the month. I am okay with that, because if I weren’t okay with that, then I would be more stressed out, and that helps no one.

So – what was I going to do this month?

January 2012 Goals

  1. Find a daycare for Alvie Bean starting in July! – FAIL! But I really do need to get on this ASAP. July is only 5 months away, and I don’t think the cats are going to be adequate caregivers. We’re on a waiting list, but the earliest that would start would be September.
  2. Purchase and install shelves/storage for Alvie Bean’s room. – FAIL! Dammit. But – we got a carseat! And baby laundry detergent. As soon as I have a place to keep the clothes, I will be washing and folding and storing.
  3. Clean out the office and make it more office-y, and less “place where junk goes to die” – FAIL! This is going to have to wait until I’m done w/ school, but since that’s nearly here…
  4. Minimize work/school stress through the gratuitous use of meditation (oops – typed medication the first time; not the same thing), yoga, and other exercise. – FAIL!

January 2012 Training Goals

  1. Fifteen hours of exercise-related activity. – FAIL! I got about 11.5 hours, which all things considered is okay, I guess. Between the pelvic pain and the additional stress in my life, I’m just pleased that I didn’t quit EVERYTHING 3 weeks ago!
  2. A minimum of five yoga classes – SUCCESS!  Finally – something I actually did! I logged 5 yoga classes & 1 home practice. Yay!
  3. Average one swim/week – FAIL! I only swam twice in January. BUT – my last swim was so awesome, and I’m swimming again tomorrow. So, yay?
  4. Average one bike/week – FAIL! I am finding it very difficult to bike at all anymore, so didn’t log any bike time this month. My knees hit my belly. I need to go back to the fitness center and use the recumbent bike again – that seems a little better.
  5. One walk with the architect every weekend – FAIL! See aforementioned pelvic injury.

 

Well – that doesn’t look good, does it?

BUT – I did have some successes that I need to mention.

  1. I got through my big, stressful work project, sanity intact
  2. I survived the month, sanity intact
  3. Ummm…my sanity is still intact?

Honestly – January was not good to me. Between the giant, enormously stressful work project, finishing up grad school, my dad’s cancer diagnosis, the tree falling on the architect’s truck, and oh, yeah – last Saturday night our furnace stopped working (so happy we don’t live in a SUPER cold place), this was a rough month. Add to that being fairly pregnant, and you have a recipe for crazy, I think.

It’s hard for me to gauge how well I handled all this, as I’m not sure how well I should be handling it all. Sometimes I think I’m okay, and sometimes I think that I could really be doing much better. I have decided that since I still feel fairly sane, that maybe I’m either (a) handling it okay, or (b) repressing and on my way to a huge breakdown at some unknown point in the future. Could go either way, I suppose.

 

ANYWAY – onward and upward…if my February goals look familiar, that’s because they are.

February 2012 Goals

  1. Finish grad school! YAY!
  2. Find a daycare for Alvie Bean starting in July!
  3. Purchase and install shelves/storage for Alvie Bean’s room.
  4. Clean out the office and make it more office-y, and less “place where junk goes to die”
  5. Finalize baby prep lists

February 2012 Training Goals

  1. Fifteen hours of exercise-related activity (total tallied below: 15.5 hours)
  2. Six yoga classes, minimum (estimated time: 7.5 hours)
  3. Five swims, minimum (estimated time: 3.75 hours)
  4. Two 15-minute upper body weights sessions/week (estimated time: 2.25 hours)
  5. Four visits to the fitness center for 30 minutes of cardio (estimated time: 2 hours)

I know that the key for me is exercise, and I don’t think this is overly ambitious. However, I do reserve the right to listen to my body and step back if necessary. It’s going to be a busy month. I am 31 weeks pregnant & will end February at 35.5 weeks pregnant. I have no idea what I’ll be able to do by then. I’m hoping that I can continue to move – at least a little – because I know that will make everything go easier.

So (don’t feel compelled to look at this; it’s my own personal crazy) my training plan for February 2012: Feb 2012 Plan

Happy end of the month!

The Twelve Days of Gazelle-mas: Day 11 (workout stats for 2011)

Jan 3rd, 2012
by gazelle.
3 comments

Last day of vacation! So sad! I already miss day 1. :( Sorry this is a bit late – I apparently forgot to hit “schedule” before going on vacation!  BOO!

Overall, I am not terribly displeased with my 2011 stats. The first half of the year I was working on recovering from foot surgery, the second half of the year I was pregnant. I probably could’ve done better, but in the interest of sanity and not being too hard on myself (those are actually pretty huge things), I am letting go of what I “could have” or “should have” done, and just reporting what was.

Running

Total miles: 250.62 – This is my lowest annual total since 2006 (i.e. the year I started running)
Biggest Month: July (67.35 miles)
Longest Run: 15.27 miles (7/31/11)

2010 mileage: 300.72
2009 mileage: 753
2008 mileage: 400.44

Biking

Total miles: 224.52
Biggest Month: July (61.15 miles)
Longest Bike: 30 miles (7/22/11)

2010 mileage: 245.43
2009 mileage: 440.8

Swimming

Total yard: 22,835 (12.97 miles. Also this number is higher than my 2009 total! Yay!)
Biggest Month: June (4,480 yds)
Longest Swim: 2000 yds (9/8/11)

2010 yardage: 60,130 (34.16 miles)
2009 yardage: 18,990 (10.79 miles)

Strength Training Sessions

Total number: 8 (i.e. pathetic!)
Biggest Month: November (3!)

2010 sessions: 16
2009 sessions: 28

I hate strength training, but that’s no excuse, really….this is an area in which I need to do better in 2012!

Yoga Sessions

Total number: 39 (i.e. best since I started tracking in 2008!)
Biggest Month: April & December, with 6 each

2010 sessions: 34
2009 sessions: 17
2008 sessions: 21

This can definitely be better, too. I’d like to average once/week (so 52 sessions/year, even when taking into account my post-partum recovery time).

Races

Number of races: 3
5K: 32:45 (3/13/11 – Shamrock)
10K: 1:04:14 (4/17/11 – Bridge to Brews)
Sprint Tri: 1:51:12 (6/11/11 – Blue Lake)

The tri was a PW, but since it was only my 2nd sprint tri, there weren’t a lot of choices. Neither of the other two were personal worsts, but they certainly weren’t PRs, either….they were, however, fairly soon after I started my foot surgery recovery!

2010 races: 3 (including a 15K PR)
2009 races: 8 (including all but two of my PRs!)
2008 races: 5 (including a 4 mile PR)
2007 races: 4
2006 races: 2 (my first year of running!)

Total Hours

2011: 153.52 hours (average of 25.24/day) – I’ll take it, considering the circumstances
2010: 181.24 hours (average of 29.79/day)
2009: 290.43 hours (average of 47.74/day)

 

I am not sure what to expect for 2012. I am hoping that I can exceed my 2011 stats in all categories, but am not sure how realistic that will be, considering that I will not be running at all for most of the first half of the year (I’ve had to finally say no more running, as it is just ridiculously painful – hardest thing I’ve done in ages).

***

On the the eleventh day of gazellemas, Amy gave to me:

Eleven hours remaining

Ten friends celebrating

Nine goals a-making

Eight hours a-sleeping

Seven miles a-cycling

Six yogis posing

FIVE PAIRS OF SHOES!

four pancakes,

three lazy cats,

two empty boxes, and

A Pooh Bear outfit, adorable and twee!

The Twelve Days of Gazelle-mas: Day 9 (December Review/January Goals)

Dec 31st, 2011
by gazelle.
2 comments

Today I am headed to the coast with a bunch of friends for a lovely New Year’s weekend. There will be running and yoga and games and food (and likely booze). So – today’s, tomorrow’s, and Monday’s posts were written ahead of time. You shouldn’t notice too much of a difference, I hope.

Let’s look back at December, shall we?

December 2011 Goals

  1. Finish the first half of my capstone STRONG! – SUCCESS! I totally made it through the first half, sanity seemingly intact.
  2. Find a daycare for Alvie Bean starting in July! – FAIL! This is a must-do for January.
  3. Enjoy the holidays with a minimum of stress and a maximum of fun! (So many exciting things coming up!) – SUCCESS! Such a great month, not too much stress, and a good deal of relaxation.
  4. Purchase and install shelves/storage for Alvie Bean’s room. – FAIL! I did not get to the shelves; although the closet is cleaned out & ready for them.
  5. Clean out the office and make it more office-y, and less “place where junk goes to die” – half SUCCESS! I figured out what needs to go & where it will be going; just need the architect to help me out with the moving stuff about part of the plan.

December 2011 Training Goals

  1. Fifteen hours of exercise-related activity. – SUCCESS! Provided that I get my hour of exercise in today, I will hit 15 hours for December! Yay, me!
  2. A minimum of five yoga classes – SUCCESS! Six (or seven – depending on what I do today) classes, done!
  3. Finish my December race. That’s all I want. A finish time. – FAIL! I did not do the race. I think that was really the best decision.
  4. Fifty miles on the bike (again, minimum) – FAIL! I did not spend as much time on the bike as I meant to.
  5. Convince Alvie Bean that we really do like swimming. (I actually can’t tell if he hates it, or likes it so much that he tries to swim along…either way, it is not the awesome pregnancy workout that I would prefer) – SUCCESS! Such a great swim yesterday; the best since my 1st trimester, honestly. I think that now that my belly is all popped out, everyone is more comfortable in the water. I am really looking forward to my next swim!

 

January 2012 Goals

  1. Find a daycare for Alvie Bean starting in July!
  2. Purchase and install shelves/storage for Alvie Bean’s room.
  3. Clean out the office and make it more office-y, and less “place where junk goes to die”
  4. Minimize work/school stress through the gratuitous use of meditation (oops – typed medication the first time; not the same thing), yoga, and other exercise.

January 2012 Training Goals

  1. Fifteen hours of exercise-related activity.
  2. A minimum of five yoga classes
  3. Average one swim/week
  4. Average one bike/week
  5. One walk with the architect every weekend

On the ninth day of gazellemas, Amy gave to me:

Nine goals a-making

Eight hours a-sleeping

Seven miles a-cycling

Six yogis posing

FIVE PAIRS OF SHOES!

four pancakes,

three lazy cats,

two empty boxes, and

A Pooh Bear outfit, adorable and twee!

The Twelve Days of Gazelle-mas: Day 8 (2011 In review)

Dec 30th, 2011
by gazelle.
1 comment

First of all, I need to mention that I fell asleep about 11:30 pm last night and then: I slept until almost 7 AM! I woke once & briefly about 5, but did not need to get up. I’m sure those of you who aren’t/have never been pregnant (or closely associated with a pregnant person) are not sure why that’s news-worthy, so let me enlighten you.  This is probably the 3rd or 4th time since late July that I haven’t had to get up to pee at least once. I don’t know if you remember me bitching about remodeling our bathroom in August – the month of no running water in our upstairs (read: bedroom adjacent) bathroom. I know you didn’t know I was pregnant, but I was, and holy balls, that sucked the big one.

ANYWAYS – looking back! Such an interesting year. A lot of surprises – mostly  good ones.  How did I do with my 2011 goals, you (probably don’t) ask?

Well – let’s just look at that, shall we?

 

  1. Run a half marathon by the end of June. – FAIL! In fact, I didn’t run a half marathon all year. I only had one run over 13 miles, even. Boo!  However, it took a LOT longer to recover from my foot surgery, and just as I was getting into the swing of things, I got myself all knocked up.
  2. Read 52 non-paranormal romance books, including at least 12 from my Nobel Prize list. – FAIL! I only read about 50 books (not counting textbooks) total in 2011, and only 2 were from my Nobel prize list. There’s no way a majority were not brain candy.
  3. SIRASANA! With no wall support. – SUCCESS! Albeit, briefly. I did hit this pose a couple of times, for short periods of time. This is something I will never stop working on.
  4. Take fencing classes. – FAIL!  Due to school/work/pregnancy, this, too, was put off.
  5. Achieve contentment with my body (which may be a combination of weight loss and muscle gain) – EH??? I don’t know. Pregnancy has really thrown this off.
  6. Take a few risks that may lead to happiness. – SUCCESS! Job risks, Toast risks, getting knocked up risks….
  7. Secret Goal that I don’t want to talk about – FAIL! Job changes really got in the way of this (btw, it involved a career switch, and I did interview for a new job in January/February 2011, and was a finalist, but it was not to be….)
  8. Finalize my capstone paper topic and get ready to finish grad school! – SUCCESS! I have only 7 weeks left until I’m done with grad school! YAY!
  9. 5K PR – FAIL!  Again with the recovery from foot surgery + getting knocked up. 2013 is my new year of the runner!
  10. Successful cheddar cheese! – SUCCESS! I love cheese.
  11. Eliminate all non-mortgage & non-student loan debt. – EH….I am in much better shape now than at the beginning of the year. Of course, I’m sure that having a baby will make all my financial dreams come true, right?

 

Overall – even though it looks like I had an approximate 50% fail rate for goals, I am okay with the ones that are fails. I failed for good reasons (i.e. not pushing too hard during surgery recovery, getting pregnant, getting a new job that changed a few of those goals), and I am pretty happy with my 2011 overall.

I have some of the best friends a girl could ask for – both here in PDX, back in South D, and in the internets, as well as the best architect in the land. I’m having a great(ish) pregnancy, I’m almost done with school, I got a promotion at work (and no longer feel one step away from failure at work), and life is pretty damn good.  There are still changes I want to make with my life and my job and all sorts of things, but overall, I’m generally pretty content.

***First the song, and then I will reward (punish?) you with a photo recap of the year!***

On the eighth day of gazellemas, Amy gave to me:

Eight hours a-sleeping

Seven miles a-cycling

Six yogis posing

FIVE PAIRS OF SHOES!

four pancakes,

three lazy cats,

two empty boxes, and

A Pooh Bear outfit, adorable and twee!

 

January 2011:

February 2011:

March 2011:

April 2011:

 

May 2011:

 

June 2011:

 

July 2011:

 

August 2011:

September 2011:

 

October 2011:

 

November 2011:

 

December 2011:

 

 

I am pretty excited to see what 2012 will bring. It certainly won’t be boring!

 

 

The 12 Days of Gazelle-mas: Day 7 (Three Things Thursday!)

Dec 29th, 2011
by gazelle.
2 comments

Oh, blog readers – I am sleepy! Not sure why. I have not done enough to actually make me tired. Maybe that’s the problem – too much lounging. Nope – that can’t be it. I wonder how long it would take for me to really start missing my job? I’d love to find out. Too bad about that pesky mortgage and the need to eat.

1. I had a grand ambition to put together a puzzle on my holiday. So far, I have most of the border together. I think I was too ambitious. I probably should’ve started with 200 pieces instead of 2000.

2. One of my 2011 goals (the “secret” goal) did not meet fruition this year, due to a confluence of events (job changes + pregnancy), and I am wondering if I can realistically make it happen in 2012. I’m thinking not, but that I could, at least, lay the ground work so that I’m ready to go in 2013. There are a few steps necessary to make the goal attemptable (not even attainable), and I need to define those steps with milestones and timelines, and then get started. I think it will make a huge difference to my overall health and mental well-being….of course, there are times that I really get excited about my current job and the opportunities there-in. It’s hard to figure out what I really, really want AND be realistic at the same time (I do so much enjoy money….)

3. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to feeling something move around inside of me. It still startles me. And delights me. And freaks me out just a little. Of course, I know that it will eventually stop – since Alvie will have to come out at some point. I am getting a wee bit excited when I think about meeting him. Of course that excitement is tempered by the terror I also feel at the thought of being responsible for a baby. (I couldn’t even get a onesie on the cat, how am I going to care for an infant?) (Of course it might actually be easier to dress an infant than a cat, and hopefully less dangerous for my face.)

 

On the 7th day of gazellemas, Amy gave to me:

Seven cycling miles,

Six yogis posing,

FIVE PAIRS OF SHOES!

four pancakes,

three lazy cats,

two empty boxes, and

A Pooh Bear outfit, adorable and twee!

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