New Year, New Post
I skipped December entirely on here. Oopsie. I wish I could regain the enthusiasm I had for journal-writing in my college days, and even in my grad school days to a degree. I sometimes feel I'm not as interesting as I was back then, but when I really think about it, I have some rather nifty things happening:
We've been living in the Fayetteville area for the past eight months, and while I've been emotionally up and down for a variety of reasons (recovering from my miscarriage, my grandmother being more than unwell, and Nathaniel's poor sleeping habits that result in our sleeping habits that result in me being on edge at times), things are going well here, and I find myself happy to be here. I've been a member of the running club for nearly four months now and have completed my first 5k (technically two, but I was a volunteer/photographer at the second one, and I only ran/walked from the halfway point to the finish line), my first 10k, and I'm now training for next month's Krispy Kreme Challenge and April's Rock & Roll half-marathon. So far, my longest run has been six miles, but I'm starting to do long runs on Sundays and will lengthen my distance over the next few months. On Saturdays, I'm working to improve my speed. I'd like to be able to run six miles an hour. The Krispy Kreme Challenge is five miles, and runners eat a dozen glazed doughnuts at the halfway point. I figure if I can get down to 10 minutes per mile, then that allows for 10 minutes of doughnut-stuffing. I hear I need to allow for more time though because the run back is slower with a full stomach. Yesterday, I ran a mile at something like 9:45ish, but I couldn't maintain that. I'd like to be able to do that eventually.
In addition to being a runner with the club, I am the Charity and Community Involvement Lead in our Promotions & Marketing Team, and I'm organizing a book drive for a local library for this month's charity thingamadoo. Not sure what we're going to do in the next couple of months. I think we could do food collection for a local pantry, and I've reached out to one to find out more information on how to go about that sort of thing. I've also reached out to the Powers That Be for Fayetteville's Fourth Friday events to see how our organization can be involved for one or multiple events. I'd also like to see how one goes about organizing a race because I would love to set one up in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Perhaps I would have needed to start preparing for such a thing before now, but if that's the case, I could have a head start for October 2015. Silver lining.
I believe I was also asked to be the club's photographer, for times when I don't want to run with the group but would still like to attend events. We have a meeting coming up, so I'll try to get plenty of pictures then. On a photography-related note, I've been approached to be the photographer for a local race next month. I'm told that this could lead to future, PAID gigs. I would love that. I'm also a bit nervous because I need to make sure that my pictures turn out wonderfully, which of course is a given. There's additional pressure when it's official like this though. I have roughly a month to figure it all out, thankfully.
In terms of new year resolutions, I have none. Not officially anyhow. The closest one I have is to just "keep on keepin' on," which I believe was my resolution last year, and it's worked out well. I don't want to quantify/qualify (I misuse these) my goals and expectations, because if I fall short, then I will feel like a failure, when I should look at progress of any kind as success. I felt a bit disappointed in myself when I had intended on running a 5k and losing 30 pounds by my 30th birthday, but I lost some weight shortly before my 30th birthday and began taking running seriously just after it. I have now run a 5k and a 10k at the age of 30, and I've lost 12 pounds since January of last year. Progress is progress. This year, I would like to continue on that path of being healthier and becoming a better runner. I do have specific goals of running the Krispy Kreme Challege, April's half, and eventually a full marathon by the end of the year, but if I am unable to reach these goals for whatever reason, I intend to not be too hard on myself because the primary goal is to just do my best at striving to be a good person and a healthier person. When I mess up (sometimes I get worked up on minute things or find myself dredging up the past and honing in on negative things when I should be putting my energy elsewhere), I always have the opportunity to start over.
That's most of my life right there. I've become very involved with the running club and am forging strong friendships with fellow members, as well as with people I'm meeting elsewhere, like in the stay-at-home moms group, and of course Gina and Tony (it's sad that they're planning on moving soon though(. This place feels more and more like home every day.
We've been living in the Fayetteville area for the past eight months, and while I've been emotionally up and down for a variety of reasons (recovering from my miscarriage, my grandmother being more than unwell, and Nathaniel's poor sleeping habits that result in our sleeping habits that result in me being on edge at times), things are going well here, and I find myself happy to be here. I've been a member of the running club for nearly four months now and have completed my first 5k (technically two, but I was a volunteer/photographer at the second one, and I only ran/walked from the halfway point to the finish line), my first 10k, and I'm now training for next month's Krispy Kreme Challenge and April's Rock & Roll half-marathon. So far, my longest run has been six miles, but I'm starting to do long runs on Sundays and will lengthen my distance over the next few months. On Saturdays, I'm working to improve my speed. I'd like to be able to run six miles an hour. The Krispy Kreme Challenge is five miles, and runners eat a dozen glazed doughnuts at the halfway point. I figure if I can get down to 10 minutes per mile, then that allows for 10 minutes of doughnut-stuffing. I hear I need to allow for more time though because the run back is slower with a full stomach. Yesterday, I ran a mile at something like 9:45ish, but I couldn't maintain that. I'd like to be able to do that eventually.
In addition to being a runner with the club, I am the Charity and Community Involvement Lead in our Promotions & Marketing Team, and I'm organizing a book drive for a local library for this month's charity thingamadoo. Not sure what we're going to do in the next couple of months. I think we could do food collection for a local pantry, and I've reached out to one to find out more information on how to go about that sort of thing. I've also reached out to the Powers That Be for Fayetteville's Fourth Friday events to see how our organization can be involved for one or multiple events. I'd also like to see how one goes about organizing a race because I would love to set one up in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Perhaps I would have needed to start preparing for such a thing before now, but if that's the case, I could have a head start for October 2015. Silver lining.
I believe I was also asked to be the club's photographer, for times when I don't want to run with the group but would still like to attend events. We have a meeting coming up, so I'll try to get plenty of pictures then. On a photography-related note, I've been approached to be the photographer for a local race next month. I'm told that this could lead to future, PAID gigs. I would love that. I'm also a bit nervous because I need to make sure that my pictures turn out wonderfully, which of course is a given. There's additional pressure when it's official like this though. I have roughly a month to figure it all out, thankfully.
In terms of new year resolutions, I have none. Not officially anyhow. The closest one I have is to just "keep on keepin' on," which I believe was my resolution last year, and it's worked out well. I don't want to quantify/qualify (I misuse these) my goals and expectations, because if I fall short, then I will feel like a failure, when I should look at progress of any kind as success. I felt a bit disappointed in myself when I had intended on running a 5k and losing 30 pounds by my 30th birthday, but I lost some weight shortly before my 30th birthday and began taking running seriously just after it. I have now run a 5k and a 10k at the age of 30, and I've lost 12 pounds since January of last year. Progress is progress. This year, I would like to continue on that path of being healthier and becoming a better runner. I do have specific goals of running the Krispy Kreme Challege, April's half, and eventually a full marathon by the end of the year, but if I am unable to reach these goals for whatever reason, I intend to not be too hard on myself because the primary goal is to just do my best at striving to be a good person and a healthier person. When I mess up (sometimes I get worked up on minute things or find myself dredging up the past and honing in on negative things when I should be putting my energy elsewhere), I always have the opportunity to start over.
That's most of my life right there. I've become very involved with the running club and am forging strong friendships with fellow members, as well as with people I'm meeting elsewhere, like in the stay-at-home moms group, and of course Gina and Tony (it's sad that they're planning on moving soon though(. This place feels more and more like home every day.