The 2014 Agenda

2013 has officially come and gone and I’m sure we all welcomed 2014 in some kind of celebration (which can include a couch and ice cream, obviously). While I really hate new years resolutions for a variety of reasons, I think that, in part because everyone else is, now seems like a good time to tell you what kind of goals I have for the year, especially because one of them is really for the entire year. So without further adieu, here’s what I want to accomplish with my running.

One of the places I want 2014 to take me is home. So I can see my family, but also so I can run in places that look like this.

2013: The Inevitable Recap

I remember entering 2012 with a definite set of goals, most importantly, running 500 miles over the course the year. Long before Christmas I had decided that I wanted to make running a more regular part of my life and routine and the best way for me to do that was to set a yearlong goal. In mid-May that was all changed when I partially tore a tendon in my ankle (which, for the record, was misdiagnosed by the first 2 doctors). While I could get into all the details of that injury, the most important thing was that it meant that I didn’t spend December of 2012 thinking up new running goals. Instead I spent my time in physical therapy. Something damn near magical happened on January 15^th, when my PT told me to go run 2 miles with intervals. I cannot imagine enjoying a run more than I did that day (and don’t worry I have the selfies to prove it).

You are so welcome.

I’m Baaaaack

Since posting last I’ve done a lot. Including running a 5-mile turkey trot in ridiculously windy conditions, finishing my 3^rd semester of college, driving to in Wisconsin with my family, and running within 13 miles of my total mileage goal for 2013. I’ve also half-written 2 posts. One was about how I’ve stopped eating dairy (doctor’s orders) because of a stomach issue. The other was about how the stomach issue hasn’t really resolved itself (which I found out the night after I wrote the first post about how great everything was).

Pizza without cheese is delicious, but I’m still not sure if it can really be called pizza…

Finals hit me, and they me hard. The weeks before thanksgiving break were pretty booked with work because there was only a week and a half of classes after break. Everything got busy really quickly. You know when you feel like Oh, this week is going to be hard, but next week will surely be easier, but somehow every week ends up being a little harder than the week before? I was stuck in that kind of a vortex for about all of the second half of the semester. During the last week of classes, study days, and finals I was in the library until at least 11:30, usually 12:30, every night (except one). I skipped one of my best friend’s birthday parties to finish a 12-page life history. I woke up at 7:00 everyday to get ready to go to the library and study or work on papers. I drank more ginger tea than any one person probably should in a month. The best thing about all of this? An excuse to wear leggings and big socks, ALL THE TIME. What more could I want? (Nothing.) While I’ll be the first to admit that finals are stressful and hard to deal with, I also have to say that I’m really proud of the work I put in. While I was driving home from my school I started getting excited about next semester. Maybe it was the music I was listening to, or the exhaustion/finals-induced delirium, but either way I’m stoked.

Even with everything going on I  made time for running. I don’t know how I would have gotten through finals without running. Throughout all of the craziness that has been my life, running, with or without friends, outside or on treadmills, has been one of the ways that I’ve kept some semblance of sanity throughout the craziness. During study days I decided to run outside; a decision that was a huge mistake. After not checking the windchill and realizing that the 20 degrees on my phone was deceptively warm, my hands became as chapped as I’ve ever seen them, and, I kid you not, MY WATER BOTTLE FROZE, and I realized it was time to take the running inside for the winter (barring some freak warmth).

Remember that time I took a sunrise run before spending 7 hours in a car to make sure I got my miles in? It was pretty fantastic, albeit early.

While running on treadmills has always been the bane of my existence, there is one thing that makes it remotely palatable. Good (loud) music. I know I’ve talked about this in an older post, but I’m a huge fan of listening to complete albums. Cycling through Beyoncé, Bastille, Hoodie Allen, The Black Keys, CHVRCHES, and Passion Pit kept me from going treadmill-insane. This music also happened to all be most of the same stuff that I was listening to in the library. Apparently running, writing 12-page papers, and furiously studying for accounting exams all requires the same kind of music.

Since finishing exams and driving out to Wisconsin with my family I’ve been going on treadmill runs, each of which I promise myself will be longer than 2 miles but I’ve been feeling sick after about 1.5 miles each time (probably a product of the amount of sugar/bacon I’ve been eating). I’ve also been feeling more pain in my calves than usual, leading me to ice both legs with frozen peas that became part of dinner the next night (sorry, not sorry).

This picture will forever be worth the looks that everyone gave me at the rest stop.

Other things I’ve been up to? Reading a lot. During the semester I had up to 300 pages (sometimes more, sometimes less) of reading for my classes each week. This meant that by the time I would finish the readings for classes I wouldn’t want to see another word in print. I was also always pretty excited to just go to sleep once I was done. So this meant that reading books that weren’t on syllabi of my classes was a little out of the question. But winter break presents me with 3.5 weeks that will surely be full of books. So far I’ve finished The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling which I started over the summer but never got around to finishing (I’m starting to wonder if I did anything but work all of July because I wasn’t running, reading, or writing). And I have 3 more books all queued up.

The full list (minus one more if I get through these but I’m not making promises).

With 13 more miles left to my goal of 500 miles for the year and 6 more days to complete that with pretty warm weather at home, I’m excited to say that I probably have one or two more treadmill runs left, and then my favorite route at home if the weather holds out back in Connecticut. Fingers Crossed!