New Year New Goals and a Flashback

Most people do throwback Thursdays, I started Flashback Friday a while ago (although not consistently) so I am going to continue with what I started. Today's flashback flashes back over a period of 4 years.

With New Years comes new goals.   But I really wanted to look back a little bit at where I have been and reflect.  2012 was spent taking care of health business by losing weight in an attempt to not only extend my life, but hopefully ensure my quality of life and mobility are top notch by the time I have grandchildren, I want to enjoy them.  2013 was spent well getting into lots shenanigans and finding new passions.  I am so sad I did not do a better job of documenting my journey in 2013 but I am planning on finding much more shenanigans to get myself and my family into, which is why I renamed the blog.  Soon it will have a new home, but one thing at a time.  

Although I have always been active on and off, it was very, very hard to be active at 270 lbs.   I incorporated running and biking into my fitness routine almost immediately when I embarked on my weight loss journey. This year I took it up a notch, not only by adding swimming, but also by trying to add distance to my runs and improving my pace.  It was not always an easy go of things, but sitting where I am at right now, I would say I succeeded.  But probably the most exciting thing I did this year to kick my fitness and activity level up a notch is to start participating in triathlons.  And as I sit here and reflect over the past year, I am sad I did not document this experience more. To try and keep this post short (ish) I put together a collage of different races I have completed in since Dec 2009. I participated in zero, zilch nada in 2010.  I have to say,  I still have a hard time recognizing that girl in the first picture.   

First Row:

The first two top pictures were Dec 2009 at the Dallas mayors  race 5k.   I completed that one in about 55 minutes.  It was my worse time ever!  The third picture was at the Heels and Hills 5 k in May 2010 with my friend Cindy who was doing the half marathon.  I think I completed that one in about 50 min.    The fourth picture was at the Freedom Run in Denton on July 4th 2012.  I had lost about 35 -40 lbs by this time.   I think my time was around 41-42 minutes.   

Second Row:  

The picture of me in front of the plane was at the Hotter than Hell Bike Rally in August 2012.   My first bike race/rally. The second picture in the  middle row is me and my p-nut in Nov 2012 at the Color in Motion 5k. That was a 35-36 min finish.   

Bottom Row:

First picture in bottom row was the Dallas Marathon min Dec 2012.  I ran the last relay leg which was about 7 miles.  My time was about 82 min 15 sec.  or 11:45 min per mile.  I was chasing that elusive 10 in front of my pace per mile all of 2012.  The second picture is me and P-nut at the Play Tri Festival in June of 2012.   I ran the run portion as part of a triathlon relay team.   I actually hit a pace with the 10 in front of it here..woo hoo.  The next picture is my at the Hula Girl Triathlon.  This was my first time participating as an individual athlete in all three events.   The fourth picture is my at the Monster Triathlon in Denton in October 2013.   I actually placed third in my division in this race.   I was hoping for a 2013 Dallas Marathon pic, but it was cancelled due to the ice storm.  The last pic is me and P-nut at the Deck the Trails 5K trail run in Dec 2013.  She ran this with me too...and she placed 2nd in her age group.   I finished in 32 minutes, not bad for my first trail run.

I had no goals in 2013, none.   I kind of floundered all year when it came to my physical fitness.   No goals = no vision.     I actually once said I would never do a triathlon (now that is funny)   In the past two years I learned I am far more capable of achieving things that are seemingly (in my eyes) really hard or impossible and I finally broke that elusive 10 min mile barrier. I have ran my last three six mile runs with average paces in the 9:50-9:56 min per mile range.  I never thought I would get there.  But with consistency I did!

With that shortish re-cap out of the way lets get on to my physical fitness goals for 2013.  I am some what reluctant to put these to paper because I feel like it could set me up for failure.  But a fellow athlete in a running group put it into perspective.  Write them down  then work towards them.  Every time you walk out the door to run (or bike or swim) you have succeeded. Then I was reminded of Proverbs 29:18:

"With no vision, the people will perish"

If I do not have goals, there is distinct possibility I will achieve nothing.  So here they are:

• I want to run a total of 800 miles this year.  That is a little over 15 miles a week.
• I want to bike 1500 miles this year.  That is a little over 25 miles per week.
• I want to swim 115,000 yards this year.   That's 4500 yards over a span of 25 weeks. 
• I want to complete a half marathon (scheduled Jan 25 2014)
• Want to complete an ultra relay race (Ragnar Relay Scheduled Feb 20-21 2013)
• I want to complete a Half Ironman (scheduled in April but rescheduling to Austin in Oct)
• I want to participate in at least 12 running races (7 already scheduled and paid for)
• I want to participate in 6 triathlons, of which at least two are the Olympic Distance

Those are my goals.  They seem really big.  But I have a plan and that is half the battle I think.  It helps I like to work out in the morning and I have a tri-club with regularly scheduled work outs.  I have an amazingly supportive husband.  And I have kids who like to run with me occasionally (or they ride next to me, or they bike water out to me on my long runs).  But most importantly I have faith.

That brings me to my last thought.   I have adopted a Bible Verse for me for this entire year.  We have some pretty big things going on in our life as a family.   The verse I chose I chose to constantly remind me my faith belongs with someone far bigger and more capable than me.  Someone who has only my best interest at heart.  Someone who can do the impossible.  The verse I choose is in my blog header.  

"Because you have so little faith.  I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say this mountain. 'Move from here to there,' and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

Flashback Friday July 29 2011

I forgot I even had this picture, along with a few others that day.  I also had to a do a double take and confirm with my husband that the dude on the left was his friend Orlando, because, well it has been 11 years and uh, he has no hair now.  These are two of Chris's best friends.   Orlando and Roman, Roman and Chris have been through a lot together, and Roman was the best man in our wedding.    This was October 2000, Orlando and Roman picked us up in the boat at our condo on the river and we spent the day in the water mostly out by the Sanibel light house...then they dropped us back home, perfect day with good friends.  We miss you guys!

Flashback Friday July 22, 2011

This is my and my best friend John, circa 1988 or 1987, Honor Society Induction.  We met in Junior High, and he put up with me and all my shenanigans through Junior High, High School, College, a First Marriage, the fall out from that marriage and watched me marry Chris (hopefully satisfied I finally made a decent decision).  We lost track after that, you know distance, marriage, kids, tend to do that.  Whether he was aware of it or not, he was there for me in some of the hardest times in my life, most of the time he was there just by being there, nothing more...John is nowhere near the emotional type  like I am (like this blog will be too emotional for him likely) and in no way was he ever  going to indulge me in a pity party or crying party etc...ever.., back then it frustrated me.  Today...I appreciate that.....

I got a chance to spend a weekend with John last year, it had been 10 years since we had seen each other, or spent any measurable amount of time together.  I have to say, I was a little nervous about the idea of spending an entire weekend with him after 10 years of not seeing or talking to him, but there was no need for that.  It was a very nice, comfortable weekend, spent catching up with an old friend, you know the type of comfortable, where it does not always feel like you have to fill the quiet with talking (and coming from me that is big...I always talk).  He is just on of those friends who fit like an old pair of jeans, and I love him!  This is us at the upper falls of White Oak Canyon in Shenandoah National Park, circa 2010.

Flashback Friday, July 16 2011

I have so few of these old pictures.  That is ok, the class I am taking (Finding Photo Freedom at Big Picture Classes) points out that rarity creates value.   Since I have so few of these photos, I will treasure these and the stories behind them even more.   And I do not know about you, but I definitely have found with the dawn of digital camera, I take way more photos than I would ever in a million years be able to get in a photo album let alone a scrapbook, which is why I am now scrutinizing every photo and purging the excess.

So I am still flashing back to the same trip as my previous post.  It is spring break 1983, my Aunt and Uncle and Cousins and Grandmother have come to visit us in Orlando.  They leave is alone while they go out.  We snap these picture.  The first one is of Me and my cousins Michelle and Amanda, the second one is of my brother and my Cousin Andrew.  Again, not the greatest pictures..but for the memories of that night it evokes.

So our parents have left us kids for the evening to do whatever it is parents do as a group of adults without kids in Orlando....and me and my brother get in this huge knock down drag out all out full physical fight (probably instigated by me being the bossy control kind of freak I was, seeing a pattern here?)  The twins were so scared, apparently they did not fight with each other or their sister like me and my brother fought.  For the longest time...I mean the longest time, whenever they would see us that night would inevitably come up in conversation, kind of sad that for most of their childhood that episode stood out in their mind.  Lots of good memories with those three though!  Every throughout Junior High and High School they came to our house for spring break, if it was not for those visits, I may have grown up not really knowing them....so the few photos I have bring back so many memories....like the one trip My aunt was driving all of us to the back in my moms little dodge charger (wondering how all of us kids fit..yikes) when the clutch went out and me and Michelle had to wait in Howard Johnson Restaurant along I-4 while Aunt Sherry went to get it fixed.  Or the spring break Michelle and I spent together doing Epcot and spending a few days at the beach in a hotel right on the beach all by ourselves, and the look on my Aunts face when she decided to drop in for a surprise visit and saw the hotel room (it was a mess...and apparently Michelle was not a typical teenager with a messy room).  Lots of memories from those trip...love that family!

Flashback Friday

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I have been going through all my photos and organizing them.  This process has caused some laughter and some tears.   So many many memories, some so sweet, some so so funny, some so sad.  I have loved every  minute of the process.  I am realistic enough to know it is unlikely I will be able to scrapbook all the photos/memories, but, I can still share some of the stories..on my blog...still technically a form of Scrapbooking.

I love this photo.  This is me and my cousin Shelly  the photo itself..well it sucks...it is not very good, you cannot see our faces, definitely a candidate to be thrown away...but for the story behind it.

This was spring break, 7th grade, our first year in Orlando.  Shelly, my grandmother, and Shelly's family came to Orlando to go to Disneyworld, the first time for all of us.  This is the Dumbo ride, stupid little ride for 12 year olds.  Non the less, Shelly and I fought the entire ride, if you look closely she looks pretty P.Oed, and I look pretty smug, you can even see me reaching for the button which raises and lowers the elephant car.  Shelly and I fought the entire time over who was going to push that stupid button, I won.  Ohh, I so remember the look on our Nana's face and her frustration with us (well probably me).    I still happen to be a control freak (I realize this, I am forever a work in progress), and Shel, well, distance has caused us to grow apart, but I know enough, that her personality is not one of controlling, or always having to have her way, she is gracious, and kind and probably would let me push that button today (and yes my personality is one that I still would fight over pushing that damn button).

Oh what I would give for a picture of the two of us on that ride today....