I had much of this post written before December 17th. I am going to leave what was written originally as is but add a little something up here first to give a little more context to my 2012…. I feel this post is better late than never.
On December 17th, my grandmother passed away. It was sudden, unexpected, and devastating. Mere days before Christmas, a fatal heart attack that no one saw coming was ultimately to blame. Surprisingly, I managed to keep myself together for most of what followed, only breaking down in the hardest moments, trying with everything I had in me to keep my tears hidden.
My Nuna was the most generous person I’ve ever known. Anything I ever wanted, she was willing to supply. She was the reason our Christmas tree had unnecessary but always welcome mounds of presents under it on Christmas Day, why I always had an “emergency $20” in my wallet (that was almost ALWAYS spent on non-emergent things) and why I had a life-size princess Barbie doll (remember those things?!)
She was also stubborn, but in the kind of way that made you thankful for traditional things, like the exact right way to make a turkey on Thanksgiving and why, to this day, I sit closer to my steering wheel in the car than is really necessary because “it’ll protect me.” No, it will probably make things worse, but things stick when you’re a little kid.
I miss my Nuna more than I can possibly say. I am thankful that I had her for almost all of 2012, but 2013 and on will not be the same without her.
My little sister, Nuna and me… Little kid fro and all.
Now, onto what I had written before. Happy New Years everyone!
2012 became a year that I never expected. Last December, I had my whole life planned out. A special relationship to me ended and I thought things would never be the same. They aren’t – they’re better. Things change, people change, and everything happens for a reason. I think I’ve finally grasped that concept.
But 2012 had many great things. Many amazing things. Allow me to tell you about them.
– I ran my first 5-miler.
First 5-miler on New Years Day 2012.
– I ran my first 10K.
First 10K, March 2012.
– I spent my summer at the London Olympics.
London2012… The best summer of my whole life.
– I turned 24 on the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Happy 24th Birthday to me!
– I watched two of my childhood friends get married.
Photo courtesy of the Groom’s Facebook page.
– I met a guy I would get to know while I was away for 7 weeks… and fall for him… hard.
This is my boyfriend, Sean. I suppose its time for all of you to be introduced.
– I was in 2 DanceWorks Boston shows and choreographed 2 routines for it.
My routine, “Deadly”, featuring the 7 Deadly Sins.
– I finished my Master’s Degree. (FINALLY!!!!!! Master Torto has a great ring to it.)
The face of a Master. You know you’re impressed.
– I got a part-time, paid internship as a Sports Web Producer at Boston.com.
– I changed in a lot of ways.
When I look back on 2012, I realized how much my life has changed and I honestly don’t think I’d change a single second of it. Even though parts of it were incredibly difficult and there were times when I wanted to give everything up and just live in my own misery, I pulled through it. I am happier than I have been in a long time.
Here’s to 2013 and everything it brings. I haven’t really made any New Year’s resolutions but here’s one: blog more. Good plan.
Sooooo, hi. It’s nice to see you around here again… so sorry I’ve been neglecting my little corner of the internet. I’ll try to get out of the bad habit of starting a post and not finishing it til weeks later… like this one.
I ran this race on Saturday, April 14th and I’m just getting this recap up now. I don’t think I’ve ever waited this long after a race to post a recap, but I’m a busy college kid with a lot on her mind, what can I say?
Let’s just start off this post with the best news of this race: I came away from it with a shiny new 5K PR!!!
It was definitely not easy and parts of me were definitely not cooperating but I pulled it off. I was aiming for anything under 32:00 because my previous PR from last September was 32:46. A new PR was long overdue at this point.
According to my Garmin, I came in at 32:01 but when I saw the official race results, I saw a pleasantly surprising 31:44 with a 10:19 pace on the list. Saying I was thrilled would be a huge understatement. I could’ve done cartwheels.
6:31… that’s my surge at the finish line. Never thought I’d see those numbers on my Garmin!
I signed up for the Chase the Gorilla 5K just a few days before the race. It was one of those “I really need a race this weekend” moments and since this one ran through Ipswich, I knew it’d be great. I convinced my mom to come with me so we were up at the lovely hour of 7am (on a Saturday morning mind you) for some pre-race festivities. And by festivities I mean I ate two pieces of light wheat toast with peanut butter, drank some (but not enough) water and got to the race to pick up my number and a bright blue technical t-shirt a mere 5 minutes before the gun went off.
Timing has never been a strong suit.
I knew I wanted a PR and after running my 10K without stopping and getting in a few solid runs since then, I figured I had it in the bag. Still, I was nervous. And sore. The day before, I decided that doing a full gym workout followed by a 90-minute Vinyasa yoga session and a 2-hour dance rehearsal was a good way to prepare for the race. My bum was very very sore.
It was a small race of 400 or so runners and of course, a gorilla. Races nowadays are a little bittersweet for me. As much as I love having my mom there to take pictures of me and hug me at the finish line, there was always a special someone there who I could literally collapse into. It was one of those things that kept me going I guess.
But I digress.
For the first time since I started running/racing over a year ago, my legs felt like lead. I only have myself to blame for not taking a rest day on Friday, but after the first mile, they loosened up. It was warmer than I’ve been used to running in but managed to make it to mile 2 to the water station without wanting to die too bad. I took a few sips, dumped the rest over my head and kept going.
By the end of mile 2, I was ready to be done. My breathing was really heavy, my face was on fire and my right shoulder had developed a strange twinge-y feeling that I couldn’t shake. I kept saying “32 minutes, 32 minutes” over and over as I rounded the corner to the finish line.
With Kelly Clarkson’s “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger” blasting in my ears, I surged to the finish line, and I-Kid-You-Not did a full on leap to the timing chip platform thing to stop my timer. Embarrassed? Nope.
I glanced down at my garmin, saw 32:01 and had to use what little energy I had left not to burst into tears. My mom came over with water and hugged me and even though I don’t think she fully gets the whole “running thing”, I could tell she was proud.
I feel like my body looks really strange in this picture. I need smaller pants for sure. And a non-fake-I’m-gunna-puke-before-this-race smile.
Overall, despite being a little overheated and having dead legs for the first mile, walking away a new 5K PR felt incredible and I really enjoyed this race. It’s always fun to beat your personal time and leave what you have out there on the course, even if it’s only 3.1 miles.
The calorie burn doesn’t hurt either.
So, what’s next? I’m signed up for one more race before the summer kicks off. This Saturday, I’ll be running the Marblehead Beach to Beach 5K. For those of you just joining us, this was the first race I ever ran, exactly a year ago. I plan on being very nostalgic. Of course you’ve probably figured out that I’d love to PR this race too but I’ll be content of beating my time from last year, 33:38.
I want to know! Do you run the same races every year to kick your old PR to the curb? What is your 5K PR and what is your secret to beating your time? What mantras do you use to get you through a tough or not-so-tough race?
Do you like my new motto? I feel like it sums me up as a “runner.” I’m not fast, I run for distance over speed (at least for now) and fun fact about my childhood: Tortoise was my nickname from first grade until I went to high school.
Turtle charm = my reward to myself for running the 10K. The camera charm is from my parents because I'm a Broadcast Journalism grad student. How fitting.
I was not the most athletic kid growing up. I played soccer for 5 years from age 5 to age 10, but wasn’t great at running around the field because I’d get side cramps and be winded in a matter of 3 minutes. I started dancing when I was 7 but wasn’t good at that either until I got older. I was always the kid picked last in gym class when we played cool games like kickball and capture the flag and it wasn’t until high school that I became a fan of professional sports and started understanding why I couldn’t keep running around the bases in baseball if someone out in the field catches the ball. And that was only if I happened to got lucky enough to hit it that far… which was rare.
My first dance recital. Do I look like a diehard athlete to you with my large red bow? No, I didn't think so.
When I started running about a year ago, it was during a time when I needed a new challenge. I chose the Couch to 5K plan and stuck with it. Now, a year later, my personal life is in complete disarray (notice how I said disarray and not something dramatic like “OMG MY WORLD IS FALLING APART” … baby steps, people) but my running mojo has never been better. Funny how life works that way, huh?
I ran my first 10K that morning... notice how fake happy/ready to puke I was!
I think the reason I was able to run my first 10K a few weekends back without stopping was because of the emotions I used to push myself. Anger, for example, can really go a long way when you want to prove something to yourself. Regret is another. I’m not saying that it’s necessarily a good thing, but at the time, it helped. I was able to run those emotions out of my body, at least temporarily, and finally felt like running could give me clarity when I needed it most.
But even after I finished the 5K training and got a few races under my belt last year, I wasn’t the type of person to just go out and run. Sure, it’s become my cardio of choice at the gym (sorry elliptical, I like you sometimes too, but you can be a one-way ticket to SnoozeVille) but I’m not one to wake up at 5am and go running every day. Still, it’s become a time when I can just listen to my music and think.
It’s me time.
Me time, oh yeah!
Since I’m spending 7 weeks in London this summer (God help me as I try to navigate those streets while I’m running) and do not plan on racing there, I want to get a few more races in between now when I leave at the end of June. Unfortunately, almost every single second of my June calendar is filled with some sort of dance something so we’ll have to figure it out when June rolls around. Until then, here’s what’s coming up:
Chase the Gorilla Down Argilla (Saturday April 14th, Ipswitch MA) – Tentative.
Yup, that’s this upcoming Saturday. I’m also competiting with Unyted Stylz that day so I’m still trying to figure out if this race is doable.
Marblehead Beach to Beach 5K (Saturday May 12th, Marblehead MA) – Registered.
I’m very excited to say that I’ve registered to run this racefor the second year in a row. This was my first ever road race and I’m determined to crush my 5K PR.
Beach to Beach 5K - Round 2!
Krit Classic 5K(Sunday June 3rd, Andover MA) – Tentative
Just gotta find some funds for this one and I will be running it.
Ideally, I’d love to do another 10K before I leave for London. Still looking for one of those that doesn’t conflict with dance, but if you know of any, please send them my way!
I wanna crush that 10K time.
And in other, completely unrelated news…
– The DanceWorks Boston show is Wednesday, Thursday, Friday June 6-8th at the BU Dance Theater. If you love me, you should come. I’m literally in every other number (7 total including the finale) so I promise you won’t be bored. If you’d like ticket info, leave me a comment or visit www.danceworksboston.com!
– Similiarly, Unyted Stylz is having a performance at the BU Dance Theater on Saturday, June 16th. You should probably come to that too.
– I’ve lost about 8 more pounds and feeling good about myself right now. Thanks running/million hours of dance every week!
– I have 24 days left until the Semester from Hell ends. Oh dear God, get me to May 2nd!!
Oh anchor desk. I love you, but we need some time apart...like the whole summer while I'm covering the Olympics in London. I'll be back in the fall, promise.
Tell me!! What spring races are you planning on running? Do you a good 10K near me that I can run before I peace out to Europe? Do you use your emotions to push yourself when you run? Do you want to borrow my first dance recital costume because I guarentee my mom still has it somewhere. Will you come watch me dance? I’ll love you forever.
I did it. I ran my first 10K yesterday. And I ran the ENTIRE THING.
I didn’t necessary stick to my original training plan and even though I did get my butt out to run a few days a week, I wasn’t feeling super prepared. Plus, my head hasn’t been 100% in the game (any game) over the past few weeks and I considered not running it at all. But then I figured if anything, this was something I had to do for me.. and only me.
So let’s go back to the day before my biggest running accomplishment to date.
Friday was rough for the good portion of the daylight hours. After seeing the midnight premiere of The Hunger Games with my friend Greg, I had a completely unrelated breakdown, cried until I got sick, cried myself to sleep and then all morning. I didn’t even go to class. Eventually I dragged my sorry excuse of a human being out of bed, picked up my camera gear from school and spent the afternoon with my friend Sara. And by spend the afternoon with, I mean that I fell asleep at the end of her bed for three hours, probably because I haven’t had a sound night’s sleep in weeks.
A few hours later, Sara worked her magic, made me look gorgeous (not to toot my own horn, but even I was like holy crap,) and we went out for our other friend Steph’s birthday. We went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory where I fueled with their Skinnylicious Pasta with chicken, basil and marinara. I only got about halfway through the bowl before my tummy told me to stop. Apparently 2 weeks of hardly eating will shrink your stomach. Either way, it was delicious and I spent the next few hours having fun with my friends without thinking about any other worries in the rest of my life.
Sara does good work... I even felt pretty.
I went home to Lynn to get a full, yet restless and nightmare-filled, eight hours of sleep. In the morning, I had my usual pre-race breakfast of 3 pieces of wheat toast with peanut butter and a bottle of water before my mom and I headed to Malden for the 11:30am start.
Toast and water.. I am boring.
When we got there, I headed right to registration, picked up my swag bag and tried my best to push all sad thoughts from my head. I visualized crossing the finish line. Before I knew it, I was hugging my mom and heading to the start.
So much swag!
And this is the face of a very nervous runner…
2 words: fake smile.
The race itself was pretty small. There was a 5K course and 10K course but only about 350 runners total. The 10K headed out first. As I started running, I felt good. Just 1 mile in, I knew I’d be able to run farther than I had in any other race without a walking break. Usually, I have to stop a few times to walk but as I hit the mile 2 mark, I had a feeling that I wouldn’t need to stop at all and that’s where I started to think “Oh my God, I can do this without stopping.” And once I get a goal in my head, it’s pretty tough to get it out.
I had my Garmin on and it kept my pace beautifully. Sadly, every time I looked at it (which was pretty often), I felt a small searing pain hit my heart. It was a gift from someone very important to me, but we’ll just leave it at that.
I also kept my eyes on a girl in a bright pink tank top who was running ahead of me for the entire race. I could’ve passed her multiple times, but I let her pace me and I think it was the better decision. At times, I’m sure I felt like a shadow to her because I was so close but if I hadn’t used to her to speed up and slow down, I don’t think running the whole race would’ve been possible.
At 4.75 miles in, I called my mom to tell her I was close to finishing. She was reading in her warm car but I didn’t want her to miss my finish. After that, my groove seemed out of step, my stomach was a little less uneasy and I wanted to be done. I kept telling myself “keep going; I want to tell people I ran without stopping; prove to yourself that you can really do it.” Eventually, we rounded the corner to the finish line, I could hear my labored breathing over my music but I didn’t care – I dug deep and pushed, crossed the finish line and grabbed a much-needed bottle of water.
I threw myself into my mom’s arms and started crying. I cried because I finished, I cried because I ran the entire thing without stopping once. I cried tears of joy, sadness, anger, resentment, disappointment. I cried because the one person I wanted to collapse into, to hug me, to be proud of me at the finish line, wasn’t there. I was angry, overjoyed and devastated all at the same time.
And then I stopped crying. Because this day was about nothing other than the fact that I set my heart on something and got it. And it felt amazing. I knew then that if I didn’t give up on running, no matter how hard and painful it was at times, I wouldn’t give up on other things I loved either. And for that moment, I felt calmer than I have in weeks.
The farthest I've ever run..
On that note, here are some happy/crappy details of the race:
The Happy:
– The weather. I could not have asked for a better day. It was incredibly chilly out, a complete difference than the past few days in the Boston area. I was thankful for the crisp breeze the second I started running because I knew it would keep me from getting too overheated throughout the run. And the overcast kept the sun from beating down onto my already reddened face, so that was nice too.
– My new shirt. A gift from my friend Kim for my birthday, it’s sweat-wicking and didn’t get heavy or overheat me in anyway. I even wore my long-sleeved NDA zip-up for the whole race and only felt super hot towards the very end.
– The swag. I got a long-sleeved T, running gloves, a baseball cap, bread from a local company, a water bottle and other goodies from sponsors like VitaWater.
– The price. The student rate was $10 which is the least expensive race I’ve ever run. I think I got more value in just my swag bag than I paid for the actual race.
– Shot Blocks. Ya know how good runners say to never try something new on race day? Well, I did.. oops. I bought a pack of Tropical Fruit flavored Shot Blocks at New England Running Company and was excited to try them. The only thing I was worried about was any stomach issues that might occur but I took one just pass the mile 2 marker and then another a little ways into mile 4 and chased both with some water from water stops and felt a sudden surge of energy after each. They tasted great, had a consistency that didn’t hurt my stomach and gave me a boost that I needed.
The Crappy:
– My running capris. Apparently they are too big, which shouldn’t be a surprise since I’ve lost about 15 pounds since I bought them. I had to keep pulling them up, which got a little annoying. I’ll buy new ones for my next race.
– The finish line. Not the actual finish line itself, I could see the clock, the girl took my number, normal end of the race. It was who wasn’t at the finish line that hurt the most.
On another happy note, I mentioned on Facebook that if I finished my race, I would reward myself. So this little guy is all mine. My new motto: “Slow and steady wins finishes.. the race.”
My nickname in elementary school was "Tortoise" so I suppose this is pretty fitting!
And as the title promised, a few thoughts…
I think running is a lot like being in love. It’s an incredible feeling, good for your body, your mind and your soul. Sometimes it hurts like hell, sometimes you want to quit and give up or stop because it’s just too hard. But when you push yourself through that pain, find your stride and look deep in your heart, when you can breathe again and take look around, it is the most rewarding and breath-taking experience in life.
And if, at the end of the race, you have the person you love’s arms to collapse into, well.. I’d say you’re the luckiest person in the world.
I’ve come to a point in my grad school life where I don’t particularly enjoy any day of the week ever. Not even weekends… not even Mondays when I don’t have class. I’m either shooting, editing, making myself look pretty to be on camera, getting yelled at for doing something wrong, working my ass off and only getting B’s, etc.
I know I’m being whiny and annoying. I just hate school.
There's me.. 2nd computer in. Typical night.
Okay, I’ll try to stop being annoying now.
If you read the title of this post, you’re probably wondering why my legs are numb at the moment. Well, it’s because yesterday, despite the nasty weather, I decided to get my sweat on in the form of a gym workout (including a treadmill/speed work run) and 3 hours of dance to follow it.
I had 3 miles on my agenda yesterday and after reading Hilary’s “HIIT to FIT” treadmill workouts, I decided to give it a try. I modified it, of course, because that girl can run at a 7:07 pace and that just doesn’t seem conceivable for me since I usually run between 9:50 and 11:00 per mile. Cool.
Here’s my version of Hil’s HIIT to FIT:
3 minutes warm-up, walking at 4.0.
90 seconds running at 6.7 (9:50), 30 seconds running at 5.7 (10:31) –> repeat 4 times.
3 minute recovery, walking at 4.0.
45 seconds running at 7.2 (8:45), 15 seconds running at 5.7 (10:31) –> repeat 4 times.
1 minute recovery, walking at 4.0.
60 seconds running at 7.7 (7:47), 60 seconds running at 6.7 (8:45) –> repeat 2 times.
Walk at 4.0 to round out 30-32 minutes.
Did you keep up with all of that? Well, I was drenched in sweat and my legs were trembling by the end of it. 7:47? Seriously? I was pretty proud of that.
I chased my run with some ab work and a few arm exercises before hopping on the train to go to an hour of ballet.
The second I tried to move when I got to the studio, I knew it was going to be a rough night. My legs felt like lead and even the simplest “failli assemble” seemed too advanced for my sweaty self. Rehearsal was fun as always, but after the hour was up, I headed to a much different rehearsal, knowing I was in for a good ass-kicking.
I recently joined a hip-hop crew in Boston called Unyted Stylz. They are amazing. I promise to explain more about them later but just know that by the end of the 2 hours I spent with them, I was completely drenched, bright red and along with my legs being shot, my right big toe was not doing so well. I think I sprained it…
When I got back to my apartment, I took the hottest shower of my life, microwaved some dinner and passed out with my computer on my lap. Today is a “good hurt, but I’ll take it easy at the gym later” kind of a day.
Tell me: Was your Thursday incredibly sweaty like mine? How do you do your speed work? What do you think about the treadmill… great training tool or way too boring? Do you like microwave dinners? Smart Ones are my fave.
So remember that time I was going to run a 10K and then totally chickened out? Then there was that other time when I accidentally registered for a 5-miler instead of a 5K, but got through it without dying? Well, my friends, two nights ago I clicked a pretty little PAY NOW button and officially registered for my first-ever 10K road race.
Holy. Crap.
The race: The 9th Annual Malden Rotary Road Race 10K
Where: Malden, Massachusetts
When: Saturday, March 24th… a mere 5 and a half weeks away.
But at a $10 student race fee, I couldn’t turn it down. Plus, the prospect of some sweet race swag had me giving them those ten dollars even faster.
I can’t say no to free stuff, especially when it has to do with running (or dance.) The awesome bright green gloves I got from that 5-miler say “Shamrock Running Club” on them and I won’t lie – I love wearing them. I feel like a runner or something.
I may or may not wear these everyday.
So where does that leave me training-wise? Well, I’ve got the 5-miler and a few 5Ks under my belt so I already know I can complete the extra 1.2 miles without dying. Will I enjoy it? Probably not at the time, but I’ll do it. Since I kept putting off registering, I now find myself with only 5 weeks to formally train along with a full course schedule, TA-ing and 12 hours a week of dance (oh, did I mention that even after dropping Wednesday night at DanceWorks, I somehow managed to add an additional 4 hours of dance a week? I didn’t mention that? More about that in a different post….), it leaves little wiggle room for hours of running.
So I found a plan that fits just right.
I can totally handle this.... right?
So obviously this plan does not come complete with almost 12 hours of extra cross training per week but as is the life of a dancer/wannabe runner. I’ll be running various mileage 3-4 times a week, totaling from 14-17 miles per week. This is by farther most miles/week I’ve ever done and I’m super excited to start! I’m not going for speed, just endurance and a strong finish (aka don’t collapse at the finish line.)
But let’s be real here… I need some advice.
I want to know…. what advice do you have for me as I train for my first 10k? What works best for you when you train? What should I wear (keep in mind, the race is at the end of March). Share your 10K stories! Any and all advice is appreciated!
I got a book for Christmas called Women Who Run by Shanti Sosienski and it is one of the most inspirational books I’ve ever read… and I’m only on page 49.
Go buy this book! It is a much better read than the two embassy/diplomacy books underneath it.
When it comes to running, I am not an every.single.day runner. In fact, I don’t even really consider myself a “runner.” I run when I want to. I run for fun. I run for fitness. But most importantly, I run for me. I honestly cannot say I love it.. yet. And I’m not yet disciplined enough to lace up my sneakers each day because I know I should. But I do enjoy it enough to register for races and spend money to do something I could do for free. I feel that the bragging rights (more like I-Ran-A-Race-So-I’m-Cool rights) and t-shirt are worth it.
So back to this book. It is full of stories of incredible women runners. Marathon-running mothers, adventure racers, 50-somethings who can run a sub-seven-minute mile. And as different as each of them are from one another, they all have the same message – they run because they love it.
So I get to page 49, right at the beginning of a new chapter and I decide that it would be a good idea to look for more races between the end of January and April. So far, I’ve come up with 3 definites and a big empty calendar for the month of February:
February: HELP.
March: Hibernian 5K in my hometown (Lynn, MA). Woo hoo! Finally a race in the city I grew up in!
April: Energize the Earth 10K (Beverly, MA). My first 10K. Gah. Who’s got a rockin’ training plan for this one? Anyone? E-mail me and we’ll be best friends.
May: Beach to Beach 5K (Marblehead, MA). This will be the anniversary race of my first race ever back in May 2011. I can’t wait to crush the crap out of last year’s time.
So, who out there has a fantastic race (5K, 4M or 5M.. ya know, since I run those now..) for February that they are dying to tell me about? (2 catches: It cannot be for Saturday, February 11th… I take the Foreign Service Exam that day(!) or any Sunday morning because I dance.)
When I started running last March, I never expected that I would continue with it. I did the Couch to 5K plan to prove to myself that I could complete something that was completely out of my comfort zone.
Back then, I ran in ancient (AKA gross) sneakers with no knowledge of pace or technique. I just got on a treadmill three days a week and followed the plan. When my first 5K racerolled around, I did it and enjoyed it but not enough to keep track of how many miles I was running.
Now, 10 months later, I have 5 races under my belt and my cardio of choice is running. Though I’m not exactly speedy or particularly great at it, I have come to (mostly) enjoy it. Do I get up at 5 am and pound out 7 miles every morning? Well, no, not yet. But maybe someday.
This year I am adding a resolution to my list. I want to log my miles and maybe even have a goal mileage in mind. But since dance will take over my life once again very soon, I don’t need to resolve to run any crazy number… just enough for me.
I want to know: Do you log your miles? What’s your mileage goal for 2012?
2012 promises to be a huge year for me. I have big ideas, big dreams and big goals.
This year will include a lot of milestones. I’ll turn 24, study abroad in London covering the Summer Olympics, create and present a media thesis project, choreograph for DanceWorks Boston and Kinetic Synergy, work my 4th summer with the National Dance Alliance, finish my last 2 semesters of grad school, run a bazillion more races… the list is endless.
Goals-wise, I am all about the resolutions. I love ’em. Not the kinds that say “I’m going to drop such-and-such amount of weight” but the ones that make you feel good when you accomplish them and make you want to work harder if they slip away from you.
I feel like this can be referred to in all aspects of life...
2012 Goals
– Run 10 5K races. I know this is attainable. I just need to buckle down and register.
– To go along with my 5K race goal, I want to run the 2012 Marblehead Beach to Beach 5K again this year. It was my first ever race and I’d love to keep running it every year.
– Run a sub 27:00 5K. That’s about a 9:00 min/mile. I can do it.
– Run 5 longer races this year, 5-milers, 10Ks and one half marathon. Holy crap, I can’t believe I’m writing that, but there it is, out there for the world to see.
– Choreograph 3 more dance pieces. It took me until 2011 to realize how much I love choreographing and I don’t want to stop!
– Try out and review 1 new restaurant a month. I want to expand my food horizons and experience as much of it as possible… on a budget.
– Work 3 NDA camps. This one might be tough because of London, but I think three is a good compromise since I usually work 9.
– Ace my study abroad. 6 weeks, 1 class, 1 internship, 1 chance. An internship with a huge news networks could lead to a possible job. I want to kick ass during my time in London; it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and could set me apart from a million other applicants in the real world.
– Rock my media thesis. No specifics just yet but it will include a website where I am happy to say I just buy the domain. It will come with a lot of physical and mental changes and challenges. Stay tuned.
– Finish graduate school successfully. Without too many meltdowns would be ideal.
– Save money. This year will be especially difficult since London alone is very expensive, but I have a number in mind and achieving it at least once this year would be great.
– Love others more. Personal goal. Be nicer also ties in here.
Overall, I hope 2012 will be as successful, productive and eye-opening as 2011 as been. Thank you to all of you who read Chocolate & Wine and support me through everything I do.
I raise my glass (of Asti) to you.
Last question of 2011: What are your biggest goals for the new year?
2011. I feel like it went by so fast. At this time last year, I was a completely different person and I’m happy to report that I’m a better me than I was at the close of 2010.
This year, I achieved things I never thought I ever could. I choreographed three group routines, I started running and ran four 5K races, I got into grad school and survived my first semester, I realized what I truly want in my life and I am starting to become the person I have always wanted to be.
I worked my third summer with the National Dance Alliance, I now dance in an amazing company in Boston and BU has opened my eyes to incredible new opportunities, including an acceptance into a 6-week study abroad program to cover the London Olympics next summer.
2011 taught me to not take life too seriously. To enjoy each day, love whole-heartedly and appreciate myself for who I am. It’s a great feeling to look back on this year and know that I have grown in so many ways.
Back in July, I set some mid-year goals for myself. So let’s recap them and see how I did.
1. Work (at least) 8 NDA summer camps. Done. I worked 9! I traveled everywhere from Kansas to Maryland and loved every minute of it.
4. Stick to Weight Watchers (not playing a numbers game here. Work out, eat right, follow the points, be healthy and let the body do what it will.) Kinda done. I don’t exactly stick to the WW plan but I did manage to drop 12 pounds this year and I am VERY happy about that.
I, I, I, I WORK OUT.
5. Rock the first semester of my grad program at Boston University (all A’s would be sweet but we like B+s too.) Kinda done. 1 A-, 1 B+ and 2 Bs. I am very proud; grad school is hard, man.
Dream job.
6. Try 1 new recipe a week. Fail. Sometimes when I cook, I use the same recipes over and over. But now that I have a beautiful new crockpot, I might be able to achieve this goal in 2012.
7. Dance in 4 DanceWorks Boston fall pieces. Done. I danced in 5! 6 if you include the finale/Flash Mob!
Some of my DanceWorks family...
8. Train for and run a 10K. Fail. I chickened out. 2012 will hold at least one 10K and maybe even a half marathon.
9. Take hot yoga regularly. Fail. I probably did it a total of 3 times between the summer and now.
Overall, I think this has been a great year. I achieved most of my goals and really let myself let go of the rest of the emotional baggage leftover from undergrad.
So long, 2011…On to 2012! Goals and “resolutions” to come!
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