New Goals; New Fun!

Okay, I am so very excited for this entry! It's about time, too, amiright? MAN I've not been in the most motivating of moods lately!! The fact is, life is busy. It's been really busy for me lately -- not as compared to anyone else, just as compared to the rhythm of my world and when it does or does not make me feel like I'm in control or like I'm drowning. I think the word I've been using lately is that I feel 'swallowed.' That's not a complaint in any way, shape or form. It just is and has been!

As time goes toward new adventures and keeping up with the dailies, time is of the essence. What that has meant is that there are a few times, even though the runs have continued, I've had to cut a mile or two from what I really wanted to do. And, certainly, there hasn't been as much time to write as I would love. I'm re-reconciling (as I've fought resignation) that I might have to miss my end-of-the-year mileage goal, but just letting that go with nothing else to shoot for has not set well with me.

And, then came two opportunities. One was handed to me, and the other I created with Pit Crew #2.

I first share with you this:

Did you know (a) There's a National Cupcake Day, and (b) there's a Virtual Run Events page on Facebook? Yeah, I didn't know about either until a couple of weeks ago. And, now I'm all over both of them!

National Cupcake Day is -- evidently -- December 15, so, right around there, PC#2, virtual running partner extraordinaire Mary Kate and I will reunite for one of our very awesome virtual 10K runs! The 15th is a Tuesday, so it's not happening then. But, the 12th sounds good for all sorts of fabulous (eh-hem, it's my birthday) reasons! We still need to plan that one ...

In the meantime, you might have noticed on my race calendar that I recently added the 5K To Couch series. For real, I'm totally proud of that one! It's like this: This past weekend, PC#2 and I were talking about how fast October went and how we couldn't believe it was already November, blah blah. Then, one of us pointed out how the holiday movies are about to air (particularly the gushy ones on the Hallmark Channel), and we noted how we actually still have a few on the DVR from 2014 because we never found time to watch them.

THEN I told her about how, right after college, I spent Thanksgiving with a friend of mine at her aunt's house, and, for 4 straight days, she and I sprawled on a bed and watched as many talk shows as we could find on tv. We emerged to eat and were appropriately social, but, for the most part, we zombied ourselves in our over-indulgence of talk shows.

It was quite fabulous.

PC#2 said that sounded like a great idea over Thanksgiving Break, but swap "my friend" with "her" and "talk shows" with "Hallmark movies." We laughed about how nasty we'd feel by the end of the week having not moved ... that is, until I came up with flipping the couch-to-5K concept on its head. At that moment, she and I committed to at least a 5K daily during break (taking Sunday off; your body does need a day to rest!) before hitting the couch for as much of the rest of the day as possible to watch our sappy, fairy tale lovey-dovey movies! Buh-BAM! Sounds like a winning plan to us!!

I love that girl!

With those two plans in place, it's easier to consider letting go of a goal I made 11 months ago without having a full understanding of what all of the year would bring to either support or make unrealistic that long-term goal! I still haven't written it off, but I'm thankful to have other goals to shoot for if I can't hit that one.

It's just now hitting me, by the way, that making a goal that requires the entire year to complete is really, really lofty ... Not impossible, as I did it last year, but lofty ... Hmmm.

So, there's the current vision. Aaron and I will hit our 2015 Change Hounds goal of 2,015 combined miles in 2015. That's a team effort, and I'm more committed to that than to my individual one. I have these smaller goals between now and the end of the year regardless of what happens to my personal one. Re-evaluating and reconfiguring: there's nothing wrong with doing such things! I've found these strategies to be key in keeping my mind peaceful as life gets piled high with the busy! Be kind to yourself and do the same when necessary, and I'll check in after the morning run!