Sunday, January 3, 2016

How I spend my days

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I read a great article a few days ago from a website called catching days. On her website, on the first day of the month she hosts a guest writer to address the topic:  “How We Spend Our Days.”

The story that was so interesting this month was written by Steve Almond.  I was first introduced to him as a speaker at the Washington DC AWP Conference in 2011.  I’ve read many of his books and articles. He’s hilarious and speaks the truth about candy, music, and family. At the conference he even told the audience how much money he made in a year as a freelancer; it was an audience question. None of the other speakers would say [Cheryl Strayed].

Here is the link to the story:
http://catchingdays.cynthianewberrymartin.com/2016/01/01/how-we-spend-our-days-steve-almond/

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." Annie Dillard

 The website and story made me think about how I spend my time. When I’m not working, I’m training, outside, reading, writing, and admittedly I watch shows on Netfix (probably too much).
I like my life. I like how I spend my days. I wish for a few things I don't have right now, but for the most part, I get to spend the days how I’d like.
My friends tease me that I’m a homebody. They tease me about making plans. Little do they know that I have to make a plan, I have to have goals, and I need long-term plans or I will be a homebody all year-long.

I like having structure to my day. One of the best things I’ve learned from being an endurance athlete is when you wake up in the morning you must have a plan – a plan of all the things you want to accomplish – then you will most likely get them all done.
When you don’t have a plan – or you don’t list the things you need to do – most likely you will not do them.

This weekend I did most of my plan: I hiked with the dogs, I snowshoed, 

I went Nordic skiing 



and I wrote a blog post. 
I finished a few work tasks. I read a few chapters from The Big Rock Candy Mountain.
I ran out of time to buy and read the New York Times but will try again next week.
I didn’t run.

This is how I spend my days.

Friday, January 1, 2016

2015 Goals – A Year in Review

Swim 75 miles or 132,000 yards, Bike  5,000 miles, and run 1,500.

Actual:
Swim: 135,056 or 76 miles ! Yeah, I met my goal.
Bike: 2,684, bummer – goal not met.
Run: 802 bummer – goal not met.

As I was planning my 2015 race calendar I thought these were all possible. And, by living in Tucson for the year I would be able to train all year. Well, it didn’t quite work out the way I planned in January. But that is the way life is: things happen, life gets in the way, nothing goes as planned – and it’s OKAY. I still believe in making goals and plans.

I did a lot of really fun things all year: Egg Nog 5K, Ironman Texas, Oro Valley AZ Sprint Triathlon, Olympic distance triathlon in Tempe, Blood, Sweat, and Beer trail marathon in Las Vegas, Mississippi Blues marathon in Jackson, Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach CA.

I traveled a lot for work: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Minnesota.

I saw the Grand Canyon.

And, I moved back to Grand County, Colorado.

It was a very good year!

My 2016 Goals & Adventures are still intact, however I added one more event that I signed up for last night – solo long course at the Steamboat Pentathlon in March.

August – Leadville 10K
November – Ironman Arizona

This morning it was -20 so I am hoping that it starts to warm up so I can start running outside again. I need to figure out a mountain bike and downhill skis for the pentathlon. I have a lot of work to do to get ready for races this year. I’m excited to be back in Colorado and get back into racing this year.


Mostly I feel thankful. Thankful for an awesome family. Thankful for my friends in Colorado and Arizona. Thankful for a fulfilling job. Thankful for my health so I can train and race and see the world. I'm thankful to be a part of the Triple Threat Triathlon Team. And thankful to be a TNFLocal

Happy New Year!