Mi Tierra, October 31, 2011. San Antonio, TX.
This month will mark my 30th year of life. Finally, numerical permission to act like the old lady I’ve always been! If that’s not cause for celebration, then I don’t know what is.
Year number 29 was not an easy year, but I feel like it’s ending on a high note. At work, I’m slowly but surely moving in the direction of another publication—my first as a postdoc! I’m making more friends in Texas, and all is well with my other relationships. I finally broke two hours in the half-marathon after my third try. It’s worth noting that I was only able to reach that goal when I got really serious about doing it—I spent ten months working on my fitness levels with that goal in mind, so it was incredibly gratifying to see my dream come true. Likewise with my career, this summer I had to get really serious about making progress on my project. It required a new level of commitment and some short-term sacrifices (lazy Saturday mornings, I miss you!), but I think that’s part of accepting adult-sized responsibilities.
One area of my life that continues to bring me comfort and joy is my small circle of loved ones. They really came through for me during the hardest moments of this past year, and I cannot thank them enough. I think if there is one thing in my life of which I am most proud, it’s the relationships I have with people near and far. There are those who say that Americans today are morally and spiritually bankrupt, and all that matters to us is money and appearance. I disagree. I may be agnostic, but I know my life is far from being spiritually bankrupt. I think the meaning of my life is the love and affection I share with friends and family.
Whew! I didn’t mean to become so sentimental, but that’s what birthdays do to me. Onto this month’s goals!
Fitness Goals:
* Work up to a 50-minute run. My longest run in October was probably 30-40 minutes, so a 50-minute run is not too far from where I am right now, runningwise. Let’s do this, legs!
* Do 30 push-ups, 30 V-shaped leg lifts per leg, 30 squats, and 30 bicycle crunches per side each week. I’m going to split this up into three little strength work-outs over the course of the week.
* Write star chart (as usual), incorporating this month’s strength-training challenge.
* The bike! The bike must go to the shop this month!
Health and Life Balance Goals:
I don’t think I have anything new to add to this list! October’s goals were a very good start at re-establishing some good habits so that I get enough sleep and eat good meals. I’d like to keep up the momentum in those areas so that I can look and feel my best.
What habits do you try to maintain to look and feel your best?
Sounds like you are in a really good place coming up on your birthday. In my life, things just keep getting better and better since age 30. For some reason I think it's a really nice milestone. Good luck on all your goals for the month!
ReplyDeleteOh, I like the sound of life after 30! I feel like for a lot of people, their 20s are really tumultuous and difficult. That was definitely true for me. I'm looking forward to a rich and rewarding decade, with more fun and less angst.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the sweet comment, Kate :-)
I would love for you to send me an email/or write up a post about some of the things that you did to achieve the fitness necessary for a sub-2 half. I'm really hoping that I will spend a good chunk of the summer elsewhere doing research which probably means that I won't run a full marathon in 2012 but I would love to run a PR at a half-marathon in March and work on getting even faster for a fall half-marathon.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are sort of hitting the sweet spot at the end of 29, and I hope that just continues for this next year for you, sweet friend!
Hi Raquelita! Of course. I absolutely think you could run a sub-two half--it seems like your fitness level is right on the cusp of it. And if you ran your half during a cooler part of the year (like spring or fall), you'd avoid the killer heat of summer races.
ReplyDeleteAfter my March half, I wrote a post about my training. I don't know that it was any one little thing that helped me PR, but I do think that learning to run my long runs closer to race pace was really important. I went from making the running intervals between walk breaks longer to not taking any walk breaks during the race except for a few water stations, I think. I knew that for me, the difference between breaking two and not breaking two would come down to the small things, like walking breaks, so I had to wean myself off of them.
And here's the post!
http://feelslikeflying24.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-worked-for-me.html
Love your goals and your reflections! I am also 29, though I have the better part of a year before I turn 30. Like Kate, I have a feeling life will get better with each year so I don't dread the big three-oh. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you are too! Birthdays are meant to be celebrated. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Chrissy! I totally agree with you. The only thing about getting older that would frighten me is increased chance of disease, but I'm already a hypochondriac and "chance" is such a vague, roll-the-dice notion anyway that I don't dread getting older.
ReplyDeleteAnd on the plus side, getting older can mean more confidence, more self-acceptance, more friends, more wealth, more stability, more knowledge, and more wisdom. I feel like I'm gaining a lot more than I'm losing :-)
Enjoy 29! It's already turning out to be a big year for you, friend.