In Dire Need of Motivation.....

I love motivational quotes; it is something I've inherited from my mother and grandmother. But as January wears on and I realize how much more winter there is... somedays getting up and getting going is tough. My running dynamic has changed and that is part of what life if all about. Nothing remains the same and it is through this process that we grow.

I love running and I love the challenge of pushing my body to new extremes that I didn't know I had in me. But when it is cold and don't want to run outside and the treadmill is my only option... motivation is hard. It was my intention to post my schedule for the Marden Half Marathon today but I haven't written it yet. Time ran short and excuses ran high.

Then I found myself not wanting even to run today. And the excuses were ever present... I'm tired, I have to teach two classes tonight, I was gone for work from 4:50am yesterday until 6:30pm, I feel a cold coming on.... all quite valid excuses, but it's building the base for my half marathon that counts. It is changing my mindset to dig deep today that will give me the confidence to run when it is hard during a race. So I am pledging that I WILL do my run tonight after work and I WILL finalize my running schedule. And for extra motivation for myself.. at timely quote from the finishing line of the Athens Marathon I ran a few years ago... sometimes we have to look back in order to give ourselves the kick in the butt we need.

New Thing January

One of my resolutions this year is to try one new thing a month.  It doesn't have to be a huge 'thing' just something new to me. 

This month's new thing is my attempt to embrace winter.  Normally in winter I train outside.  But this year I have been a huge wimp.  I meet with a friend to run on Saturday mornings but the other runs I do are inside on the treadmill.  When it is easier and safer to run outside, I will be there.  Aside from running outside I usually hike or snowshoe, but the conservation areas I go to are still closed due to the downed trees from the ice storm. 

So.. this month's new thing.... downhill skiing.  I have never skied before today.  My husband snowboards and my daughter' have learned to ski with their school.  The three of them have been skiing for a couple of years together and I have joked about how it is more fun to hang out in the chalet or at the spa, but really I knew I was missing out on some fun.  At the same time I was feeling like a big scaredy cat. What it I fell and it hurt.  What if I couldn't do it.  What if I was really, REALLY bad at skiing.

I decided to swallow my pride and face my fear of failure and go for it.  I arranged for a lesson, the first available lesson of the day and headed to the ski hill with the most positive attitude I could muster.  This was going to be fun!  Fingers crossed.

My instructor was fantastic.  He was one of the most enthusiastic people I have met.  He taught me the basics on the Teddy Bear hill - snowplough or pizza, French fries for the kids.  After two runs down the kiddie hill, we moved onto Easy Rider.  I practised more snowplough and then moved onto parallel skiing.  After an hour I felt confident enough to go off and try more hills on my own.  The hardest part initially was figuring out how to get off the ski lift, but I got that down after falling a couple of times.

I joined my daughters and we moved onto some of the intermediate hills.  I fell a lot but it was ok, I was shown how to fall on my side.  The only really difficult thing I struggled with was how to get up without taking my ski off.  But I did ski the whole day and had a great time.  I was super impressed with how well my daughters skied.... and completely blown away with my husband's snowboarding abilities.

Skiing was far more fun than staying inside in the chalet.  It was great to be out in the sunshine and fresh air.  And it was really uplifting to try something new and figure out a new challenge.  But most importantly it was a great day with my daughters!

 

 

The rest of the afternoon will be spent finishing my book - as the other part of this year's resolution... on and maybe a few chocolate chip cookies!

I love the start of a new year - although I know technically it is January 22nd.... it's not too late. The New Year brings so much promise of wonderful things that can be accomplished and achieved. It's easy for me to aim for the moon before I acknowledge the work that needs to accompany goals. I'm going to run a sub 4 hour marathon, travel to Europe, write a book....

All of those things have been goals of New Year's past and 1 out of 3 isn't too bad. The book may come someday and never say never about the marathon.

This year my goals are much simplier. This year I am going to focus on creating joy in my life. Yes it sounds like I have a bit of my previous evening's yoga bliss still going on. But I am going to aim for two things that will hopefully make me a little happier and find a bit more fun.

My first goal is to try something new every month. This doesn't have to be a remarkable earth shatterning achievement, although it wouldn't hurt if it was. It just has to be a new experience for me. Something a little scary that takes me out of my comfort zone but something that will give me a new perspective, experience and hopefully broaden my horizon. And no pressure to succeed at the 'new' experience, the idea is just to try something different. If all goes well this weekend, I will be posting my first new experience on Sunday... fingers crossed!

My second goal is to read a book for my own personal interest once a month. I am currently taking two courses, one for work and a nutrition course for my own interest. I have a ton a material to read which is great because I like learning, but I really miss chosing my own books and reading just for fun. My book for January is 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn. I didn't know this book was being released as a movie when I picked it... I really just liked the title.

Welcome to 2014 and a Clean Slate

So 2013 came and went.  I did accomplish a lot of things.  I just didn't publish them here. 

A quick break down of what happened - I didn't compete in any races. I did do some travelling - New York, Ottawa & St. Augustine.  I got a new job with a lot of opportunities. 

I have kept up on my running and have found a renewed love of yoga.  I only completed on of my 2013 running challenges - to do the Wellington Warrior Challenge. 

Looking forward I have signed up for the Marden Half Marathon on April 12th.  And have committed myself to deepening my yoga practise by practicing daily and attending at least one class a week at the studio I teach at - Awareness Yoga. 

But most importantly I have committed to posting 2 days a week through a group on a website forum through Live Your Legend.  This website is devoted to motivating and inspiring people to do amazing things in their lives. I have followed this group for sometime now and used their goal setting workbood for the past three years. 

So focusing on the future I am pretty excited about the possibilities of 2014. My intention is to regularly post and let everyone know all of the cool things I have been up to and have in store for myself! Here's an example.... I am embracing the frigid temperatures but more importantly the beauty of winter by skating outside on my lunch.