reading | heart & sole

Hi everyone! It’s been far too long since I’ve posted, but I’m back and ready to get back at it. I’ve been crazy busy lately and in addition to neglecting my blog I haven’t made time for reading a lot of the many other blogs I enjoy. Time to fix that!

Aside from being busy I’ve been a bit off my running game lately, which I think in turn knocked me a bit off my writing game too. I even skipped a race last weekend because I knew I wasn’t in shape to race it and didn’t want to be embarrassed by my time. Not super proud of that, but what can you do?!

Now I’m looking to turn things around. I’ve got my sights set on the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler as a goal race now in hopes to get things going by then. I downgraded from the half marathon to the 8k for Shamrock so I can really race that weekend instead of trudge myself through a half marathon I’m not ready for. I’ve done that before – it’s not fun! It will be a blast however to cheer on my teammates doing the half and the full that weekend.

Despite being in a running funk it has been a pretty good month. To keep this blog post from going on for too long, here are some of the highlights of what I’ve been up to:

Cross training and core work – and lots of it.
I made it 21 days plus without a soda. I’m back to drinking it now, but not as often!
I’ve been reading a lot more. I set a goal of getting through a book a month this year, but already cranked through three of them in January. Reviews to come.
So much wedding stuff! The wedding isn’t until October, but my fiancé and I have been on a roll getting things done like the wedding website, save the dates and more. Expect another post on this too!
Took an RRCA Running Coach Certification Course – yes, you’ll hear more about this one too.
Family fun! I spent a weekend down in Florida visiting my grandparents. I also got to hang out with my Mom for a weekend while my Dad enjoyed some warm weather on a golf trip to Florida.

And just like that… it’s 2014! Hope everyone had a great holiday season and a fun New Year’s eve. This is going to be a great year for my family with my brother’s wedding in August and mine in October. With a handful of other fun events on the calendar and some great races planned for the year, it certainly looks like it’ll be a busy one.

With everything going on, I know that staying stress-free, or at least as stress-free as possible will be important, so I tried to focus my New Year’s Resolutions for this year around things that help me de-stress.

Read more. I always say I wish I had more time to read, yet I’m able to find plenty of time at night to check on social media, so it’s really just about setting priorities. My goal is to read a book a month in 2014.

Get up early. Getting up early has been an ongoing struggle for me, but I always feel so much better when I have my workout in before starting my day. This is the year I stop hitting the snooze button!
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5949809/why-the-snooze-button-is-ruining-your-sleep

Socialize more (group workouts). When it comes to working out I work harder and have more fun with group workouts, so I want to try to fit more of that in during 2014.
Post-workout Group Photo from November Project DC Facebook page

Get Speedy. I love running fast, so this year is all about shorter races and working on my speed, which I need to keep reminding myself of when I get the itch to sign up for another marathon!