January Recap + February Goals

It's the last day of January. I logged my last run of the month this evening. I thought I was going to get some quality time with the husband by running with him, but I spent the entire 2 miles choking on the trail of dust he was leaving behind.

I don't think I'm made for night time running, I always feel off. But I needed to get in the extra miles to log for #TeamEscapades in the Chilly Challenge.

So let's get to why we're really here. I don't know about you, but 2013 is off to a fantastic start for me. So much good stuff has happened in only 31 days - I can't wait to see what else is in store.

I kept the RunStreak going that I started in December and managed to get in a run every day this month. I ended up logging 110 miles this month! I can hardly believe it.

My 2013 goal is to run 808 miles (doubling what I logged last year). That goal equates to 67 miles a month, which seemed pretty doable. I'd say I totally crushed that! I knocked out 13% of my goal in one month.

In addition to running, I also got back on back on track with my boot camp classes. Although, I took this week off from any strength training and was a little light on the miles since I have the Kaiser Half Marathon on Sunday. But after Sunday, it's back to work, the count down for the Tough Mudder is on - only 24 days!! Crap!

I found the virtual challenges in January to be fun. It was nice to know that their was this virtual community out there working towards similar goals. For February I wanted to see what other challenges I could find. I was happy to find Taji100 benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project. There seems to be a theme in February - as the Tough Mudder also benefits the Wounded Warrior Project.

So what is Taji100?

The goal is the walk, jog, run, hike or elliptical 100 miles within the 28 days of February. The first Taji 100 was held at former Camp Taji, in Al Taji, Iraq in February 2010. You can find the full story here. You can unofficially join the challenge for free or by making a $20 donation to the Wounded Warrior Project, you are officially enrolled and can qualify for the Taji 100 Awards.

In addition to the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon this week, the Tough Mudder later in the month and the Taji 100 challenge I am going to challenge myself to eat healthier. I have the fit part down, but the cupboard full of M&Ms at work calls my name far too many times a day. This month I am going to focus on incorporating more fruits and veggies into my diet, bringing my lunch more and lastly drinking more water and cutting out a few sodas. I think I may start keeping a food diary - not a strict one - but just some notes to make me more aware of what I'm stuffing in my face on the daily basis.

Hope your year is off to a rockin start!

What's on your calendar for February? Any big goals?

Goal Check-In

2013 is off to a great start. I've been reading about everyone's new year's goals on blogs and twitter. It's inspired me to set a lot of mini goals for myself.

First off, I'm continuing my runstreak. I've hit 42 days and I think I'm going to keep going until my body says no. When I did my first half marathon last fall, I was enjoying running, but I wasn't in love with running. But something happened over the past 6 weeks and now I wake up every morning ready to get my run in. I've got running on the brain, pretty much all the time now. Can I quit my day job and just run? Is that even possible?

Also on the calendar for January is the Chilly Challenge via Running Escapades and Purple Giraffe. I love that I found this challenge. It was a great way to start off the new year and inspiration for keeping up with my weekly milage. It's a virtual running challenge, I'm on Team Escapades, and after week one it was confirmed that we are in the lead. Woo!! I love how supportive the virtual running community is - everyone on facebook and twitter has been so nice and handing out daily doses of encouragement.

Another goal for this month (actually more of an ongoing goal) is I really want to work on tightening my core. To get my core nice and tight, I've started doing a plank a day. One Tough Mother Runner is hosting a virtual plank a day challenge this month, so I joined in on that as well. It's the #PlanksALot Challenge - look for the hashtag on Twitter to see how it's going. I really love the plank, it's really minimal effort (ha!) - you can just roll out of bed in the morning and get your stop watch going for a minute or two and then POOF! you're done. Can't wait to see the long term results.

What are your goals for January and the rest of 2013?