2011 Goals Scorecard

I've put this off long enough.  And, yes, I am a very generous grader!! (you wouldn't have thought so if you took my class back in my graduate TA days, though, haha!!)  Without further ado, my 2011 goals and how I did:

·                     Get the body healthy, keep the body healthy – Well. Yeah, this one was big. But I think I have put a lot of effort into getting healthy, and while I probably should have taken more time to recover after the mi-year surgery, and we are still working on the knee thing (made big strides, but still much to go), I can honestly say that this is an area that got a LOT of attention this year. And not just the physical part of me, either. I did a lot of soul-searching, with the help of some fairly amazing, insightful and caring friends, and I think for the first time a long while, my mind and emotional health is stronger than it’s been in a long while. That alone earns me an A!

·                     Run a Sub-5:00 Marathon – Hit 5:14 at Cowtown, with the help of my Bubble of Love. It was not a PR day, the announcer warned us of that before we even started. I tried again at Oklahoma City two months later, and that, also, was far from a PR day. It didn’t happen. But I can guarantee you that I gave all I had to give on both those days, so I am giving myself a solid C. I should do pass/fail on this, but I’m not. I didn’t hit 4:XX in 2011, but I know why, and those race experiences, and those lessons, were part of who shaped me into who I am today.  They are a part of me. I can’t call that a failure.  

·                     Run 3 or more 50K Trail Races – DONE!! And I PRed at each one!! (HINT: start off dreadfully slow and it’s not so hard to PR!!) and I had a great time at each one.  I technically ran five 50ks, but only finished three of them. Still, I rocked the hell out of this goal.  A+!

·                     Complete a 50-Mile Race (November) – Nope. Didn’t happen. I was going to go for it, as late as a month before the race date, I had worked toward it. But Wild Hare was not the right place for my 50 mile debut, and November 2011 was not the right time, and my reasons for trying this were not the right ones. This will happen, but I have other things I need to do before then.  There is no rush. There is no pressure.  I have to do it when it only makes sense for me. And when I am doing it for the right reasons.  Incomplete. 

·                     Become A Marathon Maniac -  Done!! Got the silly little entry level when I bailed on Minneapolis and didn’t finish my 6-pack. And, really, that’s OK.  A.

·                     Complete 100 Pushup Challenge – um, yeah…. Incomplete.  

·                     Complete 200 Situp Challenge – Well, hmmm…. Incomplete.

·                     Run 1600 miles this year – I ran just slightly over 1000 miles for the year, well under the goal. But I didn’t plan on taking 6 weeks off for surgery when I set that goal. I didn’t plan on my family life being in a bit of an upheaval when I set that goal. I also had full intentions of running not one, but TWO fifty-milers. Um, yeah.  A thousand miles ain’t nothing to sneeze at, so even though it’s but 2/3 of my goal, I’m still giving myself a solid B-.

·                     Complete two sprint triathlons this summer (August & September) – These things are apparently much easier when you have a bicycle.  Which my awesome (aggie – forgiven) friends Katie and Kevin set me up with when Katie brought me her bicycle to use all I wanted while she goes to graduate school. They’re also much easier when you know how to swim.  I made little forays into both cycling and swimming this year (DONKEY RIDE! OWS (kinda) at Grapevine) but I didn’t get so far as to actually sign up for any more tris.  That’s OK. I’ll get there again.  I got to cheer a few triathlete friends at their races, and that revved me up for it for sure, but it also reinforced how much training I’ll need before I embark on that journey again. And I’m not quite there yet.  Still got some stuff to handle before I go Tri.  Again, as with the 50-miler, there is no rush, there is no pressure.  This is all fun, people, and I have to do it when the time is right, to be successful at it.  So, here I’m giving myself another Incomplete.  

So, there you go. I am still dwelling on my 2012 goals (besides the big one, which anyone who knows me knows EXACTLY which dragon I'm going to try to slay again this year), so you'll have to wait a little longer for it.  So Frunners and Neighbors, what are YOUR goals for 2012. Leave a comment and inspire me (which means, I might just steal it for myself!!) 

One of my DailyMile goals is to meet and run with as many people as I can. Think I got an A on this one!