Revisiting 2012 Goals & Setting Goals for 2013

On January 1, 2012 I wrote this post recapping 2011 and setting goals for the new year. Then less than three weeks later I found out I was pregnant and everything changed. Needless to say, I didn’t achieve all of my goals this year, but that is completely fine. What I didn’t share in that post were a few other more personal goals of mine. Since last January I have had an electronic “sticky note” on my computer desktop that had some more goals for 2012.

I am happy to report that I accomplished some very BIG goals of mine for the year- getting pregnant and having a beautiful baby boy, buying our own house, and learning to swim. WIN, WIN, WIN! As for those other goals for the year, here’s how I did:

• Complete my first ultra-marathon in March. I wasn’t able to do this because I got pregnant. I am actually putting this one on hold for another year or two. I want to focus on the regular marathon distance before jumping into another ultra!
• Run a marathon in LESS THAN 4 hours. I had big plans to run 3 marathons in 2012 to go for a PR, but dropped to the half distances when I found out I was expecting. This is still a big goal of mine that I plan to accomplish in 2013!
• Be active in other ways than just running. I tried a lot of new things that were out of my comfort zone in 2012 (yoga, Zumba, swimming, spinning) and continued with my beloved Body Pump. I also did a lot of walking while I was pregnant. However, running remained my #1 love!
• Save money and stick to our new revised budget. We did really well with this until the summer when we bought our house and had to make a lot of baby purchases. Now that we have the house and our baby we’ve been dipping into savings more often lately, which I don’t like at all! This will be one of the goals I carry over to 2013.
• Be on time! Umm yeah. Not so much. I’ve actually been great at getting to work on time though, which is a big improvement. But going anywhere with a new baby takes TIME. I have learned to start getting ready to go way before you think you need to. Leaving myself a big cushion of time helps me not be as stressed and allows me to take care of surprises like diaper accidents, spit ups, and meltdowns.
• Sleep more. Haha! I am pretty sure I will never meet this goal for the next 18 (or more?) years.

Okay, now it’s time to focus on the FUTURE! Here are my new goals for 2013.

• Run (at least) 1 race every month of the year. Two of my friends set a goal to run a race every month of 2012, and I loved that idea so much that I decided to borrow it for 2013. So far I have races in mind for every month except May, August, October, and December. Anyone in the Northern VA/DC area or the Philadelphia area (where my dad lives) know of any good ones in these months?
• PR in both the marathon and the half marathon. Wow, this one is ambitious, I know! But I do believe I can do it. I am not planning to run another marathon until November, and I’m going to work my butt off to PR at that one (my current PR is 4:00:04). I’m running a bunch of half marathons this year and I really want to beat my PR of 1:48:55.
• Re-commit to strength training. I was doing Body Pump 1-3x a week from July 2011 – September 2012… up until 3 days before baby Kevin was born. I learned that consistent strength training does amazing things for my running. I had never felt stronger or run faster than when I was going to Body Pump consistently. Since having the baby I haven’t been back to Body Pump or done any strength training. I’ve lost all my muscle definition (except in my legs) and I feel so much weaker. I NEED to start again to strengthen my muscles and create that good foundation that is needed for training. I hope to make it to Body Pump once a week and do some type of at-home strength training on another day.
• Be smart with money. This is a continuation of my 2012 goal, although now since we are homeowners with a new baby, our budget looks different. We are paying for home expenses that come up, daycare, baby medical stuff, and now (unfortunately) some formula too. I also finished grad school which means I have to pay my student loans again. So basically we have to be very careful with our money this year!
• Floss every day.  This is a random one but it’s one I really want to do! I’ve gotten MUCH better about it but need to make it a part of my daily routine.
• Don’t sweat the small stuff. Kevin tells me all the time that I need to let go of things that don’t matter and not stress about little things. I admit that I let things get the best of me a lot of the time. I worry way too much and let myself get frustrated and upset very easily, especially lately as I try to figure out how to balance being a new mother with a stressful job and other responsibilities. This causes me to miss out and not appreciate some of the things that happen around me. Then I feel guilty about that and beat myself up about it. It is a bad cycle. So one of my goals for the new year is not to sweat the small stuff and remember to tell myself at the end of each day, “Today I did the best I can and tomorrow is a brand new day.” (Thanks Jordan!)
• Focus on family. This one kind of goes with the previous one. At the end of the day, nothing else matters besides my husband and my baby. Everything- running, work, money, stress, etc.- comes after that. I need to make sure I’m being the best mommy and wife I can be for my two favorite people in the entire world.

I love setting goals and having things to work towards. While I don’t believe you need to wait for the beginning of a new year to make changes, it is nice to think of the new year as the chance to start fresh. I am looking forward to the new challenges this year will bring!

I hope everyone has a great year! What goals have you set for yourself?

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