Tag Archives: 2010

Good Bye, 2010!

I started out the morning writing a year in review post that did not involve my running at all.  I realized by the time I was 3/4 of the way done, that was pretty boring and there were just a few highlights from my year.  Some did involve running – mine or someone else’s – and some did not.

 

I have managed to keep in somewhat touch with friends from high school that I reconnected with in 2009.  While a solid group of us started getting together every month, that dissipated in 2010 but we did see each other now and then.  I am truly hoping we can get back that once a month groove in 2011.

 

I am an elected official in the state of New York.  I went through the process, ran for and was elected to the Maine-Endwell Central School District’s board of education.  While this is not a big office, it is one that deals with two things I know a bit about – children and education.  I am enjoying my time on the board so far and will serve my three year term with pride.

 

I did my civic duty in 2010.  I spent a month, from the end of April until the end of May, as a member of a seated grand jury.  This duty did not involve every day at a courthouse but did involve being on call for two days a week for the three weeks after the initial week.  I was floored by the number of people I knew in the initial pool of jurors since the constant mantra was how diverse the jury pool now is.

 

I realized, as I was compiling and writing the post you will most likely never see, that regardless of how much I am looking forward to an empty nest in the near future (a couple years still), I am as much a mother now as I have ever been.  My months evolved around activities for my kids, whether high school plays, Confirmation, band concerts, college athletic competitions or school open houses.

 

2010 was a good year overall.  Here is to an even better, more balanced 2011.


2010 in Review

I did my last review of my big goal for 2010 in July.  This review took place at about the half way point of the year and had already seen one revision in my goal for the year.  My big annual goal had started out being that I was going run a race in every month but January and February.  I immediately ran a February 5K and altered the goal to be run 12 races in 2010.

 

People may say, so what?  Well, to be totally honest, I never ran a race until December of 2009.  To run 12 of them in the 12 months following that first race was a daunting task.  On top of that, I did not choose just 5Ks.  I will have run 15 races since my first race in December of 2009 when tomorrow’s Resolution Run is over.  Of those races, three were half marathons.  Two were ten milers.  Five were 5Ks.  There were also two 10Ks, a 20K, a 15K , and an 8K.  So, for those of you like me – who like numbers, that is a total of just under 95 miles in race routes for the year.

 

On top of those races, I put in almost 1500 miles in running this year.  It is looking like I am going end the year just shy of 1450 miles.  This is an amazing feat to me.  For the two previous years, I had set a goal of 1000 miles for the year and had failed to meet my commitment.  I had given up at some point and not continued on.  This year I didn’t set the goal for x number of miles but for so many races and the training around those races helped put me over the 1000 mile mark the beginning of October.  Since then I have added over 330 plus miles to that total.

 

As I said back in July:

The benefits of this training are that my body is looking pretty good.  I am not a skin and bones person by any means but I have dropped four pants sizes since I started running in September of 2007.  I have dropped bra sizes from a 42D to a 38C.  I have more muscle in my body composition than I have had in the past.  Singing – actually anything that involves breathing – comes easier, even with allergies and asthma.  My abdomen is actually developing some definition – nope, no 6-pack abs but some definition.

So, I am officially declaring 2010 a success!!

 

Did you set goals in January of 2010?  Did you review them throughout the year?  Did you meet the goals you set?  Are you setting goals for 2011?  What are these goals and how do you plan to hold yourself accountable?


What Is Best About A New Year?

A former colleague of my father’s put it best in a short blog entry for the first of the new year.  She entitled it “Fresh Starts.” I was so taken by it in its truth and simplicity, I shared it on Facebook.  Now I want to share it here with you, my readers.

It is true a new year is like an empty canvas.  There may be some primer on the canvas, some continuing events, but the canvas itself is ready for creation.  This new year is starting off with some primer for the world but hopefully, not so much that the creation is over shadowed.  This personal new year is also starting off with some primer.  Again, I pray it is not too much that the creation will not come through.

Mary, in her “Fresh Start” entry, wants us to resolve to “laugh often.”  Think back over yesterday.  Do you recall laughing at all?  I know I don’t but I have my reasons.  I do normally laugh frequently.  Do you realize how important laughter is.  My one son was laughing so hard at his older siblings he was literally getting an ab workout.  His abs were sore for days.  That makes me laugh.

Mary also says to “whistle in public.”  This is a resolution that I cannot get into.  Sometimes, and not all the time but probably 99%, whistling hurts my ears.  My kids whistle all the time.  It bothers me.  I politely ask them to stop.  This year, while I will not be out in public whistling, I will not ask anyone to stop.

Mary’s third resolution is the one that stopped me in my tracks.  It took me through some of what has been going on in my life and also took me to past spot in my life.  She says we should resolve to “forgive quickly.”

Forgiveness is truly a holy quality.  As humans, we struggle with it.  We like to hold onto things that hurt us.  We like to punish those who hurt us, whether intentional or not, so they feel pain also.  That “revenge” aspect is human, not holy.  I am not saying that forgiveness means forgetting what happened.  I am saying it is forgiving.  It is giving up claim to the hurt.  It is ceasing to feel resentment.  It is good for the heart, the soul, the mind and the body.

Mary’s final resolution is to “dance when we can, even if we aren’t very good at it.”  This resolution put a smile on my face.  I love to dance.  I love to move.  I will attempt to help Mary keep this resolution.

As an artist, I can see the potential of the blank canvas called 2010 that we have in front of us.  We need to do something with the canvas, something special.  Create away!

What will you create on your canvas of 2010?


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