29 December 2012

2012 Athletics Recap

2012 was a really exciting year regarding athletics. I continued running, and I added swimming, cycling, and triathlon! Here are some highlights from the year:

  • Hit Level 20 on Fitocracy (I've acquired a milestone number of points, but I'm not sure what number of points/increments determines the levels)
  • Hit Level Purple on Nike+ (I've ran 2500+ KM since 2007)
runs by month for 2012
some random statistics
the pace trend went down hill because running upwards of 18 miles for marathon training will drag the pace a bit
I like to run in the morning to start the day and get it out of the way so it's not hanging over my head. = )
lots of new records per Nike+! (note, some are slightly off when compared to official race results (which are better times), but that's okay)


I started using a social fitness website called Fitocracy this year. You track your workouts, earn points, and level up! Here's how I ended 2012 per Fitocracy:


Here are some fun 2012 running statistics (thanks to Nike+):














Books Read in 2012

2012 was a bumpy year, and my reading lulled a bit. I only read 18 books in 2012; all but 2 were novels. (Note that I'm currently in between 4 books right now, so hopefully that will kick off January 2013 well enough.) The links below will take you to more information about the book. The list is in reverse-chronological order.
 
 
 
 
My top 5 favorite books read this year are as follows, in descending order:
 
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
Be the Pack Leader by Cesar Millan
Marathon: You Can Do It! by Jeff Galloway


28 December 2012

2012 NY Resolutions Recap

All righty - 2013 is nearly here! That means it's time for my annual blog to recap my year's resolutions' success and to announce my resolutions for the upcoming year!


The following are my resolutions for 2012 and their results. (Click here to see the related blog post.)

  • pay off another significant chunk of debt - 100% successful! In 2012 I put $15,650 towards debt (and interest...)! In 2011 I paid $11,365 towards debt (and interest...). That puts me at a total of $27,015 of debt (and interest) paid in 24 months! As with last year, my student debt is a monster, so is my car payment since I bought new. Moving twice in May didn't help, but over all the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover method has continued working for me.
  • run two half marathons (13.1 miles) and my first full marathon (26.2 miles) - 67% successful! I ran the Beachmania Half Marathon, missed my mark on running a second half marathon, and FINISHED my first full marathon at the Space Coast Marathon. (I know, I have yet to blog the marathon - I'm working on it!)
  • earn Bs or better in all of my PSU master's courses (1 in each of the spring, summer, and fall semesters) - 100% successful! I earned an A in the spring, an A in the summer, and a B+ in the fall!
  • read 10+ books of the Bible - 0% successful... I haven't read one page of my Bible this year. I'm going to set a smaller but related goal for 2013. Maybe I should shift it to be related to attending church service. I really want to study the Bible, but I'm clearly not making this a priority... I'll have to give this one some thought.
  • scrapbook Heidi to the present - 2% successful... Well, another year has come and gone, and I'm not anywhere near having Heidi's scrapbook up to date. I did, however, get 2 pages done in November. That's worth something, but not much.
  • make a quilt - 0% successful... This stemmed from an idea to make my parents a quilt for Christmas. Given the multiple moves, a rough summer, and school I totally had no time to devote to making a quilt. I might return to this resolution in 2014 when I'm totally done with my master's degree.
  • make a baby boy blanket - 0% successful... This one also stemmed from a gift idea, but I never even picked out the yarn. This one really shouldn't have been made a resolution. My heart wasn't in this one.
  • learn to ballroom dance - 100% successful! Yay! After all of those red success rates, here is a great, big green one! I took two 6-week sessions of ballroom dancing at The Longwood Ballroom. Rick, Jennifer, and William - the instructors - are wonderful - just absolutely outstanding! Over the two sessions I learned Foxtrot, East Coast Swing, the Waltz, Rumba, Cha Cha, and Tango! I really miss the dances - I think I may make a resolution to attend some ballroom and/or swing dances in 2013.
  • continuously train with Heidi (agility, Schutzhund, or otherwise; formally or on my own) - 65% successful! I marked this 65% for a couple of reasons: (1) agility was only in session from January through April and from September through December since it's so hot in Florida in the summertime, and (2) because I didn't practice squat with Heidi over the summer like I should have (even though she retained quite a bit when we returned in September). So, I get credit for this one, but not full credit.
I achieved a 53.4% success rate with my 2012 New Year Resolutions. In 2011 I achieved a 64% success rate, so I'm naturally a little disappointed in myself percentage-wise - BUT! 2012 was a difficult year for me in general and financially, and I accomplished a lot of good things despite that fact - - - which leads me to 2013!


Now for my 2013 New Year Resolutions (in no particular order):
  • pay off $15,000+ of debt
  • earn a B or better in my final PSU master's course
  • graduate my PSU master's program
  • graduate my Leadership Development Program
  • attend church service at least once a month (attending church service can be substituted with an hour of studying/reading the Bible)
  • complete 5+ projects that have been on-going for (ahem) years (this could be anything from finishing my Australia puzzle, to using up the fabric purchased for making laptop sleeves, to using up some yarn that I've accumulated, to making my running t-shirt quilt, to puppy bandanas that are practically ready to be sewn)
  • read 24+ books (this year my number of books read was considerably low - probably a combined result of reading 3 of the Game of Thrones books (each is approximately 1000 pages) and having a rough year
  • do 3+ pages of scrapbooking (doesn't have to be Heidi's scrapbook; it can be my general scrapbook of life)
  • keep one weekend of each month deliberately open so that when that weekend arrives I can do whatever I please with no pressure or obligation; this is to help keep my stress levels in check (I've been consciously not over-busying myself since late October, and I've noticed significant benefits; if the month is truly too busy to do this, 2 free weekends must be set for the following month)
  • go on a fun hiking trip

Lastly, I came by a neat infographic about New Year's Resolutions on Pinterest. Click here to check it out.


That's it from me for now! I hope 2013 brings you good health and an abundance of joy! Happy New Year!