Vision Board? Vision Blog!

In recent years I have heard a lot about vision boards as part of goal setting, I have even created some the past two years.  But this year I decided that I needed to do this a different way.  Thus, Vision Blog!  This way I can include more explanation, for myself, but also for you all (to help keep me more accountable).

Often I start my vision board with a word or thought of the year.  And I have decided that a Vision Blog should be no different. So the word of the year is....

 

I chose this word, victory, after reading a random post on facebook.  Don't even remember exactly where I saw it.  But the gist was that it might be good to stop chasing Personal Records and start chasing Personal Victories.  That is my vision for this year, to find the personal victories.  I think the hashtag #PV might become a "thing" for me this year, as I reach for and find my personal victories.

So that's the general theme of the year, but I do have some general and specific goals in a couple of areas, and ideas to get there for some of them.

Let's start with some things outside of athletics. 

HOME AND FAMILY

 

One thing I have noticed since I retired is that I feel like I am drowning in STUFF.  Craft supplies, books, clothes, costumes, keepsakes, you get the idea.  Every box, bag, container that I can sort, organize, store or get rid of would be a personal victory.  I have decided to start by targeting a couple of rooms and further targeting a specific segment of one of those rooms (sewing patterns).

Related to the goal above is not to collect lots more stuff, not only for myself, but for my family.  We are committed to buying less things for our children and grandchildren and instead spend our time and money giving them "moments."  You know the kind of things I mean, everything from afternoons on the playground to fairly elaborate trips.  We already began this journey at the end of last year and earlier this year, by committing to workouts and races with my daughter,  giving my Mom a trip for Christmas, taking our granddaughters on an overnight trip to the indoor waterpark, and planning trips with various family members. I feel like it is a victory every time we make the choice to make a moment...it is an attitude I want to continue.

Also related to "stuff" but also health and athletic stuff is that I have a metric "sh*tload" of cookbooks....but I seem to fall into the pattern of making stuff that is easy, convenient or already in my repertoire. As a consequence my nutrition could use a boost.  So it would be a personal victory to make a new recipe once a week or so to expand my repertoire and determine if I really need to keep all these cookbooks. 

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS RETIREMENT THING?

I have already said that I have not learned to love retirement.  I don't even feel like I want to learn to love it.  Maybe that's a bad attitude, I don't know. But a personal victory would be to find a part time or irregular thing (or things) to do that made me feel useful and pay just a little money. I am not discounting volunteer work down the road, but for me in this moment, I need to feel a connection between my activity and my earning. 

So far I am continuing my work as a photo editor with a local event photographer, and I have talked to one (but only one) of the places I used to teach for about teaching an occasional class. I have also put out feelers about doing some part time work with a local company.  The ideal thing would be something I could do from home or flexible hours at least some of the time. 

So I am looking and exploring. One thing I'm researchin is free lance writing (and/or speaking). I have written for both academic and popular professional publications as an academic, and have done some paid writing for a company blog (human interest and light marketing).  I have a lot of speaking experience as well.  Another thing I have thought of is teaching craft skills or other things related to crafting or costuming.  Or more traditional part time work with a company that I believe in or an industry that interests me would be good too.  If any one out there has any ideas (wild or otherwise), I'd be glad to hear them.

ATHLETIC STUFF

 

I clearly know what a personal victory looks and feels like in my athletic endeavors, and while a personal record feels good...I think a personal victory might be even better. A #PV can come in any workout or race, and I think finding them may be more a matter of attitude and effort than anything else.  So step one here is to put in the effort and try to keep that attitude.  But I do have some specific goals and target races, too. 

My target races (or A races) for the year are divided between running and triathlon.  The running races on the A list are The Shamrock 8k in Chicago on March 22 and the Mackinac Island 8 miler in mid-September. I don't have specific time goals for either race, but more to just perform as well as I possibly can.  On the triathlon side, my most important race is in August, it is a repeat of last year's race, the Naperville Sprint Tri...and my goal is to do as well or better than last year. 

Obviously I have other races and I want to do well in them all...but those are the goals, the ones I want to peak for. 

I also have set a number of intermediate goals with my coach to help get me there.  And those will be ongoing.  Right now I have 3: improving my swim pace to 2:30 per 100, increasing my run intervals to 2 run/1 walk, and improving my core strength as measured by a strength test. 

AND SO..

Here's to all the personal victories this year...mine and yours.  I cannot wait to share mine and hear about yours!

2019 in Review

A few weeks ago we ended a year (and a decade).  If I tried to do a decade in review, it would take you all day to read it!  But there is certainly time for a year in review...and so without further ado....

ATHLETIC (the good and the bad)

Let's start with races...I attempted 36 races in the course of 2019.  I finished 33, but I don't consider any of the ones I didn't finish a fail.  Lets talk about those first.

If late January and early February, we took a Caribbean Running Cruise, in the course of the trip (including the pre-cruise event) there were 6 events.  The trail race event was on Roatan Honduras and billed as "hill-ish" (a major understatement).  I bailed after the first major hill (as did several others)...and I still felt like a winner for conquering that hill! 

Up the hill

Down the hill

We won that hill~Didn't need any more!

A few days later in Cozumel we had an pirate adventure amazing race.  We started out, but we already knew we were tired and planned to make it our own.  So ran a couple of miles and found a great spot to take photos of others and share them with the group. So while we did not technically finish a race we started, we had a successful outing. 

ARR! We made the pirate race our own

Finally, in July I attempted the Door County Sprint Tri.  Just as we started the breeze came up and the waves on the bay in Lake Michigan became unmanageable for me and I was pulled.  But I went ahead and had one of the best (and longest) bike rides of my triathlon career.  I started the run, but decided that I did not have to finish, as I would not have an official time and dropped. But that bike ride...oh, that ride!

Happy on the bike

Otherwise in running, I completed seventeen 5ks in 8 states plus the Bahamas, one 1 miler that was part of the Temptations Challenge at the Detroit Free Press Races, one 5.5 miler (in Costa Maya), one 8k, two 10ks (in 2 states), one quarter marathon, and one half marathon.  

Some highlights are below:

Winning the costume contest at the Heroes in Disguise 5k in St. George, Utah

 

I really enjoyed running several races this year alongside my friend Christine Miller

 

Love this photo, love the backdrop, love when I get to run with my honey

 

Melanie's first 5k after many years...great moment for her, proud moment for me

Maybe a bit esoteric, but Crowley and Aziraphael was my favorite costume of the year (and got re-tweeted by Neil Gaiman)

I also did 2 half marathon relays, 1 marathon relay and one triathlon relay.

 

Glenda and I had a blast with Polly Hamner at the Rockin' Brews Half in August (we also introduced her to the joys of themed outfits...and I did my tri relay with Polly as well)

 

Marathon relay with Chritian Borchardt, Glenda, me and Amy Borchardt at the Detroit Free Press in October

 

Finished the year with a half marathon relay in Atlanta with Glenda

And in the triathlon world I did 2 indoor tris and 3 triathlons of various distances.

 

Glenda and I crossed paths doing different distances at the Elkhart Lake Tri

 

Crossing the finish at Naperville...my goal triathlon of the season

Undoubtedly my biggest accomplishment of the year for 2019 was finishing the challenge I had set for myself to run a race of at least 5k in each of the 50 states plus Washington DC.  I concluded the challenge in Missoula, Montana by doing the half marathon. It was made extra special in a number of ways.  Glenda ran the race with me and we reminisced about all the other races along the way, which was an incredible way to make the miles go by.  I had the opportunity to meet a number of wonderful people who are members of the Challenge 365 online group that I belong to, and many have become even better friends.  And randomly at mile 8, Glenda was contacted by Nicole DeBoom, the founder of Skirt Sports (we are both ambassadors and had won the Dynamic Duo award earlier in the year...another highlight!), she wanted to feature us in an Instagram story on the company site that morning. My 50th state became a part of that story, as she featured us!

Around mile 12

Mission accomplished!

The last thing I want to say about athletics in 2019 is that coaching can be important, no matter what your talent level, but that "fit" is incredibly important.  I was lucky to work with 3 talented and very different coaches.  All were good and all were knowledgeable.  The first was an unfortunately poor fit for me despite being a very good coach, the second was better fit and also a very good coach and got me through the goal triathlon...the third is someone I'd wanted to work with for a long time and I am even more happy than expected. I feel like she gets me and I look forward to working together for a long time.  So I end the year as a member of the Fleet Feet running club, the Prairie Athletic Tri Team and being coached by C.C. Rowe of WTF Endurance out of Austin, TX.

IN THE WORLD OF WORK

Last year I actually retired.  I thought I'd love it.  I WANTED to love it.  I don't. There are some nice perks of course...but I miss the feeling of making a difference. And although I have a retirement income, saved over the years, I somehow miss the connection between my money and my work.  I know I earned it...but it seems out of sync somehow.  

I  do still work part time  on an irregular schedule as a photo editor for Focal Flame Photography...and love it! I am exploring other part time options, and ideas for irregular work, but more on that in my next blog post!

IN THE FAMILY

Glenda and I celebrated 22 years together last year.  This always amazes me to think about it.  I was married before.  Twice. Eight years each.  My kids are from my first marriage. And I learned a lot from the other relationships I had in my life.  But nothing compares to life with Glenda.  Here's to another 22 years (and then some)! 

I enjoy living close to my son, his wife and my granddaughters, as well as my mother, and my brother's family. I used to live close to my daughter too.  But her living situation is the biggest change in the family.  Melanie is a paraplegic with several health issues and requires some help.  The state of Wisconsin helps with her living situation, and after a stretch of particularly bad health she found her living situation inadequate and spent several months in a nursing home.  When the state was able to find her an appropriate situation (a group home) it was 80 miles away. I protested, but she wanted to try it...telling me that she thought she might never really become independent if she could easily rely on me.  After 4 months in the new situation, I readily admit...she was right. I had for years told her various doctors and social workers that I wanted to be Melanie's mother, not her social worker/medical manager/caregiver etc.  In the last quarter  of 2019, I became just mom again.  It has changed my life in some unexpected ways...but I have to say, I like it!

LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT YEAR AND BEYOND

I will soon be sharing my "vision" for next year. But I look forward to seeing what comes in 2020 and beyond!