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!

Work in progress...adjusting to change.

Presenting at a conference in my academic persona

I have had a number of careers over the years.  I have been everything from a bartender, waitress and short order cook to a librarian to a business coordinator for a video game company to a librarian to a college professor.  And all the way I was very dedicated to my work...even defined myself by it.  And then, a year ago I retired.  But it didn't last and I went back to teaching for 9 months.  But now I have retired again...this time for real (I hope!).  That's a good thing, but it is also unsettling...what am I going to do with this chapter of my life?

So I am still finding my way, and will continue to be a work in progress.  But I have found a theme, which is not exactly what I expected it would be. So I want to talk about that theme, what I hope to do with it and how it is different from what I expected.

WHAT DID I EXPECT?

I will be totally honest.  As much as I was ready to retire, I feared that my life would be consumed by care-giving. Don't get me wrong, I love Glenda and I love my kids and grandkids and my mom, for that matter...and I want and expect to spend more time with them. Helping them is a good thing, and I want to do that. That said, however, I have been care-giving on an "extra" level for a long time for my daughter. 

This is Mel, my daughter

For many years after her accident she really needed my help on a high level, first helping with personal care, wound care, education, etc.  And later with coordinating medical care, housing, etc. It became so ingrained that I think I just assumed it would always be that way.

But here's the thing, Melanie is still a person who needs help and support and she still has health problems. But she also has a team to help her, she is in a safe place and as I am increasingly aware she is developing her own voice and is getting better and better at advocating for herself. It is time for me to truly be a mother to this adult...not a manager or care-giver.  

I will always want to spend time with her and be supportive, just as I like to spend time with any of my family...and wish to be supportive of them.  I am sure there will be struggles, but I'm actually looking forward to seeing how things progress. 

SO WHAT IS THE THEME?

Me before I started running

A little background, when I was in graduate school working on my dissertation I started walking and going to a women's gym called Curves just to help my brain activate.  Before this time, even though Melanie and Glenda were running and racing I was still claiming to be the world's biggest indoors woman. I was heavier, yes, but what I really want people to see here is that I was unfit, disconnected from my body and a little scared to try to change that.

One day Glenda was out walking with me and I was suddenly struck with an idea and without thinking I said it out loud.  I turned to Glenda and said, "D'ya think I could walk a 5k?  I'd like to try." Once she picked herself up off the ground, she encouraged me to do it.  And when we got home, we found one and signed up.

By the time I finished grad school, I decided my next big dream would be to train for a marathon.  About this time I also got a tattoo, which reminds me that there should always be dreams.  I realize I have appropriated a native symbol...but the idea of catching dreams is so close to my heart and I couldn't find a better way to remind myself (and others). So I thank that culture for my reminder. 

My reminder to continue to "catch" my dreams

I did that marathon in 2009, and though it was my only one, I have continued to train and race and try new things ever since.  It has not only made me fitter, it has improved my confidence...even though I never got very good at it.  I'm still slow, and not getting much faster...but it doesn't matter.  It is for me both my health regimen and my playground.  And I want to share it with other people like me. 

So the theme is PASS IT ON. PAY IT FORWARD. GIVE BACK.

CHEERING YOU ON!

I am not going to stop racing by a long shot,  but in the last several months, Glenda and I had made a concerted effort to cheer some local races instead of racing them.  And of course we do it in our own special way....with costumes and signs and sometimes music. 

The Blues Sisters cheering on their friends...and random strangers!

OTHER WAYS I AM THINKING OF PAYING FORWARD OR GIVING BACK?

In thinking about how I can give back, particularly to those who are just starting out or who are older, I began to think back over what I might have to offer.  One of those things is just support...mentoring, cheering, making myself available to help with training runs.

Then it occurred to me that both my research and my personal experience might help others just starting out. All the work I've done on play and also on the learning about self that comes with running could be turned into something.  And all the lessons I've learned about starting late in life and not being the fastest might have something to offer other beginners.

So I finally reached out to someone local who could help me find a way to mentor newbies and also possibly create talks or workshops.  And the response was positive. So we are in the planning and thinking it through process. 

Over the last several years I have come to discover what is important to me in a coaching program. And I finally seem to have found a coach who has the qualities that are important to me. I think those qualities might also be important to others.

Many older "adult onset athletes" or athena/clydesdale newbies, in particular seem to be somewhat intimidated by coaching...but could benefit from it. Even older and heavier and not new athletes like me can benefit. But it has to be the right kind of coach.  I haven't done much about it yet, but I'd like to get USAT certified and be a coach specializing in these types of athletes.  Stay tuned.

Finally, I think it is really important to document  those athletic moments (just as it is important to document all kinds of important moments).  I already work on a part time basis as an editor for Focal Flame Photography...a local company that photographs many local and regional events.  I hope to increase my involvement, and learn some new skills in the process. So stay tuned for that too!

So while none of this has come to pass yet...I am hopeful that some of it will soon, and I will keep considering more things. And, as always I will continue to be a work in progress.