Hi there, Mrs. 1500 today, to talk about all the challenges I’m participating in this year.
Actually, I’m not SURE of all the challenges, yet. I’m already part of a Minimalism Challenge with Mrs. Waffles on Wednesday from last December, that I didn’t quite finish in December so it’s spilling over into January.
My dilemma with that one isn’t the stuff involved, it’s finding the time to go through the stuff to toss or giveaway.
If you missed that announcement or wisely did not try to participate in a minimalism challenge during the month of December, worry not. I will be doing another one in February. (I have a LOT of stuff to get rid of.)
I’ve also got a Half Marathon Challenge that I’m in the middle-ish of. I’ve decided to do the Carbon Valley Half Marathon on May 11 in Firestone, CO.
Then finally in late December, Miss Mazuma suggested a FitBit Challenge, where we gather up a group of people who struggle to get 10,000 steps per day, and challenge and encourage each other to reach our daily and weekly 70k goal.
The actual challenge is the 70k/week, so if you miss a day the world does not end. Missing 70k in a week, however, causes you to lose $5, which is not a sum I easily part with.
This challenge is both enormously helpful and exceedingly difficult for me to accomplish. On days that I’m in the office, I’m coming home sometimes with only 1,300 steps. That leads to laps around the block or when it’s super cold, laps around the coffee table. I have only fallen short of the 10k goal one day, where I did 8,000-ish. It’s very encouraging to have accountabilibuddies, and I appreciate all of mine.
But back to the Half Marathon.
I ran a 5K on January 1 in Orlando, on what felt like the hottest day of the year. It was probably 75 degrees with 85%+ humidity and bright bright sun. Adding to my pleasure was a raging sore throat/upper respiratory infection combo that made it even more difficult to breathe in that hot, heavy air.
(For those of you keeping score at home, I live at altitude and am used to dry, thin air.)
Even MORE awesome, was the fact that I mixed up a 5k with a 10k and instead of 3.2 I was thinking it was 2.3. So I saw Mile One, then Mile Two which did a weird loop thing back to Mile One and I got confused. It dawned on me that I was mistaken, that it’s 3.2 and I was having such a hard time breathing that I stopped running and just walked almost the rest of the way, which turned out to be almost the finish line because a 5k is actually 3.1 miles.
My Finish Time was actually faster than my Colder Boulder Finish Time in December, so I’m taking that as an improvement in my running ability. (My improvement was only about 30 seconds, but you have to factor in that heavy air and virus.)
My half marathon training has come to a screeching halt, given the lingering virus that just doesn’t seem to go away. It arrived shortly before the new year, robbed me of my voice just in time to attend Camp FI Southeast in Florida the first weekend of January, and just will not leave me.
(Fun fact: I was slated to speak at Camp FI, and my voice came back just in time to squeak out a presentation about real estate.)
I’ve been able to get to the gym once, and ran a few laps but had to stop and just walk because I just couldn’t breathe. I’m finally getting back out running today with the same friend who inspired me to do the half marathon in the first place. (Hi Angi!)
My weight isn’t worth talking about, although I was pleased to come back from vacation at the same weight that I left, as opposed to coming back weighing more.
I have also discovered that getting older means that I like the taste of alcohol more, but the effects love me less. I’ve decided to cut way back, and have only consumed about 5 beers this year, with that number not likely to increase much.
Next weekend the crew behind FinCon (my FAVORITE conference) will be in my neck of the woods for Ski FinCon. I am very much looking forward to hitting the slopes with some friends I normally only see in warm places. Plus more exercise.
So now it’s your turn. What challenges are you participating in?
Do you need any additional members for your challenge and want to invite me? Do you want to join me on any of my challenges?
Join the 10s who have signed up already!
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Oh no! I thought after your talk at CampFI that you were on the mend. Sorry to hear that virus is still lingering. I just made it back yesterday and I already miss the warm weather to get my steps in. Unfortunately my tiny home has no coffee table or space to do laps. It’s hard to get those steps in when I have to bundle up and slip slide my way down the unshoveled sidewalks!! I’m grateful to have you and the rest of the team behind me to keep me moving forward.
See you next week!!
Yay for accountabilibuddies! I swear the step group has already inspired me so much to get my ass moving. Hope the virus finally decides to take a hike so you can get back to your challenges full speed. Time to go get those steps in!
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Accountabilibuddy/ies is my favorite word and I’m happy to have you all motivating me to keep moving, keep smiling!
Enjoy Ski FinCon… I’m not jealous at all ???
I put my resolutions and such on my blog a couple of weeks back. All of mine are very numbers based, so I can track them with quantifiable results. I’m looking forward to it.
I’ve been pretty wrecked this entire week with a bad cold. It has kept me out of the gym and has made me miss my steps goal a couple of times so far, so I understand the frustration. Today is the first day since last Friday that I’m starting to feel like I have any actual energy. For me, though, I’ve not had much of an appetite. I’ve been eating only because I can feel my low energy dip even lower when I don’t, but obviously less than usual, which has resulted in me losing the few pounds I put on over Christmas break. And since I have a ‘weight’ goal as one of mine, I guess being sick is actually helpful in a way? LOL.
Best of luck on your goals. I’ve been enjoying reading about the progress on the half marathon challenge for months now.
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I’m hoping to join you for the Feb. challenge, since I dropped out the last week of the Dec. WOW challenge, too (have morning sickness right now). That being said…I may not be able to wait, and am getting rid of crap already. I was also considering a no-spend month in Feb, since it’s shorter, and I’m a fed that may be not getting paid soon. And I feel your pain, the dr weighed me on monday…and I had gained 10 pounds since I was last weighed (6 mo ago)….maybe its baby, maybe it was the holiday food.
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My friend and accountabilibuddy and I are going to be doing the Minimalism Challenge in February also. We are both been trying for the past year to get rid of more stuff and doing this challenge should make it fun and different. Keep up the training, I’m send good training thoughts your way.
Surely, the most valuable investments are the investments to body and mind. The outcome is worth the efforts, time and money you spent on it. There are three resources you need: time, money and your efforts. The most important aspect is to learn discipline while managing your time resource. It’s vital. You have to learn to say ‘no’ to almost all things that distract from the aim of achieving activity. Secondly, the king is determination. Like someone famous once said: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Actually, you can achieve everything you want – this is motivation which is like fuel for your activity. Thus, my main thought to share is everything is under our control and we have the great right of choice to reach the wanted level of health and mindfulness.
Go on!