Friday, August 30, 2013

Fitness Friday: Turning 30 and Rededicating Myself to My Goals

What a Friday!

It's only two days before my 30th birthday. Believe it or not, I'm happy about it! Happy that I've worked hard in my 20's, happy (and grateful) that I have the life I have with my husband, family, friends, and cats, and happy to be celebrating this weekend! 

As I mentioned last week, it's a milestone that lends itself to questioning where I am in my goals and my life. I've had a stressful few weeks. I've been quite busy at work, and I'm in a challenging time in my running. I've been trying to run a 30 minute 5K for months now, and haven't gotten there. I've had much less energy and motivation when running. Instead of feeling pumped up and excited, I feel exhausted and stressed about running. I sometimes even dread it. It has been so frustrating that I've even considered (for like, two seconds) not running anymore.

Whoa. I went there. False alarm! You know I wouldn't quit on you!

In times like these, it's important to reflect.

A year and a half ago, I couldn't even run a quarter of a mile. I have now run a half marathon.

In the last years of my 20s, I overcame fears and became more confident through running.

I'm starting my 30's healthier than I've ever been in my life!

It would be dumb to quit! Instead of quitting, let's just address whatever is causing this temporary stall in my running progress. After looking holistically at my life over the last couple of months, I've identified the following factors that are probably affecting my running:

  • Inconsistent diet. I don't talk about diet a lot on the blog. Long story short, I'm "that girl" who obsesses over calories, inevitably fails miserably, feels incredibly guilty, and obsesses again. Don't get me wrong, there are many positives in how I eat - I eat mostly natural foods, I love fruits and veggies, I rarely eat processed or fast food, etc, but the portion control issue is my hang-up. 
    • To get to a goal weight on my birthday, I tried to hit a daily calorie goal (1,200-1,500) that may have been inconsistent with my running needs. When I tried to hit those goals, I'd find myself starving, acting like Betty White on a Snicker's commercial (sorry B!), and VERY weak and depleted while running. Inevitably, I'd break down afterwards and find myself drowning in ice cream or Nutella. This isn't good, people. Don't do this at home. 
    • The whole thing was completely counterproductive. It hurt my running performance, and because I was constantly cheating, I wasn't even losing weight. 
  • Stress. I let this 30 minute 5K goal really get to my head. Instead of enjoying running, it made me feel pressured. I felt that if I didn't reach my goal, I was letting myself and others down. I have to let that go so that I can focus. I've also been stressed about other things in my life: work, relationships with others, etc. I have the unfortunate curse of being a people-pleaser, and I worry about a lot of little things. This is a personal goal I want to work on in my 30's. I hope to write a separate post about this soon.
  • Inconsistent training. Don't get me wrong, I've stayed with RunKNOX and barely miss a practice. I haven't stayed as diligent running on my own outside of our practices as I should have been. Part of the reason was that I was taking "rest days" before the plethora of 5K races I was running. This is why I don't want to race for awhile.
With all of that said, fall is coming and it's a perfect time to rededicate myself to my goals. Here's how I plan to do it.


  • To my running - It's time to take my running schedule more seriously! I'm going to stay diligent to the program each week. I'm also going to wait awhile before signing up for a 5K.
  • To my health - Per my the advice of my RunKNOX coach, I decided to up my goals to 1,500 - 2,000 calories (YIKES!! I thought I was going to pass out when I heard 2,000!). It's a little scary, but I think a more realistic goal that keeps me energized and less prone to cheat could help. I also plan to seek out an iron supplement (that doesn't make me sick!), as my iron tends to run low. I'll let you know how it goes...
  • To my blog - I tend to be really inconsistent in the time I spend on my blog. I'll go for days and not write anything (although I do keep up with social media), then I have to crunch to write at the last minute. If I could just spend a half-hour each day writing, it would go a long way.
  • To my career - While I am passionate about my career and work hard, we can always improve, right? I tried something this week that was really effective. I started going in a little earlier. Few people were there. I used the time to go through my email and sort through all of the things that need to get done. I often have a lot of irons in the fire at work. This "pre-sort" time helped me start my day feeling organized and together before I started my tasks. I plan to keep this up!
  • To my loved ones - As I get older, I start realizing more and more the value of time. We have so many people to see, so many things to do, and so little time to do it all. And one day it will all be over. While I love work, running, and all of the other things I do, I want to make sure that I'm fitting in time for the people I love. It just takes a little more balance.
  • To MYSELF - Again, with the time thing, I never prioritize doing the things I love to do by myself - lighting candles, curling up and reading a book or Real Simple, getting my nails done, etc. While I love spending time with people, I'm an introvert who needs this downtime to recharge. I don't do enough of it!
All of these become effective Tuesday. In the meantime, I have a birthday weekend to enjoy!!!

Have a great holiday weekend! Do you ever find yourself in a place where you need to rededicate yourself to your goals?

-Amy


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 I was not compensated by RunKNOX for this post, nor is it affiliated with this blog. I am simply sharing my honest opinions and experiences. The views expressed in this article are solely my own. Also, I'm not a health or fitness professional of any kind. See my  Terms and Conditions page.
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13 comments :

  1. Happy early birthday! I am 34, and I honestly love my 30's. I feel more confident in who I am. I feel comfortable in my life and I just feel like I'm in the right place, mentally and physically. I loved my 20's but the 30's are just magical :)

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  2. Thanks for sharing so honestly. It was encouraging and inspiring to read. Happy early birthday! Excited to see what this year has for you :)

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  3. Hope you have an awesome 30th!!

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  4. that is a great list but i would recommend taking baby steps! i'm all for goals but sometimes our list is too huge and that's what makes it daunting so if we tackle it one goal at a time, it's more realistic and when we cross off a goal, we feel more confident therefore, we feel the confidence to tackle and achieve more goals!

    i'm all for healthy eating and eating properly that your body needs. too many times, people balk at the number of calories per day but if you really think about it, can your body build any muscles from nothing (ie. too little food)? absolutely not! when your body has enough calories per day, you are feeding it the fuel it needs to burn fat, build muscle and repair tissue and when your body is fed properly, these things become more efficient and increasing your body's overall efficiency (therefore caloric burn) to lose weight while building awesome lean muscle mass. don't be afraid to eat!! :D

    hope you have a great birthday!!

    -kathy
    Vodka and Soda

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  5. Happy early birthday! This is such a great time to reflect on your life and make goals. Don't be too hard on yourself about the <30 min 5k or the calories. Do what feels healthy and right. Enjoy your 30s!

    Amy
    Miss Adventures in Running

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  6. Happy birthday! Enjoy your weekend!

    I usually have a goal makeover about half way through the year. Things come up, plans change. A goal makeover keeps me focused.

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  7. Hey Amy! Just wanted to swing by and see how you're doing and officially let you know that I nominated you for The Liebster Award! Head over to my site @ go-go-mountiangirl.com to read all about it and "accept" it if you're interested.

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  8. Happy Birthday. Enjoy your thirties they are so much better than your twenties.

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  9. Happy Birthday! I think I'll probably go through this same goal realignment after my wedding. I'm in the middle of planning it, and training for a half. Slightly crazy, maybe? Good for you for focusing on what you want to accomplish.

    Jen @ runbesideme.com

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  10. First of all, happy birthday :)

    Second - I have very similar challenges in terms of obsessing over calories, trying to cut back and then having my running performance suffer. In general, I can never lose weight when I'm training, in fact, I usually gain weight. Which sucks, but my body needs the extra fuel to be a solid runner. And I basically have to choose: focus on losing weight or focus on improving as a runner. Running wins out, but I still have a constant battle in my head about food. I don't think it will ever go away, but I'm hoping I will get better at silencing it and giving my body the fuel it needs to do what I ask it too!

    You've got great goals ahead of you, girl :)

    Hope you had a great birthday dinner!

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  11. Happy Belated Birthday!

    I think that's a great list of goals...you got this!

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  12. welcome to your new a/g! :) hope you had a great birthday.

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