Reflections of 2015 and Goals for 2016

It’s that time once again.  2015 is drawing to a close and I find myself reflecting on this past year and making goals for 2016.  Let’s start with the reflection.

I cannot believe this year is over already.  Where did it go?  It feels like only yesterday I had just signed up to run my marathon and was dreading the training involved in it.  Now I have completed the training and the marathon!  I am a MARATHONER!!!  Never ever in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that I would be a marathoner.  I never had even thought about it until about a year ago. I am so incredibly thankful for the ability to run.  Running soothes my soul and makes me feel alive.  It gives me a purpose and a reason.  It helps me to be the best wife and mom I can be.  It helps me take on all the challenges of the day, especially teaching middle school students.  It makes me a better, happier, nicer person to be around.  

2015 has been quite the year for me.  I have learned so much about myself and who I want to be as a person.   I have had failures and triumphs this year.  My failures are trying my hand at coaching and being a fitness instructor.  I quickly found out that these two endeavors were truly not for me.  As much as I like to help other people, weight loss is a touchy subject and not one that I truly feel comfortable giving people advice about.  I loved being a PiYo instructor, but my clientele never grew beyond 1 person, so it wasn’t worth the money to drive to the studio to teach that one person.  Luckily, I still have the routines and can use them at home with my family.  It took me a long time to realize that this just wasn’t for me.  My family life was falling apart.  My hubby and I would fight about money and all the time I was spending away from the kids.  I was disengaged from my students at school.  I was only focused on making these things work so that I could earn extra money for my family.  What I ended up doing was losing out on some valuable family time.  I will never be able to get that time back.  I ended up getting a gigantic slap on the hand from God that put me right back in my place.  It was then that I began to focus more on my family and less on making money.  Because, let’s face it, money cannot replace your family.  They are the most important thing in the whole world to me.  I am so thankful that God has other plans for me.  He very clearly pointed out how much I am needed as a middle school reading specialist and how greatly I am needed as a mom for my kiddos.  Thank you Jesus!

My triumphs are training for and running in 3 half marathons, my first 20K race, and my very first full marathon; along with other races throughout the year.  I have learned a lot about myself as a person throughout these trainings.  I have learned that I truly can do anything that I put my mind to.  The long training runs were very daunting when I first signed up for my race.  I was very scared and hesitant to run these training runs.  Once I planned out my routes and completed the first few runs, I knew I could do it.  I spent a lot of time by myself listening and talking to God on these runs.  I was thankful for a full playlist, GU, and lots of water.  I was especially thankful for beautiful weather and my hubby for watching the kids while I spent hours running.  I am so thankful that he is allowing me to continue with my running passion and train for another full marathon in 2016.  

I have learned to cherish each and every moment because of my training.  Training for a full marathon is like a part time job.  My weekends revolved around training runs; and my days revolved around figuring out the best way to fuel up as an athlete.  It was very hard to begin to think of myself as an athlete.  I have never been athletic in my life!!  I was always the couch potato, bookworm that would sit and do nothing for hours at a time.  I would spend my summers as a pre-teen and teenager reading books or watching TV.  I didn’t truly become active until after my freshman year of college when I had gained like 20 pounds.  I very strongly disliked the person I had become and wanted to do better for myself.  After having my kids, I wanted to do the same thing again.  Even now I struggle with understanding that if I want to continue to run in marathons, that I need to treat myself and my nutrition like that of an athlete.  I think I have a better understanding now that I have run a marathon.  I now understand the importance of fueling properly and eating what is best for my body.  The more running and weight training I do, the more my body craves satisfying real food and rejects the crap that I normally would have eaten.   Even this Christmas, I noticed that I wasn’t eating as many cookies as I would have in years past.  I didn’t even crave them like I used to.  It’s funny, the only thing that I crave anymore is my protein oatmeal that I have for breakfast every morning.  It is my delicious reward for pushing myself as hard as I can to be the best that I can be.  

One thing that I like to pride myself on this year is that despite being ridiculously tired and sore after my training runs, I would still make time to hang out and do things with my kids.  They are the reason for me pushing myself so hard after all.  We still managed to do all the same fun fall activities that we have done in the past.  I never once complained (too much) about going on these fun activities.  I am thankful that I could still pursue my dream of becoming a marathoner and be a present and active part of my children’s lives. I know I can do this again this year when I begin training for my marathon once again.  

I am truly thankful for everything that I have accomplished this year and for my family for allowing me to pursue my dreams.  I am thankful for my healthy family, our fur babies, and my wonderful job.  I love teaching and can’t imagine doing anything else for the rest of my life.  Middle schoolers can be obnoxious but so can I.  We fit together perfectly!  I want to continue to be the best middle school reading specialist that I can be.  I have built some amazing relationships with these kids this year and want to continue to do the same every year.  I do love these kids!

Alright, here’s the good stuff.  Here are my goals for 2016.  I have running and fitness goals, family goals, and goals for my Jamberry business, or lack thereof.  Here they are:

My Running & Fitness Goals for 2016:

1. Run at least 4-5 half marathons
2. Run marathon #2 in under 5 hours
3. Get down to racing weight goal #1 of 145 pounds
4. Get down to racing weight goal #2 of 135 pounds
5. Build arm and leg muscles
6. Lose some of my mom belly

My Family Goals for 2016:

1. Save money for Disney
2. Get everyone to eat healthy
3. Get everyone active almost every day
4. Have more family game nights
5. Make the most of every day with my family
6. Don’t sweat the small things!

My Jamberry Goals for 2016:

1. Attend vendor events
2. Design and Sell NAS wraps
3. Earn more $$$$  
4. Gain more clients
5. Post more about Jamberry on Social Media

Thank you everyone for reading this blog and continuing to support me on my running adventures.  I appreciate each and every one of you.  Thank you for being a part of my journey!

And as always, my friends,

RUN ON,

Laura