Bucket List – Page 8 – Bucket List Journey

January 7, 2013

2012 Wins

A mentor of sorts once told me I don’t celebrate my successes enough. Here are 7 things I’m celebrating from last year:

Quitting

Killing my other blog. That was scary.
Risking

Starting this one instead. Also scary. Both were very rewarding.
Waiting

There were a few things in my life that required me to wait for and be patient with someone else for a much longer period than I felt comfortable with. It was a good thing.
Loving

Last year had some big wins and big challenges. All of which were very much intertwined in my marriage. We love each other more than we did the year previous. It was a very good first year of marriage.
Trusting

Connected with the big challenges of last year, there was a very important couple that we could confide in and trust us to love and accept us when we were well put together and when we weren’t.
Persevering

Remember when I didn’t run and then I did? Remember when I was getting up at 6:45AM and was having great days? Yeah, that was pretty awesome. I’m still celebrating that huge win.
Advancing

I’m celebrating 2013 and naming it as 12 more months of the great successes I had in my personal life since launching this blog.

What are you celebrating from last year? Comment here or post a response on your own blog and then post the link in the comments.

November 19, 2012

One of the biggest things preventing me from running in previous years was the ‘what do I do in winter?’ problem. It often happened where I would get inspired in September or October only to decide to abandon the idea before I even started because I didn’t know what to do in the winter. I was/am loath to spend $60 a month just to run a treadmill inside. Or – if gyms are anything like my experience when I went to my University gym – pay $60 to wait for a treadmill to run on.

This year, I did some research into how I could run throughout the fall and winter. With the help of google and some tips from friends, here are the two main things that have helped me on those cold mornings that I’ve run in recent weeks.

Dress for 15 to 20 Degrees Warmer

“Over-dressing is easy to do in winter running. Dressing for 15 to 20 degrees warmer than it actually is will allow your body temperature to increase and reduce the risk of overheating and excessive sweat. You should feel chilled when you walk out the door. If you are toasty warm, remove a layer. Less is more.” (Winter Running Tips by Active.com)

What to wear

Thanks to the advice from a friend, I figured out what to wear based on the weather and the advice above.

Now on days that it’s -5ºC, I wear a long sleeve moisture wicking shirt and a shell jacket, tights, socks shoes. -5 is no longer a scary concept. Once it gets colder I’ll add a fleece layer over top the long sleeve.

Most important lesson

These two pieces of information have given me the information I need not to be afraid of running. I already had all of these wardrobe items. There are only a few more that I think I will need to add: better (smaller) gloves, wool socks, and a toque that leaves a hole for my ponytail! I’m no longer afraid to run in the cold because I’m prepared.

I’m a little nervous about what it will be like when it’s really cold and I’m breathing in cold air into my lungs all the time. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

What about you? Do you have any more tips on how to run in the fall/winter? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

November 18, 2012

Week 3: progress

I had a mentor once that told me I didn’t celebrate my victories enough. So this post is about celebration. I have finally moved up to Week 3 of Couch to 5K (after idling at week 2 after being sick for so long). You know what this means? I ran for two minutes. Multiple sets of two minutes. And I (mostly) survived.

Two minutes is a long, long way away from the 5 hours it takes most women to run a marathon, but it’s still progress. So I’m celebrating!

November 13, 2012March 14, 2015

Morning routine + being sick = grace

I have to be honest with you. I’ve been sick in various ways for the past three weeks. I haven’t been getting up at 6:45AM these days because I want my body to have all the rest it can get so my nose will stop running and I’ll stop coughing and sneezing. I have kept running, but only once a week (instead of three) and a more low-key run. You know what? I’m still quite pleased with myself!

It has taken determination to get out on those runs when it was -5ºC out and I was coughing up tons of phlegm and I did it with the encouragement of my husband. I didn’t want to lose the memory of how I actually enjoyed the runs and they weren’t as bad as my mind was making them seem. I’ve been too afraid to increase the intensity of the runs while being sick, too, so I’m still on week 2 of Couch to 5K. But again, I’m OK with that. I realize that part of what I’m doing is developing habits of running and so it’s not the end of the world if I’m not increasing intensity every week because at least I’m running.

Sometimes ‘productivity’ isn’t just about getting things done, it’s about the long-term implications about the choices we make every day. Which is why, I’m perfectly happy to not push myself maybe too hard and believe that it’s 100% perfect or don’t bother. There’s something worth celebrating in that last sentence. I used to be a person who thought if I couldn’t reach my standard of perfection I might as well give up entirely.

I’m really looking forward to this cold going away so I can not be a disgusting mess in public, but also so I can run again (because I actually like it!).

November 7, 2012

Morning routine + NaNoWriMo Update

I’ve had a few people text me and leave comments to congratulate me on starting to run. I’ve also had people tell me I’m crazy for doing both at the same time, which is not all that far off, perhaps. Aside from being sick last week and this week which affected my runs, things have been going well. I managed to desire to get up and go, but just take it a little easier, which has been good.

Why am I doing two things that require so much discipline at the same time?

It’s a good question. I think part of it is is that it doesn’t feel like it’s requiring that much discipline, but here are a few more reasons.

These are two things I want to build into my life as habits. Natural responses, things I do automatically.
My morning routine had been going quite well so it didn’t feel like too challenging to add the writing challenge.
My husband has night classes three nights a week, which means I have plenty of time to write and not feel like I’m neglecting our relationship. He was the one who encouraged me to do it, anyways.
I wanted meet people outside of work who had similar interests to me.

So far, I have runs scheduled into my week and I look forward to them. The days I’m not so sure I want to go, my husband reminds me that I’ll enjoy it. I always do, so that’s a big win. I’m ahead of schedule so far on the novel in terms of word count. I’ve got nearly 10,000 words which is 1/5th of the book (obviously). I feel confident because I have lots to write yet in plot development etc. I should be able to finish no problem unless life just suddenly goes crazy, which is totally a possibility.

October 30, 2012

10 reasons why you should participate in NaNoWriMo this year

In two days National Novel Writing Month begins. It’s a month where a bunch of aspiring writers/creatives get together online and in
their communities with the goal of writing a 50, 000 word novel in the 30 days of November. That’s a small novel around the size of the Great Gatsby which you likely read in High School.

I first found out about it online when I was just two months into my degree. I was eager to try but I thought, ‘this is crazy, I’m super busy with my university classes, how could I ever find the time?’ and then I realized something important: my life was only going to get busier and busier from that year on (which I was right about). So I decided to do it.

It was marvellously thrilling. Not every step of the way, there were times when I hated it and wanted to quit. But 30 days isn’t that long. The story itself was crap and I dealt with the concept very childishly, but hey, I was 18 and I wrote a novel.

10 reasons why you should do nanowrimo this year:

It will open your mind creatively.
It will help you realize the things that aren’t all that important in your schedule.
You can draw off this experience of doing something hard and finishing it.
You can say you’ve written a novel.
You will learn something about yourself.
You will learn to write every day.
You’ll have the thrill of writing in coffee shops, and staying up to bizarre hours, all while holding down a job/degree.
You don’t have to be a perfect writer (see No Plot? No Problem!).
You will build confidence.
Win or lose, you will rock for even trying.

Like I said, when I look back I knew my story was pretty awful. The point was never to be a good writer, but to get the process of writing started. I had to kill the snob in me who said, “I will only write if it’s good.” You’ll probably have to kill the snob in you too. THAT’S ALWAYS A GOOD THING. Writers who don’t write aren’t writers. They’re just people who like literature.

So go sign up and maybe even get connected with people in your community who are doing it with you. Maybe you’ll find a kindred spirit writerly friend!

As an aside, every year I contemplate doing it again. After browsing that website, it really made me want to do it again. I have approximately ONE day to decide. Gulp.