3-0 is STARING me in the Face!

So, I just turned 29 and I feel like 30 is staring me right in the face. I'm not a kid anymore! 

Okay, I haven't been a kid for a long time but you know what I mean. The 20s will officially be over! It's scary.

By the time I turn 30 next year I want to have accomplished something. I  want to feel good about these last few decades. 

So like the organized person that I am, I've made a check list.

  Said list is titled: "Things to do by the time I'm 30." 

Now, I have less than 12 months to do all these things, which means I had to make the goals reasonably achievable. There's nothing more discouraging than having those months go by with nothing to show for it because I was too unrealistic.

This is not a Hollywood movie. This is my life. As such, these are things that are important to me even if they are not earth-shattering to anyone else. So here we go.

1) Run as many races as possible (especially trail races) to prepare for my ultramarathon in 2015.

In the first version of my list I put "run an ultramarathon" but that was impossible with my time restraints. First off, the only ultras in Spain are either too long (think 100+ miles) or all completely trail (think goats climbing mountains). 

There is no way I can run 100 goat miles by next year. This is much more doable. In addition, when I started running I was always training for something. Now my motivation will stem from the pure joy of running and staying in shape. 

I figure I can run at least one race every month. In fact this month of September there are about 3 races in my local area I can run. 

I'm also setting myself another running challenge: run 5 days a week--no excuses.

2) Get a 6-pack

I want rock hard abs! I know a lot of it is genetics, and I have a really short torso...... but I want visible abdominals people. In my opinion, this is the hardest goal of them all because it will mean losing more weight and lifting more weight. Plus, I'm not really sure how much more of my diet I can change...

3) Shave my head

This speaks for itself. As for now I plan to enjoy my hair by wearing it out more instead of always putting it into twists. I will probably do a final length check before I cut it. I guess I just want to be able to say, yea, I wasn't afraid to cut my hair off!

I'm also tired of obsessing over length. My hair is healthy and will continue to be. I'm just at a point where I'm sick of doing the same thing. Hopefully this move will give me an even greater appreciation for my hair. I'll probably leave an inch of hair instead of cutting it completely off.

4) Buy a LBD (little black dress)

Turning 30 is definitely the right time to care a tinsy bit about fashion. So my goal is to scourge the Internet and shops to find a nice form-fitting dress I can use to show off my 6-pack!

5) Go to Prague

Always have wanted to go and I figure turning 30 is as good a time as any to fulfill this dream.

6) Have a full body spa experience every month

The point of this list is not to go broke. So I plan on having a spa experience at home with my own homemade, all-natural, ingredients. There are a bunch of oils I plan on getting immediately like: avocado oil, grape seed oil and almond oil. I figure I can get the essential oils little by little to not break the bank as they say. 

I need to incorporate a way to relax from daily life. I eat right and exercise but I don't take much care of my mental health. That's all about to change. Plus, who doesn't like manis and pedis?

7) Get some all-natural makeup and learn how to apply it

Again, 30 is the perfect time to at least try to create an everyday look and "party" look for when I want to go out. There are various websites out there that sell all-natural makeup products and I've been meaning to buy some for awhile now. 

I'm most excited about the nail polish! I LOVE nail colors but haven't worn them in a couple years because of the harsh chemicals. This summer I wore some on my toes only because I have runner's feet (black toe nails) and that's not cute when wearing open-toed shoes!

8) Read all the books by my favorite author: Isabel Allende

There are 14 books that I haven't read yet. Ambitious you say? Yea, you're right. But I've been meaning to read these books for so long and now I have no excuse....(except maybe time?) I'm currently reading Eva Luna. Oh, and did I mention I'm reading them ALL in Spanish?

Okay, that's the extent of my list. Maybe I'll keep adding to it? Dunno.

Nothing super extraordinary but all things that I have not done because of laziness or some other such reason. I'm still in the planning stages of all these things and I think I will go through a lot of trial and error. I'm excited though!

I plan to update the blog with all the tips, tricks (and failures) I encounter along the way. Especially websites and information I use to either purchase products or get my mind and body into gear.

Whew, it felt so good to finally write all this down...

February 2013 Goals: Update

Just want to jump in here quick to let you all know that I've been sticking to my February Goals and I feel great. 

Two weeks ago, I did weight-training Monday and Wednesday and ran on Tuesday and Thursday. Last week I did my weights Monday, Wednesday and Friday and ran everyday except Monday. That's 4 days a week running and 5 days a week exercising in general.

I haven't done that since the summer. This week I plan to run 12 miles. Last week I ran 10 miles as my long run and then between 4 and 6 miles for the following days. This week I will do much of the same. 

Next week I plan to have a recovery week. So the longest run will be 8 miles and I will only run 3 times a week. Basically I have 2 hard weeks and 1 recovery week. I'm trying to stay injury free and I think this is the way to do it.

After my recovery week I will bump up my long run to 14 miles, then 16 miles, then a recovery week etc. Once I get up to a marathon level of miles I will start contemplating adding on another long run to my week (for a total of 2). That's mostly to start my preparation for the ultramarathon.

Anyway, that's my quick check-in. Let's see how this week goes.

February 2013 Goals

My goals this month are centered on getting back on track. These past few months (November, December and January) I've been plagued by illness that has really halted my fitness goals. 

I haven't suffered from anything serious, just the annoying common cold. But when you're sick you can't get out there and it starts to catch up with you.

This week, for example, I haven't been able to do anything because the antibiotics I'm on won't allow me to sweat. 

I have one of those strep throat infections that I blame on the germy kids I have to teach everyday.

 So Friday I take my final pills and that's when I'm getting back out there. I really miss running and it's only been a week. However, because of these non-planned hiatuses (is that a word?) I won't be running the Seville Marathon this year.

I am simply not ready and if I run it again I want to improve my time from the one I ran in Ciudad Real. I also don't want to get injured by running that much distance when the last time I ran (after the 25K) was only 8 miles. I don't need to prove anything to anyone and I'd rather be injury free.

One thing I have been doing is looking tentatively at ultramarathon training schedules and tips and tricks. For this month I want to mentally, and physically, prepare myself for running longer distances. I don't have a particular race in mind or timeline but I need to get back on a regular running schedule.

My first run on Friday will be 6 miles and then I'll build up from there. I want to start running 5 times a week, which will be adding on a day from my previous running routines. 

Right now I'm sticking with my own manufactured running schedule. Once I feel like I'm back at my marathon fitness level I'll start seriously pursuing my ultramarathon investigations.

In a nutshell: February goals are to stay healthy, stay running and stay injury free. I've put together a new legs routine to strengthen my quads as I don't usually pay much attention to them. I'll share that workout routine soon.

May Reflections: Hair and Running

HAIR

Another updo with two daisies.

Last month was my 1-year HHCJ anniversary. It's strange but I didn't celebrate it with any bells and whistles. In fact I didn't really celebrate it at all! Last year when I started this journey I felt like a year was a long way off. Now that it's been a year I'm wondering where the time went.

In general I'm content with the progress that I've made. My continuing goal is to maintain healthy hair. I'm not obsessed with length, although I do want to continue to retain length. However, I doubt I'll do any further length checks.

I'm still figuring out what my hair likes and how to cope with my hair given my schedule restraints. I mentioned in the post Henna Application 2, that I wanted to try washing my hair every 2 weeks to cut down on manipulation. I don't like it. A clean scalp is important to me especially with all the exercising I do and 2 weeks is simply too long.

Now I want to try washing my hair with my twists in. (Check out Week 50 hair for more info) So this weekend I will wash and deep condition my hair with my twists in. When I apply my kimmaytube leave-in I will unravel each one individually, detangle, and then apply product.

On Tuesday of this week I did a "quick fix" because my hair needed some attention. I rinsed my scalp with a cheap conditioner really well and then applied my Aussie quick fix deep conditioner while I showered. My twists were still in the whole time. I rinsed it out and then applied my kimmaytube leave in, my Qhemet Biologics moisturizer and some coconut oil.

Since my hair gets very frizzy, I retwisted the perimeter of my head just so I would look presentable. I loved the results, my hair felt and looked great.

Overall, I'm trying to spend less time on my hair without sacrificing the health or appearance of it. I've learned to love my hair and how to manage it so that it's not only healthy, but also looks great too. I'm so happy I had the courage to embark on this journey because it's given me much more confidence in rocking my natural hair.

RUNNING

The conditioning program I started back in March has been going well. While I don't always get every, single, run in during the week and weekends I feel good. I feel like I'm still in shape, taking care of my body and am ready to start training on July 1st.

I've also already signed up for my second marathon in October! (more on that later!)

I've learned so much from when I started running in 2009 until now. I've gone through injuries, life-changes, and everything in-between, but I've stuck with it. I'm still running and still enjoying myself.

My goals for the future are to try trail running and ultramarathons! I plan to run my second marathon in October and the Seville marathon again in February of 2013. After that I want to concentrate on trying some trail running (smaller races at first) and then some ultramarathon training.

My over-arching goals are to stay fit, stay healthy, stay injury free and to continue to enjoy running! For the blog there's much more updates, thoughts and goals to come!