Out With the Old, In With the New!

2013, it’s almost time to bid you adieu. It has been a lovely year. Many wonderful things have happened. Among them, the birth of my daughter, Disney vacation (most definitely the best vacation EVER), and pregnant and postpartum running.

It has been a notable year for many reasons, both good and bad. On the one hand, I am truly sad to say goodbye to 2013. So much excitement. Ups, downs, lefts, rights. You name it, and it was a direction I was heading at any given moment. 

In 2013 I became a mother of two. I became a babywearer. I started cooking A LOT more and a lot more adventurously. It seems we rarely eat the same thing twice anymore. I am 99.999% vegetarian, and I love it. I really honed my running skill, and I look forward to focusing my efforts even more so during 2014. 

When I became pregnant with my daughter in October of 2012 I didn’t realize I would soon take a life-changing challenge. In January 2013 I decided to take a physical endurance challenge of running 1,000 miles during this year. I realized partway through that I would need to adjust my goal, so I made it a bit more realistic and settled on 500 miles. Unfortunately due to my lack of ability to run 3+ miles for the first seven months of the year, in addition to taking off a full month and a half from running, I will be topping out at 463 miles (tomorrow). Am I disappointed I won’t make it to 500? Yes, of course. But I am also very proud of myself for making it so far with the above mentioned activities going on in my life. Not to mention the lack of sleep as well as breastfeeding time constraints. 

I will be taking the same challenge for 2014 and will be moving forward again with 1,000 miles on my sheet. No excuses next year. I plan on many races, most notably my first half marathon. There are two I am eyeing. One spring, one fall. Maybe I will train and compete in both.

I also became very active in my fitness community during the latter part of 2013. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am an ambassador for both Sweat Pink (#sweatpink) and For Two Fitness. I had the honor of being a guest blogger for For Two Fitness. 

In October I received the privilege of being featured as a LIVESTRONG.com Success Story, and enjoyed a full day photoshoot for the site. I am very anxious to see the photos from the shoot and to share more of the experience with you in a later post. 

My weight yo-yo’ed sufficiently in 2013. Starting off just above average to rounding out at a nice, warm pregnancy weight. And then again dropping off back to pre-pregnancy weight. I felt great about my body throughout the year, no matter what size I was, and I am happy to report that I feel stronger and more fit than ever before.

So as I look forward to 2014, I am a bit saddened to see 2013 go. Lots of ups and downs, and goods and bads. It has definitely been a ride for the books. I very much look forward to being stronger, fitter, wittier, and healthier in 2014. 

Thank you, 2013. You have been an amazing year.