Looking Back to 2017

Happy New Year's Eve, Everyone! Obviously, if my New Years Resolution was to keep up with my blog, I was not completely successful with that. Maybe 2018 I'll do better. 

Before I talk about my resolutions for 2018, let me first look back on 2017. 
I've decided to break this blog post up into 2 parts so stay tuned for the second part of this post coming tomorrow! 

Little Raea Checking out 2017

 2017 got off to a great start. I set a handful of measurable resolutions, S.M.A.R.T. goals, if you will (that's for all you teachers out there!) I'm just going to touch on a few of them:
1. Have another healthy pregnancy and baby
2. Do Cardio a minimum of 5 x per week until a Doctor says not to
3. Mom Crush Monday Every Monday
4. Laundry 2 x per week
5. Wake up early to do Drills 2 x per week

​Lets dive in below and discuss how all of these actually went.

Have another healthy pregnancy and baby: Obviously I achieved goal number 1! This was the most important goal, but in many ways the easiest because once your on this path, you have to stay on it. You really can't stop the pregnancy train once its rolling... and while you do have some control over the health (ie: don't smoke, drink, and do absolutely foolish things while pregnant) pregnancy and everything that comes along with it is a total LEAP OF FAITH! I'm so grateful that this goal was realized, and failing at everything else, but having this would be totally okay in my book. 
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That First Ultra Sound!

Letting the world know!

That Final Moment Before She's my Baby No More

That "OH MY GOD IT'S A GIRL!!" moment that I'll never forget

Oh My God I have another GIRL! (all the tears)

My Perfect Family

Honestly, If All the goals I set for myself were total and utter failures except for this one goal, I'd be completely okay with it. I could stop this post here and call 2017 a complete success... but I want to set myself up for big things in 2018, so lets keep looking at the other goals. 

One more photo of my girls... (for this section)

Do Cardio a minimum of 5 x per week until a Doctor says not to:  When I got pregnant I knew I was qualified for Boston, and I knew I had a goal of the 2020 Olympic Trials marathon. SO, since I was completely unable to run for my first pregnancy due to knee surgery, I wanted to do my best to stay in shape during this one so that I could transition to running 6 weeks postpartum. Obviously, I know now that even if you stay fit, pregnancy is different for everyone and there's no way to predict how labor will go and how recovery will go. I was able to run all through the first 36 weeks of pregnancy with only minor setbacks here and there, and then I forced myself to finish up a 1000 mile goal when it might have been a smart idea to stop... but mostly I was successful. Here is a link to all my pregnancy recaps week by week if you're interested. I learned a lot during this process. It was very humbling! Especially as an active instagrammer following other people running pregnant who made it look easy! It was NOT easy! However, it did make the time pass by quicker and gave me little benchmark goals to help me get through it all which I liked (more to come on this topic tomorrow). I set small goals such as reaching a max mileage of 50 MPW (a feat I rarely do unless I have a marathon on the schedule), then I did many weeks of 26.2 miles, and again, I did the 1000 miles and I had a bunch of races in there, as well. .
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A recap of my 1000 Pregnancy Miles (some started in 2016, Obviously)

Since having Maebel (birth story) the 5x per week minimum has not been a goal since I'm now under guidance of a coach. I would say this one was a complete success even though there are weeks at the end here that are incomplete. The purpose of this goal was to keep me fit through pregnancy, not have me foolishly running if I'm sick or injured. So no sense in doing 5 x per week right now but I'm still making sure to do everything I can... and I'm enjoying my training partner being my sidekick instead of kicking my side

Mom Crush Monday Every Monday: I actually did pretty good with this one even though I didn't achieve it. I highlighted 36 moms in 52 weeks. My intention behind this goal was to create more purpose out of my instagram. I wanted to get my followers interacting more, and to get to really know more about some of the people I was following so that it wasn't this weird "stalker-like" environment. I wanted them to know that I saw them, and that I thought they were awesome! I also wanted to create a little #momcrush community. I thought it was cool that a 4 hour marathon mamma could be featured as a mom crush the same way a 1:57 half miler could be. I loved doing this but really started slacking after I had the baby. Mostly because on maternity leave I didn't know if it was Monday or Friday... and then once the slacking began... it never ended... as is the case with most of my goal setting. Once I slip, I can't seem to get my grip back... (more on that to come, also) 

All the Moms I highlighted! You Ladies ROCK!

Laundry 2 x per week: In this goal I specified that I meant a full load of laundry.... all the way to the folding and putting away part... I think my mom skills are pretty good, but my classic housewife skills? OMG. I failed this goal in the first month. Maybe the first week. My intention behind this goal was to support my husband in his new job where he is traveling a lot... and he typically does the laundry... but I literally found every other way in the book to show my support other than laundry including finding a dirty laundry system that is so good the house can still be clean even when every single article of clothing is dirty... I'm sure I turned on the dryer at least 2 x per week. I probably did enough loads in the wash to add up to an average of 2 x per week. But I can only think of one time where I did the whole load and folded and put it away (and I did like 10 that day. #nesting). so... well... better luck in 2018? 
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Anyone Else?

Wake up Early to do Drills 2 x per week:  Another early fail. I am NOT an early riser. My intention behind this goal was two things: 1. Get myself in a habit of waking up early knowing that my future in the sport is dependent on early mornings. 2. Do drills to maintain strength throughout pregnancy. At some point early on (March Maybe?) I was just so, so, tired from pregnancy (the really really tired phase seemed to hit me in early second trimester). It was so, so cold, and I was just like "why am I doing early mornings when I can just do the strength at night? when the time comes I will wake up when given no other choice" and this is actually true. I wouldn't say I tracked 2 x per week exactly. It seems like I'd get in a good routine, then have something happen or not feel right so I'd skip a week and then take a while to get back into a groove, and then when I'd feel an injury coming on I'd ramp up the drills 5 days a week, then back to nothing, and the cycle continued. Not my best effort, for sure.... but it wasn't a total loss. 

No Explanation Needed

This year I made myself a fancy data sheet that I'd show you if it didn't end up in the trash during one of my extreme nesting moments. I had each goal written down and had boxes for each month that I could either check off or color in for days that didn't apply. I had a new sheet for each month. I started off tracking this really well, but as weeks went on and more an more goals began to shift and change, the data sheet was almost useless. It wasn't giving me a clear picture of what I was achieving and where I was falling short. It was actually just making me feel bad. I'd look at it and be like "ugh, I didn't do my drills this morning" and instead of being able to say to myself "hey, I can still do them now" I already felt like I failed. The point of resolutions is to improve yourself, and I feel like I did that, but when the data was showing the opposite, I had to get rid of it. I was constantly modifying and changing and adapting my goals in order to do the best I could do every day. 

Some highlights of this year that my resolutions could never account for:
1. I ran several races pregnant... and many weeks I stuck to a 26.2 mile goal
2. I ran 1000 pregnancy miles
3. I pushed a baby out in 3 pushes.
4. I hired a coach
5. I took care of 2 children at 10 days postpartum for 5 consecutive days with no husband and no help!  That was very hard!
6. I packed up my entire classroom and started a job in a new building
7.  I learned SO MUCH new technology when I returned to work. 
8. I created a website for myself (even though I haven't really kept up with it, it's here, it's live, and it looks awesome!)
9. I rearranged the house several times to accommodate all the changes.
10. I kept a positive attitude in the face of every adverse situation I've been in this year, and it was a lot!

Expanding on THIS tomorrow

My idea on resolutions has been shifting a lot, and mostly because a year is a long long time (never is that more obvious than when you are pregnant). I don't think I've ever had a bad year... a year that I didn't better myself in some way, but I also don't think I've ever fully achieved any of my resolutions. Maybe it's because I'm setting the standard too high, but really I think it's because setting a goal for a year limits your possibilities. Goals need to be more flexible so you can keep a door open to other possibilities... 

So in reflecting on 2017 and looking forward to 2018, I intend to create a goal that is achievable, flexible, and that leaves room for small tastes of success to help keep momentum during times when the tide ebbs  and for greater growth when the tide flows. 

GOALS right here.

EDIT: Resolutions Post (Part 2) is up and ready