Happy New Year! This time of year, I always take at least a month to eat clean, avoid alcohol, focus on advancing my fitness and reflecting on the past year as well as the year ahead.
So far, I am doing great! I typically eat a strict Paleo diet, but this year I tried going Keto. I lost 7 lbs in the first week, but felt sluggish and bloated from the high fat diet. I switched back to Paleo last week and feel much better. I have an amazing amount of energy and I feel strong during my workouts. I am planning to eat clean and avoid alcohol until the end of February when I am participating in a half marathon.
I am generally obsessed with getting my workouts in, but January brings out a new beast from within. I have been mixing up workouts between lifting, functional strength, running, swimming and other mixed cardio. I workout about 10 times per week. This is definitely the most that I have pushed my limits in the gym since my VAD and strokes; I am starting to creep back into Olympic weight lifting and CrossFit workouts. I have my great friend, Sei Hee, joining me at the gym in the mornings too. She keeps me motivated to program interesting and challenging workouts.
I had so many large goals last year that I can’t help but view this year’s goals as insignificant (this is not the case, but I am damn hard on myself). My first goal is, of course, to stay healthy and sober until my half marathon on February 25th. This race ends at a beer festival, so you better believe I’ll be enjoying several adult beverages. I have another goal to get a Personal Best Time for this half marathon. My current record was from 10 years ago when I completed 13.1 in 1 hour 56 minutes. I nearly beat that time in November without heavy training. Although this goal fills me with nerves and anxiety, I have faith in myself that I can achieve it.
I have no aspirations to do another full marathon this year, but I got a very sweet message this morning from someone I admire. She let me know that I have inspired her to make her own goal this year: She divulged that she would like to run her first full marathon and that I am the motivator behind this dream. I am deeply touched by being the stimulus for such an objective, and if she decides to run a full, I will probably get my ass into gear and run it with her!
I have several more goals, none of which are very specific, but they are nonetheless important. I always strive to be the best version of myself. I want to be a kind soul with the patience of a saint and to be a source of joy and a rock for my family, friends and partner. I want to focus on my health and continue to heal and grow from all I have been through. I want to spread the word about VAD and my fellow survivors. I hope to get motivated again to raise more money for stroke survivors. I also plan to post more in my blog as I have tapered off significantly since the Humboldt Bay Marathon.
Above all else, I strive to inspire.
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