Slow & Steady Wins the Race :-)

Happy 2012 Everyone!  This is not a race!  Just Nicole's Famous New Year's Resolutions!  

2011 was an amazing year. I ran in Washington DC, Atlanta, New Orleans, Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Mexico, and in the snow for the first time. I lived in Singapore for 8 weeks and visited 4 new countries, running in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Although 2011 was far from the year of the PR thanks to many mini-injuries and a summer running ridiculously slow in heat and humidity, I did run 11 races.  I ran 3 half marathons, which included getting Rachael a PR, my first race at night, and my first awesome race in costume with Lisa and Jordanne. I ran 4 5ks, which included my first race in Singapore, my free race with Leandrea in Atlanta, PRing in my last ditch effort of December to make my 2011 resolution, and a fun costumey book club Christmas run.  I ran 2 10ks in the first half of 2011, which included one blast of a weekend with a great group in my hometown and one PR (unfortunately unconfirmed by a garmin though!). No marathons were run, but I did jump through fire in the Hell Run and had another epic time at Hood to Coast (although it was marred by the traffic) and I am saddened there are no relay plans yet for 2012.  

In non-running 2011 news I faced the camera loss in Mexico and the huge backpack/laptop/data/ipod/Garmin theft of March 2011 that was quite scarring. We celebrated Justin's 30th birthday in Lincoln City and wine walked in Leavenworth for my 29th.  We traveled to Orlando to enjoy butter beers at Harry Potter World and then to Atlanta to see some of our bestest friends.  We found out some of our other bestest friends are pregnant, and ended the year in my favorite place on earth, Sunriver!  2011 was great but I hope 2012 will even be better. I have great hopes for 2012, as I think great changes lie ahead for us (see 2012 Resolution #3). Hopefully this will mean new jobs for each of us that we love (or at least like more than our current jobs, which isn't too high of a bar!), a potential move, etc. 

Before we get to the good stuff, let's first review how I did on 2011's famous resolutions:

1. Be fit in more ways than just running.  This is especially the case for my first quarter goals (Jan-Mar).  Yoga, stretching, strength training, elliptical, swimming, I clearly need to be fit in many more ways than just running if I want to actually run. Semi-success.  I will carry this on into 2012 (See 2012 Resolution #7).
2. Lose 5-10 pounds by March 18.  This goes hand and hand with #1.  Since the marathon, not running coupled with eating the same amount of food has not been good for me.  I need to work out, not just pout about not being able to run, since I hate working out when its not running.  I'd be happy losing 5, happier losing 10.  We're going to Mexico for a friend's wedding on March 18 so its a perfect swimsuit-wearing timeline, plus its 11 weeks away, which is a doable goal.  Also semi-success. I did lose those pounds, but then I gained them back while in Singapore.  I've lost some of those, I could lose a few more.  I'm reading "Racing Weight" right now which is a really fascinating book about the best weight for racing (obviously!).   
3. Do a triathlon!  This has been my new year's resolution for 3 years now, so I'm sucking at completing it.  I WILL do a triathlon (if just a sprint!) in 2011. Complete and utter fail.  For the 3rd year in a row.  FAIL FAIL FAIL!  I think the key here is that I just have to face the fact that I don't love to bike, and I hate to swim in open water.  And oh yeah, I love to run.  Running and I are definitely in an exclusive, monogamous relationship.  I don't like to cheat on running.  I still would like to do a triathlon, and I definitely will in my lifetime.  If it doesn't happen in 2012 though, I won't be devastated.  It just leaves more money/time for running races.  Did I mention Justin is letting me go into the NYC Marathon Lottery?!
4. Get fewer parking tickets.  It would be really really nice to get fewer parking tickets in 2011.  Maybe I'll aim for 3 or less.  I think I got 6-8 this year.  Its not good for my psyche or my wallet. SUCCESS SUCCESS SUCCESS!  Perhaps this trumps #3, because while that was an utter fail, this was an UTTER SUCCESS!  Not only did I get 3 or less, I got ZERO PARKING TICKETS!  Yes.  More money for races.   Did I mention Justin is letting me go into the NYC Marathon Lottery?!
5. Make major progress on the Ph.D.  This is going to be my main focus for 2011.  If I want to graduate in 2012, I need to successfully dominate the R&I presentation (hopefully in Feb.), dominate the written exams (hopefully in September), write my dissertation proposal, and hopefully also finish collecting my dissertation data, all by the end of the year.  GET TO IT!  I'm going to call this a success despite not having done all of these things.  I finished my R&I, I spent the summer collecting data in Singapore, and I technically (if not officially) finished my exams (bureaucracy = too complicated to explain).  Some issues got in the way of feeling really happy about this goal, but I'm still hopeful that 2012 Resolution #3 will not be deterred because of such bureaucracy.  
6. Running goals.  This is last because right now I have no idea when I'll be able to seriously run again because of this stupid ITB.  But I would like to run 1,000 miles in 2011 (I'm missing it by 2.5 measely unrunnable miles right now!), do a half marathon if not a full (Newport on my birthday seems impossible now), do Hood to Coast, and get a PR in the 5K.  2011 will be the year of the 5K.  DONE DONE DONE!  Okay, I didn't do a full marathon, but I did not 1 but 3 half marathons, Hood to Coast, and PR'ed in the 5k (if only by the skin of my teeth).  I ran over 1,000 miles (also by the skin of my teeth) and kept the evil ITB at bay (though not the evil shin splint, but that wasn't in the goal).  

Now on to 2012's Famous Resolutions!

7. 2012 will be the Year of the Marathon.  2011 was “the year of the 5k”, at least according my resolutions (not really according to actual practice, since I squeezed out a 5k PR in the last two weeks of the year in a sudden last ditch effort!), but even years are my “marathon years” if the 2008 North Olympic Discovery Marathon and the 2010 Portland Marathon have any precedence. In 2012 I not only will finish the Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon in June feeling much better than the dying that occurred during Portland but I will also PR, breaking 3:55 (hopefully) easily.
8. Volunteer at a race.  I ashamedly have never done this but I so appreciate all the volunteers that hand out water, etc., and want to do this as well!
9. Graduate. Finish my degree. My goals to graduate this year is partially in the air due more bureaucracy (of the job search), but whether I rock those robes in 2012 or 2013 I will finish ALL of the degree requirements this year. Domination of that dissertation will occur asap.
10. Travel to at least 8 new places. Ideally this includes at least two new countries. Also since our time in Seattle may be limited I want to visit the San Juan Islands, Suncadia, Great Wolf Lodge, Victoria, and Ocean Shores.
11. Run 1,015 miles & 12 races.  Last year I ran 1,014 miles, so run at least 1,015 miles in 2012.  This year I completed 11 races, so next year complete at least 12 races (for my wallets sake, virtual races I invent count!).
12. Read 26 books.  In 2011 I read (or at least started!) 46 books.  Can you believe that?  I can't.  That number is completely unattainable again due to my daily 3 hour subway rides while in Singapore.  However, I would like to read at least 26 books (1 every 2 weeks) in 2012.   
13. Run smart and healthy. Keep cross-training, strength-train at least a little each week, run 3 days a week only. It has become clear that 25-30 miles per week is about when my body starts to be injury-prone. Lets keep at the new plan and try to stay relatively injury free in 2012.
14. Eat better, eat cleaner, eat to run (not run to eat).  I eat really well on weekdays, so the key here is having less cheat days, aka eat better on the weekends.