Happiness Project Report: February-March (Part I)

Hi everyone,

My experience with my happiness project in February was a bit different than in January.  In January, three out of my four goals were pretty straightforward and easy to track.  Either I tracked my food or I didn't, for example.  In February, however, three out of my four goals were more difficult to track, since they were multi-shaded, that is, not just black and white.

To recap, here were my four resolutions for February:

1. Have weekly date nights.
2. Acknowledge the feelings of others and take responsibility for my own actions.
3. Don't keep score.
4. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

For the most part, it was easy to track whether or not Jesse and I had a date night each week.  For me, a date night is an evening in which we spend several hours being together.  Most nights we watch TV together, but we also spend that time multitasking.  I don't consider multitasking to be a part of date night.  Instead, a date night is when we concentrate on one activity at a time and we do it together.  Some nights were clearer than others that we were having a date night, but I checked off seven times that we had a date night in February.  Not too shabby.

 
Since I wrote my second goal as "Responsibility" in my goal chart, I quickly forgot about the first half of the resolution.  So... I was basically just tracking whether or not I took responsibility for my actions, and this soon became about arguments.  Did I try to place the blame on the other person?  There were six times in the month of February where I caught myself not taking responsibility, but this resolution helped remind me that there are two sides to every coin... and next month I will remember that there are two sides to this goal.

The third goal, don't keep score, also became, in part, about arguments.  Also, chores.  Was I holding expectations about who should be doing what?  Again, I caught myself doing this about six times in February, but the goal helped me become more aware of the issue.

Finally, I resolved to stay positive and not to let the perfect become the enemy of the good.  This is sometimes really tough for me when my expectations don't match up with reality.  This often happens in running and sometimes in relationships with others.  However, I only caught myself being negative three times in February, so this wasn't as big of an issue as I thought!  In other words, I was pessimistic about being pessimistic.  Bah dum tss!

I also wanted to continue my resolutions from January this month.  Some of my goals from January stayed strong throughout February, such as the goal to get enough (but not too much!) sleep (22/28 days) and acting energetic (23/28 days).  However, I stopped tracking my food about halfway through the month (9/28) and I have not been drinking enough water (5/28... ouch).  Time to get back on those goals!

And my average happiness score for February was... Drum roll, please...!  6.9.  Definitely better than last month.  Perhaps I am becoming more happy...!  Either way, these resolutions are helping me become more aware of and more realistic about my actions.

Alright, stick around for the second half of this post about my March resolutions!

Until then,
Amy

Half Marathon Training: The First Four Weeks

Hi everyone,
I am going to try posting more regularly again (my goal is every Thursday and Sunday), and the only thing I could think to post about today is the first four weeks of my half marathon training, so hopefully you find it interesting!  :)

Jesse and I did a couple 5Ks in the summer/fall, and we trained pretty regularly for these runs, but after those were finished, my mileage really took a dive.  Before I started officially training for the half marathon, I was running about 5 to 10 miles per week.  Sometimes less if I really wasn't feeling it that week.  However, I really wanted to do the Lincoln Half Marathon this year on May 5.  I was inspired by my friend Tory who ran the half marathon last year, and I knew I would be disappointed if I didn't sign myself up.  So even though my mileage was nothing to brag about, I dove in.

Jesse and I decided to take a marathon training course at the UNL Rec. Center, and with that class we get customized training plans from our teacher.  Here is the plan I received at the beginning of my training:

Click to enlarge...
XT = cross train
ST = strength train

The training plan started out simple enough, but I was a little intimidated by the 4 mile "short" run and 5 mile long run in the last week.  My plan, however, is to run/walk the half marathon, so I got the option in my plan to do intervals, especially during the long runs.  This plus the fact that I was able to take a couple weeks to work up to those runs, helped me become confident that I could finish this plan successfully.

Here is how it turned out...

What I accomplished in those four weeks.  Again, click to enlarge.
Super Circuit = interval based strength training

During this four weeks, I tried each run day to get in a bit more mileage than what was called for.  Sometimes it was just a quarter of a mile, but most days I did about half a mile more, which helped me feel on top of things and also even more accomplished.  I also felt then like I was getting to my goal just a bit faster.  :)

I still have more bad running days than good running days, but now when I have "bad" running days, they are still pretty good.  Last night, for example, Jesse and I planned to run 3 miles, and we wanted to include some speed work in our running.  We got the 3 miles done, but we did too much speed work too soon and burned out during the first mile.  It took another whole mile to recouperate, so we felt pretty defeated.  But at the end of the run it turned out that we still made 3 miles in 38 minutes, which for me is pretty darn good.

I am a slow runner, but I have come to terms with this.  As long as I am out there getting my miles in, I am happy.  If I just happen to run faster than normal, of course I am happy, but that isn't what I aim for.  My goal for each run is the same as my goal for the half marathon: start and finish.

Well, I think that is all for now, but I will keep you updated as we continue on with our training.  Right now we are working on doing more hill and speed work, as well as figuring out what kind of fueling works best for us on our longer runs.  We have a little over 2 months to go, so there is plenty of time to tinker and keep working on finding our running selves.

Until next time,
Amy

Amy's Birthday Weekend!

Hey everyone,
so I just turned 24 (woo hoo?) and I had an awesome birthday weekend.  Since my birthday was on a Monday, I decided to start celebrating on Friday with dinner.  It was so great to get friends together from every part of my life to hang out and celebrate at Lazlos.  I was also amazed by everyone's generosity!  I got a baking stone, a couple gift cards, and a lot of chocolate.

Then Jesse and I took off to spend the weekend in Omaha.  As soon as we got to the hotel, he gave me my present from him: a new workout bag, yoga blocks, and yoga socks and gloves (with grips!).  He knows me so well.

That night we basically passed out, and we spent much of the next day just relaxing.  I took a nap immediately after breakfast.  We played some games: dominoes and cribbage.  We did a bit of shopping, since I left my swimsuit in Lincoln.  But that just gave me an excuse to get a one-piece, which I had been wanting to do, so I could go swimming for cross training!  We worked out a bit in the small workout room at the hotel and then did some water jogging/aerobics/swimming.  Finally, we went out to eat at Gerta's, a small German restaurant, and topped that off with dessert from Wheatfields.  So good.

Schnitzel and Spaetzle from Gerta's

Desserts and Cribbage

The next day we parked the car and took a little walk to see the pedestrian bridge.  Then we drove home to Lincoln and I got ready to go tutor.  It was a really fun weekend, and it was nice to have a nearby getaway with Jesse!

Yoga in two states!

On my actual birthday I received several cards in the mail (thank you, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa!), an Amazon gift card (thank you, Mom!), and a Barnes and Noble gift card (danke, Buerofamilie!).  I also got a teddy bear, chocolates, and flowers from Jesse.  Then Jesse and I went to dinner and to see Silver Lining's Playbook, which was sooooo good.

Awww!  (Ignore the messy table behind the pretty flowers.)

This was one of the best birthdays I can remember, so thank you everyone who had dinner with me or wished me a happy day!

Until next time,
Love!
Amy

Good-bye January!

Hi everyone,

Wow, I can't believe it's already February.  (P.S. My birthday is just around the corner - February 4th!)  I hope you all are having a great 2013.

In January I started my Happiness Project based on Gretchen Rubin's book of the same name to kick of my new year.  (If you missed my first post on the subject, click here for a more detailed description of happiness projects, as well as my January resolutions.)  I think my project is going well so far.  I remembered to keep track of my resolutions in an Excel document most every day, and when I forgot, I often remembered the very next day, so everything was still fresh in my mind.  How often did I keep each resolution?  Here are the results:


1. Get enough (but not too much) sleep: 21/31 days.  I started off strong, but then lost my motivation to go to bed early as the semester wore on.  This is definitely something I want to start working on again.  I felt amazing at the beginning when I was actually getting enough sleep!

2. Act energetic: 20/31 days.  This resolution was harder to track, since it is more abstract, so I mostly ended up checking the box if I worked out that day, especially if I had to convince myself to workout.

3. Track what I eat: 29/31 days.  By far my most successful resolution.  And I lost 5 pounds this month.

4. Drink enough water: 11/31 days.  Ouch.  However, I did drink more water this month than usual, so that is a plus.

My average happiness score out of 10: 6.16  Not bad, but things could be better.

So for February I am going to be attempting to keep all four of my January resolutions plus four February resolutions.  My February resolutions all center around the idea of love.

1. Have weekly date nights.  When we were newly married, Jesse and I were really good at having weekly dates, but we have since stopped planning these nights together.  I want to start doing this again, and I hope to schedule the dates on the calendar and alternate who plans each night.

2. Acknowledge feelings and take responsibility.  It is really easy to tell someone that what they're feeling is "wrong" or to blame someone else for starting an argument.  What's difficult is seeing the other side and admitting your mistakes.  I feel that these two resolutions can be smooshed into one, because they both promote awareness of the reality of a situation, that is, that there are two people with two minds, two hearts, and two sets of actions leading up to said situation. 

3. Don't keep score.  Again, it is really easy to make the argument that "I did the dishes, so you should do the laundry."  If all is fair in love, why keep track of each little thing?  Act because you love, because you know something should be done, and because you are just so awesome like that.  This also reminds me of practicing generosity, a skill that Jesse is much better at than I am.  He often reminds those around him that "friends don't owe friends."

4. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.  This resolution might look familiar if you read my last blog post.  After I wrote this post, Jesse pointed out that I am really bad at not letting small setbacks or bad days get to me.  What does this have to do with love?  Just as it is important for me to work on my marriage, I also need to work on loving myself.

So there you have it.  Most of these goals are a little more abstract, so I think this month will be interesting and different from the last.  I'll keep you updated on how my happiness project is going, and hopefully we'll have more fun and insightful posts up soon!

How are your new years resolutions going?  Leave a comment below!

Until next time,
Amy