New Year Resolution Guide: The Suitcase

I've always wanted a suitcase like this!

So we talked a while ago about our metaphorical fanny pack (and how we were not going to fill it with cookies).  Now I want to upgrade our visual and talk about our 2011 suitcase. I think all of this is a sign that I need a vacation!

But anyway, I've got my 2011 suitcase open and ready to be filled with everything from 2010 that I want to bring with me into the new year.  And as you can imagine, not everything from 2010 will make the cut.  Here's what made it into my suitcase (and what got left in 2010).  And just FYI this is just about fitness stuff so if you're not on the list, don't freak out. I'm not tossing you.

1. My gym family. I love the people I workout with! They motivate me, make me laugh, indulge my motormouth, and prod me into working harder than I thought I could. They are definitely making it into my suitcase! 

2. My clients. Wellness coaching is one of the most rewarding things in my life and my clients teach me something new about the world every time I talk to them.  They make the cut!

3. My gadgets. Data drives progress, and I get a lot of value from my GoWearFit, my new Garmin, and iPod filled with GetFitPod running podcasts. I may look like a cyborg half the time, but I use them every day and they make the cut.

4. My wellness community. In 2010 I connected with a lot of wellness advocates and its been wonderful professionally and personally. I've created great friendships with people who inspire me every day, and that definitely makes it into the suitcase!

5. Last but definitely not least, my actual family. Trust me, life with me is not always (ever) easy, and the amount of patience, tolerance, humor, and love that I get from people who have no choice about having me in their lives is immense. I will need a lotta lotta more of that in 2011.

That's it. Oh, well, also a bunch of workout clothes and shoes and stuff.  But that's pretty much everything I am taking with me in 2011.  I'm leaving some significant things behind...I'll talk about those tomorrow.Yesterday was about positive thinking. I hope that you made your list of positive versus negative influences and figured out which ones you can change and which ones you want to ditch. Put the positive influences in your suitcase today!

See you soon! Have a healthy day!

New Year Resolution Guide: Plan to be successful

One of my 2011 goals (a resolution if you will) is to get faster as a runner. I am doing a half marathon in February and want to do it in 2:10, faster than my 2:18 time from last October. That means I need to run an average of a 10-minute mile. Should be pretty easy, right? I average about 10:15 minutes per mile so I just need to pick it up a bit.


Then I want to get comfortably into a 9:30 mile. And finally I want to complete a half marathon in less than two hours. When I can do that, I'll consider training for a full distance marathon.


That's my SMART goal for running this year: consistently run a 9:30 mile by training for distance events and steadily increasing my speed at each event until I complete a half marathon in less than 2 hours.


Okay, so....I need a plan. "Pick it up a bit," as a training tool only works for about two blocks.  Luckily, my husband got me a Garmin for Christmas so when I've been running, I strap that puppy on and monitor my speed as I run. I learned Sunday that when I start daydreaming, I slow down to about 10:45.  When I snap out of it, 9:45 is easy. And when I'm at 9:26 I feel amazing. But I can't maintain it - that's where the conditioning part comes in. It should be an interesting process.


Here's your New Year's Resolution homework for today - make a plan. Set a goal, make a plan. Dissect your goal into the action steps you need to take - or get other people to take - to see it come to life. Write benchmarks on a calendar so you can visualize when things need to happen. Spend some time visualizing what obstacles may crop up and how you'll deal with them. Write it down, make a plan, and do at least one action from that plan right away.


2011 is going to be a great year!  You can plan on it. :)