Farewell, Year 32.

Precisely one year ago today I said Farewell to Year 31 {and Hello to Year 32}.

Parting is such sweet, sweet sorrow, but I'm OK saying goodbye because it was a filled-to-the-brim sort of 366 days.

{And because I'm eager to get started on Year 33...coming soon.}

I accomplished some of the things laid out on my Year 32 list and a lot of other things that weren't even on the list. 

I hate it when that happens.

Mostly so I have something to show my great-grandchildren, here are some of the events, experiences, and first-times that happened in my Year 32:

Bought a swim cap // Went road biking // Ran a mud run // Hosted a couples' shower // Climbed Mt. Pisgah // Jumped off the Holland State Park Pier // Kayaked, planked & wine tasted in Northern Michigan // Hosted a craft night // Canned peaches // Canned applesauce // Almost experienced a hurricane firsthand // Ran a 15K // Experienced Mat Kearney live //  Ran out of gas // Had my Christmas gifts wrapped and done by December 1 // Expelled a mouse family // Completed one year of our workout challenge // Acquired a breadmaker // Hosted a New Year's Eve party // Ran a wintery adventure race // Chose my one word for 2012: focus // Ran with the Mars Hill Running Club // Went indoor rock climbing // Upcycled something // Attempted a 10-day cleanse (made it 7) // Tried a spin class // Improved my 5K PR // Attended a Holy Yoga retreat // Walked for water // Completed a DIY leap list // Purged 40 bags in 40 days // Said hello! to my mornings // Ran a 25K // Took the girls on our first inaugural girls' weekend // Cleaned my way through the 31 Days to Clean Reboot // Celebrated 11 years of marriage // Enjoyed a sunset swim // Swam my first successful open water swim // Read through the Bible cover to cover // Took a photography class // Experienced #SheReadsTruth // Hosted an Olympics party // Experienced the Homestead with D & E // Attended an outdoor concert.

  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Time to keep on keepin' on. Year 33, here I come!

Gettin' Jiggy

One year ago, almost to the day (same race, same Saturday), Theresa and I worked up the courage to register for our first ever 5K, brave the lines at packet pick-up, risk looking like dorks pinning on our bibs, figure out how the timing chips worked, and eventually, 27 minutes and 30 seconds later to be exact, we strode over the finish line, completely and utterly exhausted, dazed, ecstatic, and dare I say, hooked.

Another 5K, a 10K, a mud run, a 15K, a winter rush (what can I say? we like variety), countless training runs, and multiples pairs of running shoes later, we finally feel comfortable calling ourselves "runners".

Today has been on my radar for some time now - a chance to come full circle, and an opportunity to knock #3 off my list.

The only thing that would have made today sweeter was if my running buddy/soul sister's IT band hadn't started acting up a couple of weeks ago. In her kind, giving way, however, Theresa happily drove to the race with me today, held my stuff, and cheered me on from the curb at the final turn.

My basic goal was to finish in the 25's...my bigger, more out-there goal was to finish in the 24's (8 minute mile pace).

As I have been getting to know more and more runners I find myself getting caught up in the fact that so and so is faster or has more experience or can run longer or whatever. It's easy to start to compare and then beat yourself up when you don't feel like you measure up. It's not logical (and I'm a logical kind of girl) and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that comparison is the thief of joy.

So today I feel happy. Happy that packet pick-up and race day parking no longer stress me up. Happy that I'm one of those people who choose to spend their Saturday mornings running for the fun of it. Happy that I have friends and family who support me wholeheartedly. Happy that it's 75 degrees in Michigan in March. Happy that my hard work is paying off, and I feel healthy and strong.

And right now, in this moment, really, really happy that I met my goal.

one sweet race

The Hot Chocolate 15K is billed as America's Sweetest Race.

I first heard about it from my friend EB while we chatted at the park one fine September morning. I went home and immediately told my go-to running gals about the race and we all verbally signed on.

And then reality set in.

9.3 miles??

And then fear crept in.

What if we can't do it? What if we fail?

KMac and I quietly tried to back out, hoping T would forget about it.

Two and a half weeks before the race, the inevitable happened: she held us to our verbal agreement.

[Actually she said she was running it with or without us and in that moment we knew we had to go...there was no way we were letting her run that race by herself!]

So we filled out our registrations and booked our hotel. We fit a couple of long runs into our workout schedules. And then we packed our bags and we were off.

And the race was sweet, indeed.

Sweetness is...

giggling your way through an I-forgot-my-iPod-in-Hudsonville crisis

scrambling out of bed at a very early hour, lacing up your running shoes and knowing there is nothing else you would rather be doing at that very moment.

enjoying the beauty of a big city on a sunny, crisp fall morning while Needtobreath blares in your ear buds

running side by side with two of your dearest friends on God's green earth

feeling like a real runner as you navigate through aid stations and suck down Hammer Gels

channeling the support you received ahead of time from your family and friends as the run begins to get hard (my bro-in-law's words became my mantra around mile 5: "Kill it, sis.")

passing the 5K marker and realizing that a distance that seemed hard 8 months ago felt like a warm-up

seeing the 10K marker and knowing that you are running faster than your last 10K race time...with 3.1 miles still to go

facing a hill head-on at mile 9 and not slowing down, because you know you've got this, you've trained for this

finishing strong - and finding out that your last 5K split was the fastest of the three

enjoying a well-deserved runners high while basking in your achievement {1:25:33}

knocking #6 off of your Year 32 list

and, of course, sweetness is...

being handed chocolate bars, fondue and hot chocolate just past the finish line for your efforts.

Dirty Thirty's

We were just starting our second lap

(the course was a 1.5 mile loop)

and we were having fun

but we were also starting to feel tired and out of breath.

We were carrying extra pounds of mud weight on our bodies.

There was mud squishing between our toes inside our socks.

And our shoes had narrowly survived

a couple of near-mud-death experiences.

One of us

(I think it was Theresa)

said what the rest of us were thinking:

I could use a little extra motivation right now

as we entered a long, deep, muddy pit.

Just then we looked up

and there was a woman who had to be in her sixties

(I'm a bad estimator of age but I remember white hair)

slogging through in front of us, one foot in front of the other.

And that's when we knew:

#1 we could do this.

#2 we want to be the kind of woman

who signs up for mud runs in her golden years.

Year 32? How about Year 62.

The best is yet to come.

hello Year 32

32 new-ish things to do in Year 32

1.      Try a suspension class, spinning and indoor rock climbing
2.      Run with the Mars Hill Runners Group
3.      Improve my 5K (26:39) time
4.      Improve my 10K (58:37) time
5.      Run an outside-the-box race
6.  Run a race longer than a 10K
7.      Buy a swim cap
8.      Learn how to do a flip turn
9.      Re-learn how to dive
10.   Work up the nerve to ride my new bike on an actual road
11.   Complete a sprint tri
12.   Do a flip off a diving board
13.   Upcycle something
14.   Paint something on my own
15.   Host a girls’ craft night
16.   Can something
17.   Make someone a birthday gift
18.   Get rid of 40 bags in 40 days
19.   Complete the 21 Day Organizing Challenge
20.   Christmas shopping: wrapped and done by December one
21.   Date my husband like it’s 1997
22.   Spend gift cards within a month of receiving them
23.   Attend a small town festival
24.   Attend an outdoor concert
25.   Find a way to serve at church
26.   Read through the Bible in 90 days
27.   Create an inspiring home office oasis
28.  Finish reading the Oprah's book club books
29.   Decide whether or not to try to cover my grey hairs
30.   Smile at strangers
31.  Buy a bread maker
32.   Learn to like tomatoes