Meditate, Run, Sleep: Chasing Goals Week 2

Goals 7.2

Last week, I began participating in The Weekly Chase, an incentive started by fellow blogger Melissa at Live Love and Run, where we log weekly goals and share them with others for accountability.

Here is a recap of my goals from last week and progress report:

1)   Continue my plank a day:  All good here

2)   Veganize my home:  Done.  I have been vegan as of Tuesday of last week. 

3)   Run my fastest mile ever!  Last week I caught a virus and had to cut back on the intensity of my runs.  This week for sure, I will get a time on my mile!

4)   Stay faithful to my fall half marathon training.  I skipped one scheduled training run due to being sick.

5)   Be mindful of my words:  Ummm…trying! 

6)   Schedule more time with my kids.  I have tweaked this goal so that I actually schedule time for me.  If I can get in a few hours a day to run, blog, practice yoga, and take care of the house, I will happily belong to my kids for the rest of the day.  I have asked them to give me one hour of “office time” in the morning so that I can complete some blogging tasks.  On the days that I have had this hour, I have found myself much more willing to unplug later.

Here’s what’s on tap for the week ahead:

1)   Continue my plank a day: I have organized a plank-a-day challenge among my friends, so for the month of July, I will be motivating others to do a plank a day as well.  If you are looking for a way to build up your core strength, I urge you to hold one plank for as long as you can every day.  And of course, you are welcome to join our challenge!

2)   Continue training for my next 13.1

3)   Time a mile running:  As mentioned last week, this takes a little planning since I am Stone Ages Girl who does not own a GPS watch!

4)   Adjust my sleeping schedule:  I have been sacrificing sleep the past few weeks to cram in more tasks every day, and it is beginning to wear me down.  I am certain that it has contributed to my Mom Fail, since not sleeping makes me cranky, and may have contributed to why I got sick.  When I don’t take care of my body, everything else starts to fall apart.  Sleep is too important to skimp on.

5)   Meditate: I began meditating three years ago, and the effects have been life changing.  Meditation teaches us how to detach from our thoughts and observe our thoughts as an objective witness.  When we learn to detach from our thoughts, they have less power over us.  When this happens, our whole world opens up.  For the most part, I am faithful to my meditation practice, but I need to re-commit to it every day.  Because any “fail” that I have had in the past few weeks, ie, not being mindful with words, yelling at my kids, etc. is more likely to dissipate when I am grounded in my meditation practice.   Sometimes, it feels so difficult to sit still, even for five to ten minutes!  But it is most important five to ten minutes of my day.

Part of understanding ourselves is knowing what goals to set, what goals to stick with, and what goals to let go of. 

I firmly believe that sometimes, letting go of a goal is more of a triumph that sticking with a goal.  Being able to say “no, this really isn’t for me,” is empowering under the right circumstances.  As an athlete, and a huge overachiever, this concept was tough for me to get, and even tougher to live by, but sometimes, saying “no,” instead of pushing through until the bitter end, at all costs, is the right thing to do.

Have you ever set a goal for yourself that seemed urgently important at that moment but over time, you realized wasn’t working? 

Namaste, Divas!

© 2012 Ilene Evans

 

 

Comments

Meditate, Run, Sleep: Chasing Goals Week 2 — 17 Comments

  1. Yay! Comments! 🙂
    I am totally with you on the sleep thing. I keep trying to go to bed earlier but it never happens. I needs to happen. That’s totally why I’m cranky and it affects EVERYTHING. And I agree with your approach about scheduling time with you kids. When I focus on me and get that stuff done, I am more than happy to spend the rest of the day with the kids.
    And, I’m unofficially joining your plank challenge

  2. Great job on your goals last week!!! I am going to join your plank a day challenge…I’m already planking every day anyway and would love the interaction with others who are doing it too! I requested you as a friend on your personal page on FB since you aren’t using your fan page for the challenge. 🙂

  3. You and I have some similar goals! I’m jumping into the plank a day challenge and also training for a half. I respect your mindset in letting go of a goal. It’s really important that we recognize there are times when we have to. Good luck this week!

  4. My goal for the summer is to be more flexible with my goals. I never have problems achieving what I plan but sometimes I sacrifice the enjoyment of doing things just to get them done. I have renewed my efforts to stay mindful and that means asking myself what I want to do instead of what I have to do. Everything is still getting done but with much more joy!

  5. Thank you so much on the heads up for my comment fail! I need a tech guru..and I need some sleep. It affects everything, right?
    And yes, my kids are inside right now giving me a half hour of office time so that we have have the rest of the day together.
    Re: The plank challenge – I was already tagging you in the FB posts – LOL! Can I still tag you even though you are unofficial?

  6. Good luck to you as well this week. And yes, sometimes, we have to walk away, which is hard to do – especially for us runner types – wince we have a mindset of achievement. Which is a great thing – but sometimes hard to walk away. So glad to be chasing goals together!

  7. As always, I’m with you for about 99.9% (not ready to veganize)! When vacation is over, I’m seriously considering the plank a day challenge. I do have a quick question for you, “How do you meditate?” Do you have a standard practice, or do you take some time to yourself to just sort of reflect?

  8. Meditating is so easy! It requires very little of you except to find a place to sit quietly, either in a chair with feet grounded on the floor or in yoga “easy seat” – which is the same as “crisscross apple sauce.” Close your eyes, rest the palms of hands on your knees, and let go of your thoughts, as you let go of your thoughts, try to focus on your breath. If you come back to your thoughts, try to let go of them again, and just try to keep without thoughts for five minutes or so. You are basically emptying our your mind! One of my first posts was on meditation. I should have linked back to it today! I am going to edit the post to include the link below right now. Enjoy vacation!
    http://fiercedivaguidetolife.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/fierce-thinking-.html

  9. I really love your goals! I may join in on your plank a day challenge. Im also training for my first 1/2 on September 30, 2012. Good luck with your goals this week!

  10. Your first half! So exciting! Enjoy the training! I loved going on all of those runs. There is nothing like your first13.1. And doing a plank a day will totally support your goals as a runner. So happy to be chasing goals together!

  11. Let’s see if this bad boy will let me comment this week! (I tried several times last week, and it hated me!)
    You rocked your goals last week!!! So awesome!!!
    I find that when I’m given the time to do what I need to do as a blogger & writer and then given the time to run, I’m perfectly capable of being a functional mom. Haha. If I’m bogged down and unable to go uninterrupted at least for a little while, I find myself so incredibly frustrated. Luckily, I know I’m not alone in that.
    I am doing a plank/abs challenge all month…and I’m praying I start seeing some great results with it. My waistline is my only downfall, really.

  12. Melissa,
    You are so not alone! I am the exact same way! I need to have just a teeny little bit of time to get through my “essential tasks” and I am good to go as a mom.
    Loving the plank. It is such a good overall body strengthener. But don’t forget your yoga, babe!