….and My Story Runs On….

It’s been a few years that I’ve decided not to make New Year Resolutions anymore. There are all sorts of statistics about the % of people who make them and who keep them.

I do believe that this is a great time to reflect on last year and set new intentions for the upcoming year.  I’m combining this all together over 3 blogs posts. My hope is to inspire you to do the same. Today I’m reflecting on my major accomplishments in 2014.  My word of the year was Celebration and my song for this year is Pitbull/Cristina Aguilera’s Feel This Moment (see more in Vision Board section below) When I look back, I like to focus on what I accomplished…maybe a better word is what I CELEBRATED. In the next few days, I’ll write about my major lessons learned in 2014.  I’ll focus on my intentions after taking my next Vision Board class with Sacred Harts.

“If you nurture your mind, body, and spirit, your time will expand. You will gain a new perspective that will allow you to accomplish much more.”
Brian Koslow

2014 Accomplishments
Mind

• Completed my Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM). This was huge for me because I’ve been working on it for the last 10 years.  I know people that have completed it in 2 years but that’s one of things I love about Toastmasters is that you can move at your own pace. I can’t say enough about this organization.  I’ve been meaning to write a blog about the similarities of Toastmasters and running 😉  coming soon….
• Completed my Corrective Exercise certification.  I didn’t need to do my CEUs for my fitness training certification yet so I was happy to get ahead of the game.  This was a challenge for me as it’s been awhile since I’ve immersed myself back into studying anatomy.
• Completed 23 blogs posts. This has been a tough one for me but I’ll be working more on this in 2015.

Body

• Completed marathons #4 and #5 and my first 50k (31 miles).  Not only am I addicted to running now but I realize I really love distance running and especially trails. I also had a personal record at marathon #5 finally finishing under 5 hours.  I wrote several blogs about these experiences:  My Slowest Marathon Ever, Execution Plan for Marathon #5,  How I Shaved 13 min off my Marathon Time,  Prepping for my 1st 50K-4 days to go and You had me at pumpkin pie….and Coke (1st 50K recap).
• Completed my first Ragnar Trail along with 15 of my friends (first for all of us). This really got all of us out of our comfort zone.  Some people had to start learning to run on trails and we all had to learn how to run trails at night time.  Blogged about that experience too: We placed last at Ragnar!!
• Tried Dahn Yoga and RealRyder Spin classes for the first time.  (see below for an amazing deal to try these classes and some of mine too!)
• Won $5000 through the KrowdFit program!  This program gamifies the weight loss process.  You get sweepstakes entries for: sleeping 8 hours a night, logging your food, # of steps you take and the amount of vigorous activity you do.  One of my entries got me $5000!  You can join my team if you want too.  Half of my team members have won between $125 to $5000 (me).  I blogged about it here  I won $5,000! You can too…. and did a video. (click here for most updated information about Krowdfit)

Spirit

Before I tackle spirit, let me tell you what this means to me. I’ve probably had my biggest growth happen in the last year in this area. This picture sums it up:

We all have a purpose in this world. When I have experiences that bring me true happiness, I know I’m getting closer to my true self and soul.

• Completed three 21-Day Meditation series from Deepak Chopra. These are free and I love them.  I started doing these in May of 2012 and this probably the #1 thing that has changed my life in so many ways. I have 67 pages of journaling from this process. This year I completed the following series: Find Your Flow, Expanding Your Happiness and Energy of Attraction. I can’t recommend these enough.  Find out more on their website and facebook page.
• Completed my first Vision Board in January 2014.  I’ve always wanted to do these but never got around to it.  I can’t say enough about the workshop I took with Lisa Hecke from Sacred Harts (as a matter of fact, I’m signed up for her next one on 1/11).  I’m a big believer in setting intentions because I’ve manifested amazing things in my life through this process….so I’m interested in anything that will deepen it.  Here is a picture of 2014 Vision Board.  I have this hanging right in front of my computer so I see it every single day.  I even took a picture of it on my phone so I had it handy when I wanted to focus on it.  There were mornings that I would get in my car, look at the photo and blast my song.  As I was doing this, I really stayed present and focused on my vision board intentions.  When I look at all my celebrations for this year, a lot of it was right here in my vision board.  Here is a picture of it:
  

  Left half is my personal life and right half is my business life

• Niched my business from general fitness (Easy Fitness Solutions) to The Running University.  I realized that my passion was to see people cross finish lines and accomplish goals they never thought possible whether walking or running. This included a new website, my free ebook 15 Simple Steps for the Beginner Beginner™ Runner, new facebook, twitter and You Tube page.  Running has changed my life in ways I can’t list here right now and I know it can do the same for others (I know all my friends that were non runners would say the same exact thing)
• Became a ChiRunning/ChiWalking Master Instructor.  I remember when I first became certified to teach and NEVER thought that I would want to or could be one.  I assisted/stalked Danny Dreyer, the founder of ChiRunning by assisting him with several classes in the last few years. I was/am a sponge and who better to learn from than the guru himself. I say that running has changed my life but it’s really ChiRunning.  There are the obvious benefits of decreased chance of injury and learning to make running effortless but it’s really about a lifestyle choice of living intentionally and mindfully.

I’ve been working on this post for 3 hours!  I’m not saying you have to take this long (although it’s leaving me with a great feeling of accomplishment to look back) but maybe take a few moments and look back at 2014.  You can categorize them this same way (Mind, Body Spirit) or however your heart desires.  Whatever way you do it, write it down so you can see just how much you accomplished and celebrated this year!

PLEASE share any of your accomplishments or celebrations in the comments!

P.S. This deal is only good through 12/31.  I recently discovered Flip’n Fit.  Basically you pay a monthly membership fee and have access to 35 different studios from RealRyder Spinning to Pilates to Yoga and now to some of my group classes! They are offering a special deal to my peeps…you need a facebook account though 😉  Pay for one month ($99) and get the next month FREE.  $50 for each month with access to up to 200 classes a day!  Here is the deal:

1) Share this post about Flip’n Fit on your page
2) Like their Facebook page
3) Purchase on or before 12/31 to get your second month FREE! (membership is $99)

I’ve been using them for the last month and love it…I’m now doing RealRyder spin classes 2-3x a week and tried Dahn Yoga which I’d never done before…excited about Barre and Pilates in January too!

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)