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| Ta da! He did it! |
You can find my 2018 mileage totals in this post, and my 2018 goals in this post, back in January 2018.
I set a lot of goals because they help me accomplish things. In the past I've set some unrealistic goals, but I'm getting better at pinpointing things that are both important to me and achievable. Having something to work towards motivates me to keep moving and not turn into a vegetable on the couch, even when it's really tempting because I'm so dang tired all the time.
Thoughts about how things went in 2018
Strictly going by the numbers, I had a good year. My overall mileage total is continuing to climb year over year. My bike miles went way up this year and I was able to log a couple miles of kayaking. I hit my goals of 52 hikes, 365 foot miles and 365 bike miles.However, physically, I had a rough year. Flu + strep + a really bad cold at the beginning of the year meant a very slow start to my mileage and my hikes. Add in persistent plantar fasciitis, a broken foot in September and a resurgence of my narcolepsy symptoms (it's been at a manageable level for years, but got noticeably worse in August), and life has been challenging.
Mileage
I'd originally hoped for a much higher mileage total (double the bike and foot miles), but honestly, I'm happy hitting 365 miles with both foot miles and bike miles. I'd also hoped for more kayak miles, but there's always so much to do, so it was hard to find the time. All the rain we got this year didn't help- we were hesitant to get out on the water when the water levels were so high, and that happened sooo many times this year. It'll be easier to get an earlier start in the spring, now that we know what we need to do, so as long as we don't have too much rain again....
Hiking
Squeezing 29 hikes into the last 10 weeks of the year brought some challenges. Some weeks I could only manage 1 hike, which took the weekly average from 3 hikes to 4, and then 5 in a few instances. It's not that I don't enjoy going for hikes, because I do, the challenge was finding the time and the least muddy trails (we got sooo much rain this year!).
I made an effort to search out trails close to where I would be any time I went to town. Most of them I was aware of already, but hadn't taken the time to explore. I've found some new trails to take the kids on this coming year, which will give us more variety as well as being more convenient if we're in town already.
I didn't take the kids with me on all of the hikes. Some I did while they were at preschool and co-op, others I did after doctor appointments.
Urban hiking has been interesting: hiking through the trees, with the river on one side, and traffic or houses or stores on the other side beyond a stretch of land. Sometimes I can't see the trappings of civilization, but I can hear it.
Solo hiking has also been interesting. I've gone on runs by myself for years, but never hiked by myself till now. I quite like it. It's nice to be in my own head without any interruptions :) Especially with all the stuff running around in my head these days.
Running
I only ran a few times in the last four months of the year. First my broken foot prevented me, then I was focused on catching up on my hikes. It was a nice break, and gave me the chance to ease back into being more active post-broken foot while also figuring out what I have the energy for. My narcolepsy got worse just a few weeks before the half marathon, so while it had started to impact my training, and I was exhausted after the race, breaking my foot forced me to be sedentary right when my body really needed it.
Goals for the coming year
Yearly MileageIn 2018, my original goal was to bike 730 miles and walk, run, and hike another 730 miles, with a stretch goal of 1095 miles. The absolute minimum I wanted to complete was 365 foot miles and 365 bike miles, which is what I achieved.
In 2019, my goal is 365 foot miles, 365 bike miles, and 20+ kayak miles. If I do more, great, but I won't be pushing too hard.
Hiking
In 2018, my goal was to complete 52 hikes and to bring up the average length to over 2 miles per hike. I'd hoped to get 2.25 miles or 2.5 miles per hike, but I'm happy with the 2.06 mile average we achieved.
In 2019, my goal is to complete 52 hikes and continue working on increasing the average length of our hikes. This may be through me doing more solo hikes, as the kiddos don't really enjoy hikes longer than 2 miles.
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RacesIn 2018, my goal was to run one race a month, except in September, when I wanted to run 2 or 3 races. Those races were the Great Smoky Mountains 5k, the Great Smoky Mountains Half, and the Shenandoah Half. The Shenandoah half was canceled, which was good, since I wouldn't have been able to run it a week after breaking my foot. I only ran 9 races in 2018, and I'm more than happy with that number, especially given the health issues I had.
My goal for 2019 is to start slowing running again and build my mileage base back to where it should be. I also need to figure out my fueling needs while sticking to the ketogenic diet. I know I've had some muscle loss, but the hiking has helped me start rebuilding those muscles, as has the biking.
This race in March is the first one I'll run this year, and I want to be fully ready for it. River will run the 5k with me and I don't want to hold him back like I did in the Turkey Trot. I'd like to do a fall half marathon, but that will depend on my health/energy levels, as well as the amount of time I have available to train.
For the first time in quite a few years, I'm not setting a goal for number of races to run during the year. I've enjoyed working towards those goals, but it's not a goal I'm feeling right now, and that's ok. I'll still run races, but I won't be trying complete a certain number.
In 2018, I continued to build my businesses while also increasing my profits, though not as much as I'd hoped. We dabbled in renting out our RV, but ultimately it was too stressful. We want to sell it soon so we can buy our Airstream, and we need to sell it for as much as possible when that time comes. Every time the RV went out, we worried about what damage the renters might do to it. We dodged that bullet and never had bad renters, but we couldn't have dodged it forever, so we stopped renting it out. If we weren't selling the RV and concerned about resale value, we would most likely still be renting it out.
This summer I applied to be an ambassador for a blog I follow that encourages families to get outside and be active. It's something I believe in and it would have been a great opportunity for raising my travel blog's profile. After submitting my application packet, I had the feeling I wasn't going to be picked, but I also felt at peace with it. Given the downturn in my energy levels because of my narcolepsy acting up, it's a good thing I wasn't chosen. Once I've got my schedule rearranged and figured out better, it's something I'll pursue again, but right now, I don't need more on my plate.
1. My Glowforge was <finally> delivered March 15, and I have had a lot of fun messing around with it. I finally got a few items listed in my Etsy shop (I'll share those in another post) and have even sold one of them. Unfortunately, it developed some issues in November and the replacement didn't arrive until the day after Christmas, so I was not able to do as much with it for the Christmas season as I'd hoped, but there was plenty of other things to keep me busy. I sure do enjoy the hands-on creative process though.
*** can't handle the coolness of the Glowforge and need one of your own? ***
2. In June I hired a virtual assistant to handle my pinterest account for my travel blog. This has proven to be one of the best things I could have done, as my page views have increased dramatically, and without page views, nothing else will happen. I've also been growing my email list and improving the quality of my posts as well, which are also important factors in earning money.3. I'm still selling on Amazon. I find it exhausting (shopping is overstimulating for me), but it brings in enough to pay the expenses of all my businesses, so it is worthwhile. It's not something I'll ever do full time, though.
4. I've also been working on another blog, but am not quite ready to start marketing it yet. This one should take off a lot faster since I now know what to do first, what not to worry about yet, and so on.
In 2019, I won't be starting any other businesses and I will work very hard to resist the temptation to dabble in other things. I don't think it will be much of a temptation as I don't have the time or energy to add anything else to my plate.
1. I'll start adding more items to my Etsy shop so I will be ready for graduation and Christmas (the high selling times for my products). Getting the first items up was the hardest, and now I'm feeling a lot more motivated to keep things going.
2. I'm working on a couple e-books to sell through my travel blog. My main goal is to continue to increase my page views so I can get accepted into one of the big advertising networks (don't worry if that doesn't make sense, it just means I'll make a lot more money from the ads on that blog than I currently do with Google Ads). I also want to look into getting some posts sponsored (ie, get paid to write a post about a product) and growing my email list even more.
3. I'll continue selling on Amazon, though I won't dedicate much time to it until the second half of the year, when I can make a lot more money.
4. I'll continue to build the free content for my personal finance blog as well as produce content that can be sold (ideally a course, but that's still noodling around in my brain, so it may change). I will also be hiring a pinterest VA for this blog and working on getting my page views as high as possible, so I can get accepted into a big advertising network with this blog as well. Sponsored posts are also on the to-do list for this blog.
Cub Scouts
In 2018 I finally went to Wood Badge. It was at a different council, but I did it, and I even did it with a broken foot. I've already completed one of my ticket items.
In 2019 I will complete the other four ticket items. My goal is to have them all done by April at the latest. One is mostly done and the other three I've done some preliminary research for, but just need to make the time to get them done.
Health
In 2018, I continued to take Plexus products, and they've helped a lot. I credit them as the reason my blood work looked so good :) I continue to enjoy the lack of PMS and painful cramping that used to come every month, as well as increased energy (just think how fantastic I'd feel if I didn't have narcolepsy!).
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I started the keto diet to lose weight, but it's also supposed to help with my narcolepsy symptoms. So far I've lost more than 10 pounds, which is such a relief after seeing the scale creeping up and up for the last two and a half years or so. Narcolepsy and PCOS both make it difficult to lose weight, so finally being able to lose some weight is huge.
In 2019, my focus is to manage my narcolepsy symptoms as much as possible through non-medical means. The one medication I tried gave me a stabbing migraine, and I don't want to try any of the others unless I really have to. There's no guarantee they'll work, and some of the side effects are scary. I've got a post in the works about what I'm doing to manage the narcolepsy, but the short version is: supplements, more supplements, diet, exercise, and an improved sleep schedule.
Family
In 2018 we continued to hold family scripture study, though not as often as we should have, and didn't manage to add in FHE. From my new viewpoint, it makes sense that we struggle with these. Afternoons are usually the worst time of day for me, energy wise, but I still need to make dinner. If I don't get dinner made and Mr M does it when he gets home, then we're eating later than we should, and by the time we're done the boys are tired and cranky and we just try to get everyone to bed as quick as possible.
In 2019, we're going to work very hard at fully using the new study manual the Church put out. We may need to change the time of day we do our studying, but we'll have to see what works out. If I can get my energy levels back up in the afternoons, our evenings will go a lot smoother.
what are some goals you've set for yourself?
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