2018 - Books

2018 Books
1. Artemis by Andy Weir.  I loved The Martian and this one was just as science-y, but even more intriguing characters.  “Maker of bad life choices”.  LOL.
2. Podkayne of Mars.  I listed to an Audible book and I did hear the authors intending ending. I did not like this book.  My Pooky Bear says I don’t like any science fiction from the 1960s written by a man.  She’s probably right because I can barely deal with Orson Scott Card either.
3. Ender’s Shadow.  This made me want to go back and read Ender’s Game again.  But I didn’t.  I did re-watch the movie though.
4. Shadow of the Hegemon.  I’m getting a little sick of Orson Scott Card over here.  But I’ve had these on my computer for a while, they’re huge files, and they need to go.  The Bean Quartet spends a lot of time in the minds of really sick, crazy characters trying to outsmart the smartest people on the planet. As much as I love Bean…
5. Shadow Puppets.  Picking them up and putting them down.
6. Shadow of the Giant which I finished while I was running around the block outside.  How have I read six books in January already?
7. Shadows in Flight.  I believe this concludes the books of Orson Scott Card I’m going to read for a while.  I’m now planning to read a book I heard about on the State Fair Bus and of course, some Carrie Fisher.
8. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.  Well this one kind of wrecked me.  I’m going to need a minute here.  This is the bus I heard a girl talking about as we rode the bus home from the State Fair. Totally worth your time and you will not be able to put it down.
9. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher.  This is a 2 bubble bath read.  I basically got it done on my way to/from very far away visits for my job. In one day.
10. Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher.  Also a 1-2 bubble bath read. I liked Wishful Drinking a little better.
11. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher.  This one may have been my favorite of what I am now calling the Carrie trilogies.  She talks about all of her dating insecurities.  I loved every minute of it.  It’s like someone found new vocabulary for feelings I’d had throughout my own life of dating (or not dating as is so often the case).
12. 2/12/18 I’m starting to write the dates now. When Breath Becomes Air.  Mom actually recommended this one to me.  It’s hard not to see myself in this one, not that I’m a doctor, but I do serve people who have chronic or terminal conditions.  This author talks about his own illness but also his role as a physician in helping people and families face these issues.
13. 2/16/18 A Gate at the Stairs.  This book sort of shocked me and then sort of destroyed me, but not all the way. It was just long enough ago that not all the characters have cell phones.
14. 2/22/18 The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews.  I can’t imagine reading this book.  It has to be heard on audio.  Trust me.  The actors who do the things… It just makes the book come alive. It’s pure fluff and I loved it.  It will probably go on the list of books I leave on to hear while I’m falling asleep.  (Currently that list is any Harry Potter book, Artemis, and Ready Player One.)
15. 3/7/18 Euphoria by Lily King.  I couldn't get into this one and then all of a sudden I did and it was over.  Honestly, of the 3 main characters, I'm not sure who was the main protagonist.  I'm a bit confused.
16. 3/11/18 or so (I've lost track) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  I totally did this in anticipation of the film coming out.  I had to be ready for Oprah.
17. 3/16/18 99 Red Balloons by Elisabeth Carpenter.  I started listening to this on Thursday, and by Friday after work I could not put it down.  I finished it late Friday night.
18. 3/24/18 Current situation:  This recommendation for A Little Life promises 'this book will wreck you'.  WTF. I'm only 8 hours into a 30 hour book and I'm already destroyed.  What have I gotten myself into?!?   3/30/18  Have been rebuilt and then destroyed again. This book is 30 hours long and I have 8 to go. WTF am I doing to myself? 3/31/18 I have finally completed A Little Life.  I am so beyond destroyed.  I am trying to pack for a trip, and pack up my bathroom, and I'm sobbing freely the entire time.  Sobbing!
19. 4/11/18 Born a Crime by Terror Noah.  This is literally a two bubble bath read.  I read it pretty much on the flights down to CDMX and the flights back home.  Having been to South Africa, I have a reference point for some of the the places he talks about, which I think helped me enjoy the book more.
20. 4/22/18 Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin.  I read this on the recommendation on My Pooky Bear.  I did not get into it.  In the same way I have never gotten into any Philip K Dick book.  But I see how other people could get into it and I'm glad I put in the effort.
21. 4/24/18 Are You Sleeping Kathleen Barber.  I absolutely destroyed this book. It's a quick read and I liked it, though some plot threads could've been better developed.
22. 4/30/18 Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.  Here's another one I devoured.  I did not know until much later this is also a mini series on HBO, so there's something for me to do later.  This is really about being a parent and a wife, and not so much life outside of those two relationships.  So there wasn't a whole lot for me to relate to.  But the plot moved along and kept me entertained.
23. 5/3/18 The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (who also wrote The Nightingale).  I loved this book, and then it wrecked me, and then at the end I was glad I did the thing.  And I totally want to see Alaska. Also, you can see what this book did to me because I didn't pick anything else up for like a month.
24. 6/2/18 The Girls
by Emma Cline. This will be referred to as 'what I listed to while I painted my bathroom'  It lasted only slightly longer than that experience. This book is so creepy, but yet so good.
25. 6/5/18 Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.  I loved this book.  One of the characters got more and more despicable as the story went on.  One I thought was more redeemable than general opinion.  A friend read this in her book club and apparently there was quite a discussion.  I think she agreed with me, but apparently we are in the minority on our views. (PS - June 5 and half way to my goal of reading 50 books for the year!)
26. 6/8/18 The Secret Lives of Introverts by Jenn Granneman. This is one of those books that I just accidentally read. On accident.  In like two days. Because it's basically about me.
27. 6/12/18 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I really hated this book. Everyone in it is despicable.  It got to the point I didn't care how it ended as long as it was over.  And then, I found, I really hated the ending too.  Like, is there a sequel or something? I'm planning to skip the movie.  Unrelated, the reader for this book also read "The Great Alone" and some of the voices sounded the same.  Except when she was a girl imitating a boys voice in that book, the boy was sweet and likable. 
28. 6/15/18 First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung.  And spell check keeps trying to change her name.  Even though this was terribly sad, it still had more quality than Gone Girl, and was totally worth my time.  I'm interested in the movie now as well.
29. 6/20/18 The Shack by William P Young.  I'd started listening to this book a long time ago and stopped in the middle.  I wanted to get to the end of the book before watching the movie.  So, finally, done.  There's parts of this book I really liked.  It goes off the rails in the middle and gets kind of boring to me, but I could see that part being important to others, depending on what messages speak to you.
30. 7/1/18 Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. I haven not seen the movie, and actually didn't know this one is a movie.  I have a lot of thoughts on this one.  The subject matter is, in some ways, very close to home professionally.  My initial reaction at this moment is, we never get to hear any of the story from Will's perspective.  We have a lot of other characters input.  I think the author would point out that Will is not actually the point of the story, though once you read it, his character is certain to have an impact on every reader.
31. 7/3/18 Red Shirts by John Scalzi (read by Wil Wheaton).  Total science fiction fluff.  I wouldn't read it again, but it was entertaining once.
32. 7/7/18 After You by JoJo Moyes.  I basically liked this one but I did have a moment of "why are these female characters sometimes so freaking stupid?" and a pinch of "why so needy?" I'm curious to see how the last book sorts itself out.
33. 7/20/17 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I'm already trying to figure out how I can start the next book tonight before bed.  I want to read all 3 books before I try watching the movie(s).  Also, apparently I needed a break after the JoJo Moyes Books, because this one took me a little time to start.
34. 7/24/18 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.  This book had some false starts because I kept trying to listen to it and falling asleep.  Sigh  But the minute this book ended, I started the next one. Because I just can't deal with this uncertainty. I'm sorry of like wtf, district 13?!?! but also kind go intrigued by this new development.
35. 7/28/18 MockingJay by Suzanne Collins.  Okay, yeah, now this feels like a Greek Tragedy.  The thing about those tragedies, there are no real winners, only survivors. I may need a minute after these books, to pick up something else.
36, 37, 38: The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure by James Dashner.  (Sorry, I went from book 1 to book 2 without noting which date I finished, so I am just doing the whole series as one entry.)  I'm glad I finished this.  I'd seen the movies first and vaguely remember them.  Movies 2 and 3 seem so different from the books in my memory, but I am going to watch them again to see.  These are real 'dude' books with lots of action and fighting.  There are legit female characters who are smart and strong, and totally under used, but that's to be expected in a book about dudes written by a dude. 
39. 8/12/18 (or so), The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin.  I started off being bored with this book, and then I got sucked in.  There's more than one protagonist, and they each tell different parts of the story.  Some protagonists are more likable than others.  The first narrator after the 'intro' and the last narrator were my favorites.  I was kind of 'meh' about the two in the middle.
40. Ladies Night by Mary Kay Andrews.  I really hated this book.  I mean, I kind of liked it, but the main character does a couple really dumb things.  And several of the other characters are despicable.  I kept waiting for it to not be so awful, because I loved 'Fixer Upper' and really didn't find those characters detestable at all. I feel like a female author could have more female characters who aren't dumber than a box of rocks, or insecure and unable to think for themselves.
41. 8/27/18 Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win  by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.  I read this book because Jordan Hasay mentioned it was one of the books that impacted her this year. This book was really not what I expected.  It was an interesting read about personal responsibility.  From an anthropological standpoint, it was interesting to hear the vocabulary used to describe the conflict in Iraq, and the American role in that conflict. First hand view point for sure.
42. 9/3/18 The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.  This is the first of a trilogy, so I'll have more to say later.
43. 9/8/18 The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin.  This is book two of the trilogy. I sort of had a hard time following this one.  These may be a set of books I read more than once.  WTF is an Obelisk?
44. 9/16/18 The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin.  I think I have to read these books again.  I liked them, and I liked the way it ended.  But there were a lot of things in the plot that either happened too fast, or I totally missed.  I see why the books all won awards though.
45. 9/17/18 Relentless By Tim Grover.  I'll summarize this book: Work hard and handle your shit.  I can't tell if this guy is crazy or an absolute bad ass, or a little bit of both.  This is one of my books in the 'prepare your mind for the Loony Challenge' reading series.
46. 10/3/18 Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda.  This has been my most pleasant surprise of the year.  I told a friend this book reminds me of listening to Charles Dickens or Jane Austen.  The prose is constructed similarly and it was a pleasure to hear.
47. 10/3/18 Second book I finished today has the distinction of being the only book I've read (versus listening to) so far this year. Mind Gym: An Athletes Guide to Inner Excellence by Gary Mack.  I've actually read this one before, but I think it's always worth taking a second glance before a big race.
48. 10/9/18 The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. Obviously I've read this one before, but it was great to listen to again and refresh my memory.
49. 10/12/18 The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie.  The best thing I can say about this is that it was short.  I was aggravated at the way the book started, and I thought it was going to grate on me like Ladies Night did.  Ultimately, the characters in this story are slightly more redeemable, and the main characters are for sure more likable so it turned out okay in the end.
50. 10/13/18 Why Can't I Be Normal by Justin Zaza. This is a one bubble bath read.  Like seriously, I listened to it while I was cleaning my house. This book reminds me of The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo because they are both allegories.
51. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. One of the other books I read, that author said this was their favorite book.  I don't remember which now.  So that's how it got on my radar. I can't tell if this is one I want to read again, or one that is so disturbing I can't pick it up ever again.  (Hello "A Little Life")
52. 11/3/18 Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman.  I learned about this book from Instagram.  No joke.  I found the lead female character much less stupid and grating than some of the other books I've read this year, so that was a plus. 
53. 11/13/18 Astrophysics for People in A Hurry.  We should have a sub-list of "I accidentally read this in a day".  I really enjoyed this.  Made me fall in love with science all over again.
54. 11/20/18 Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.  I read most of this on the car trip down to see family, and finished it up while I was here.  I had to get all of the Miss Dashwoods taken care of for a happy holiday.
55. 11/23/18 Atomic Habits by James Clear.  It's not often I actually READ a book, I listen to most of them. This one I read in the space of about 3 days.  I forget what I was reading that even mentioned this book, but I picked it up.  There's parts of it that I'm all "oh, that's me already".  Particularly I think about my habits around packing lunches, and my running habit.  I've got lots of 'habits' that can be improved though.  Currently I'm working on tidying up more frequently.
56. 11/30/18 The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy.  I found this actually slightly less disturbing that 'The God of Small Things'.  I'm almost ready to read it again.  A couple of the characters go by more than one name, and I think I'd follow it more the second time. There was a bit in the middle, when it switched view points, I was literally like "am I reading the same book?  was there a mistake with the recording?"
57. 12/13/18 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.  I'd read some other reviews of this book that were lukewarm so I was all "I'd better get this over with".  Now, I've grown to like Eleanor and I find myself sad that I don't get to hear more of her story.  When the book ended I was like "WTF?!? That's All?!?" not because it felt incomplete, just because I wanted to hear more.
58. 12/21/18 Fly Guy, Six Easy to Read Stories by Tedd Arnold.  Accidentally read this kids book in one sitting with my cousin's kid.  And I actually read this one too.  Only the 3rd book of the year.
59. 12/27/18 New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson.  This was a long book. It was a slow start with lots of characters to introduce.  But now I'm loving it.  It's especially fun for me since I've been to NYC and can picture the places in the book.
60. 12/28/18 Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.  This was a labor of love.  One of my favorite people in Kentucky loves this book so I had to check it out.  Also, I wanted to legit get to 60 books on the year.
61. I think I left 'Still Me' by Jojo Moyes off the list. The other two are on here. That would've been sometime in July?
62. 12/30/18 Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.  I finished this due in large part to a super long indoor run.  Totally entertaining and made me much less frustrated on the track than normal. 
63. 12/31/18 Artemis Flow: The Arctic Incident  by Eoin Colfer.  Y'all, I legit cannot put these books down. 

2018 Goals - the finale

Eating:
Whole30 in January 2 - Feb 10.  Yes
Whole30 March 1 - April 3.   Heck no.  But I didn't have the races I thought I would either.
Generally Whole30 the 30-45 days before a race. Yes, next races were Loony Challenge.


Running:
Keep up the streak. - I'm writing this on December 28.  So far, so good.
Keep weight lifting 3 days/week.  Sort of. This has been off and on.  Post race I went down to two days/week for a bit, but I'm back with Marshmallow training to 3 days/week.  (Except Christmas week when everything fell apart.)
Cross train with Zumba.  No. I want this so bad, but no, not really. 

Races: 
5K in February. - Yes.
Possible addition of 1-2 races in March.  Contenders are the MDRA races.  Lake Johanna 4 miler on March 17 and/or MDRA 7 Mile on March 31.  One entry fee would cover both.  - Definitely did not and happy I did not because the weather sucked all spring.
Loony Challenge in October - Yes
Feet in the Street 5K in October. Sadly, this is scheduled for the same weekend as Loony. 
Break 30:00 in a 5K - No.
Continue MAF training through June. - Yes

Blogging:
Meal per day Whole30 Posts daily, all publish at the ‘end’ of the Whole30. Yes.
Race Training posts weekly. Yes.

General life stuff:
Read 12 books in 2018. Read 50 books in 2018. I'm over 60 at this point.  This is the biggest surprise of the year and it has its own post.
Meditate every day in January.   Yes.
February/March Addition: Spanish lessons every day of the month, both months.  Sort of.  I still knew the most Spanish of the Americans on the trip besides Captain Smiley who is fluent.
Volunteer at a race. Yes, the 1-mile in May.
Learn to french braid my hair.  No, but it's long enough now I could try.

September Goals

I'm reviewing some older posts from this year and my "goals" posts came up.  This is hilarious to me now so here's an update.  'Goals' I want to add for next year are more 'running conditions in...' posts becuase I like looking back at the crazy weather.  

Eating:
Whole30 in January 2 - Feb 10.  Yes. 
Whole30 March 1 - April 3.  No.
Generally Whole30 the 30-45 days before a race.   I am doing a modified W30 for 40 days before Loony. 

Running:
Keep up the streak. So far so good.
Keep weight lifting 3 days/week. Generally yes.
Cross train with Zumba.  LOL.  No.  But I'd like to get back to it after racing season.

Races:  5K in February.  Yes.
Possible addition of 1-2 races in March.  Contenders are the MDRA races.  Lake Johanna 4 miler on March 17 and/or MDRA 7 Mile on March 31.  One entry fee would cover both.   No.
Loony Challenge in October - 1 Week To Go.
Feet in the Street 5K in October. Sadly, this is scheduled for the same weekend as Loony. 
Break 30:00 in a 5K - I am scheduled to run a 5K 10/21, and have a couple 5K options in my mind for November.  So I have a couple of attempts.
Continue MAF training through June. Still going strong now actually.  I've had a couple of workouts that have been decidedly not MAF, but in general this is my method.

Blogging:
Meal per day Whole30 Posts daily, all publish at the ‘end’ of the Whole30.  Yes.  I did this once in February and have a boatload of posts scheduled again for the second day of Loony Challenge.
Race Training posts weekly.   Yes.  Loony posts are tagged LC2018Training

General life stuff:
Read 12 books in 2018. Read 50 books in 2018.
Meditate every day in January.  Yes.
February/March Addition: Spanish lessons every day of the month, both months.  No, but I still had a great time in CDMX.
Volunteer at a race.  Yes.
Learn to french braid my hair.   Not yet, but my hair is getting long enough to practice.

May Goals Updates

I realize I'm a slacker and got this up a bit late.

Eating:
I restarted Whole30 when I got back from seeing Mom and Dad. I'd looked in the mirror frequently in Cincinnati and I was just ready for my body to look different.  So this will be like a "whole100" or something.  I'll try to keep it up 'till Loony.

Running:
Keep up the streak. - Yes
Keep weight lifting 3 days/week. - Went back to 3 days/week to train for Loony.
Cross train with Zumba. - So much no.  Sigh.

Races: 
Loony Challenge in October - started training for reals
Also training for a walking half marathon with The Dungeon Master.
Break 30:00 in a 5K - no progress here
Continue MAF training through June. - I think I'll keep this up 'till Loony.

Blogging:
Meal per day Whole30 Posts daily, all publish at the ‘end’ of the Whole30. - I'm trying something new for my  Whole100 and just have nutrition comments in my race training posts.
Race Training posts weekly.  - One down, many more to come.

General life stuff:
Read 12 books in 2018. Read 50 books in 2018. - I took a break after one of the books totally wrecked me, but I'm getting back to it now.  I'm almost through my next one thanks to painting my bathroom
Volunteer at a race. - Done in May and it was a lot of fun.
Learn to french braid my hair. - No progress

TC One Mile - Race Volunteer Report

One of my 2018 goals is to volunteer in at least one race.  I'd always wanted to check out the TC One Mile.  I've never run it because I've been intimidated by the logistics.  (I'm not even going to lie. It looked complicated.  It's not.)  I decided to Course Marshall this thing so I could see the logistics in all of their glory.

Start time: I was expected to be there by 5:30pm.  Races started at 6:30pm.  Last race started at 8:01pm and ended roughly 4 minutes afterwards.

Weather: 60 or so and kind of windy. Somewhat cloudy.  I'm not gonna lie.  I was cold.

Wardrobe: I wore pants and a light jacket and I should've dressed significantly warmer under the wind proof jacket.  I was freezing my ass off by the end of this thing.

Transportation: I had a free bus pass, so took the 14 to the race.  Afterwards, the connections with the 14 were ridiculous (here, wait 20 minutes in your too cold clothes) so I got a Lyft.  My driver and I talked about all the construction in South Minneapolis.

Route: I was on 13th Ave S at a U of M parking garage near the bike path.  The cops had to deal with the bike path. Cyclists stopped and asked what was going on, and were generally pleasant.  The cars I had to deal with were also very nice and just wanted to not hit people.

Bonus: Totally nabbed a picture of Steve in a Speedo as well. How could I miss him in those shorts, right?

March Goals: Weather

Psych!  I am Captain Grumpy Pants and am not into reviewing goals right now.  Instead, I'd like to talk about the weather.

The weather for 2018 has been rough.  The lakes are still frozen.  I was on Cedar Lake Trail, Lake Nokomis and Minnehaha Creek Trail this week.  The pedestrian trails still have ice or snow on them in places.  (Though the snow is starting to melt.) There's been rain, snow, and wind to contend with as well.   For that reason, a significant number of my runs have been dictated by the weather.  Like, "oh, there's a blizzard today, I'll get out and do my mile, and then move these miles to Friday" 

Before this year, I had a fairly reliable running schedule that had 1 mile runs on Wednesday and Fridays, and bigger miles on the other days based on whatever race was coming up.  And then, this year so far, it's like "Mondays suck, let's see how I feel on Wednesday"

February Goals Update

Eating:
Whole30 in January 2 - Feb 10.  - Done
Whole30 March 1 - April 3. 
Generally Whole30 the 30-45 days before a race.

Running:
Keep up the streak. - So far so good
Keep weight lifting 3 days/week. - I've skipped a few Sundays, but generally okay
Cross train with Zumba. - LOL.  No.

Races: 
5K in February. Done
Possible addition of 1-2 races in March.  Contenders are the MDRA races.  Lake Johanna 4 miler on March 17 and/or MDRA 7 Mile on March 31.  One entry fee would cover both.
Loony Challenge in October
Feet in the Street 5K in October. Sadly, this is scheduled for the same weekend as Loony. 
Break 30:00 in a 5K - Not accomplished in February so this one continues.
Continue MAF training through June. - So far so good.

Blogging:
Meal per day Whole30 Posts daily, all publish at the ‘end’ of the Whole30. - Done in February.
Race Training posts weekly.  - Done

General life stuff:
Read 12 books in 2018. Read 50 books in 2018. - Up to 14 books in February.
Meditate every day in January.  - Done
February/March Addition: Spanish lessons every day of the month, both months.  - I've been doing the thing, but not as disciplined as I was about meditating in January.  So, not everyday.
Volunteer at a race.
Learn to french braid my hair.

Valentines Day 5K

The Valentines Day 5K is an early goal race of mine, meaning I did actually fix my diet and train for the thing.  Dungeon Master signed up for the race series, so this is her first race of the year too.  My plan was to run my race, then cool down jog back to find her on the course and walk in with her, which is pretty much what happened.  Bonus is that I seem to remain frostbite free.


Start time: 10am, north side of Lake Nokomis

Weather: 3* and 5mph winds.  It was cold.

Wardrobe: I was a little too hot for the race and had things mostly unzipped.  I was freezing cold walking in and then back to the car with the Dungeon Master.
Bottoms: fleece lined tights; brooks running pants
Top: smart wool base layer, 2xu fleece top, my new favorite running jacket
Socks: Compression socks, wool socks
Other: Gloves, fleece headband for during the race.  Mittens, hat, gaiter for after the race
Shoes: Altra Lone Peaks.  I'd considered a couple other pairs that would've been lighter and faster, but nothing else really accommodates two pairs of socks like the Altras.

Transportation: I drove Dungeon Master and myself.  We parked on 52nd street.  There will still spots available at 9:30, but it was filling up fast.

Route: Run one lap counter clockwise around Lake Nokomis.  (Every race I've ever done at Lake Nokomis is counter clockwise.  I think it has to do with opening Cedar Ave as quickly as possible.)  Note the start line is about 0.3 miles behind the finish, so it's like run for 2 minutes, 'oh here's the finish.  Psych! go run around the lake and then come back here.'

Plan/Goals: My A goal for sometime in 2018 is to run a 5K in under 30 minutes.  I figured I'd see how close to that I could come today.  I think I could've had a better mental plan than 'see if you can run a sub 10 mile and then see if you can hang on'.  I could've had a more realistic plan as well. But I really didn't want to feel like I left anything out there.

Execution: Sadly, a sub30 was not to be today.  My average HR was 171bpm or 93% of max for the entire race.  My run cadence was around 175.  So I think I did what I could here, and I have room to grow over the year.

Nutrition: I woke up around 7:30am and ate half an avocado with salt, then had a banana around 9am. I was glad I'd had a little food but also glad my stomach was mostly empty.

Results: Early results say a 32:15 or 10:23 per mile, which is about a minute slower than last year's best 5K where I was in the best shape of the year.

SWAG: SWAG is a medal and a long sleeve shirt.  Post race goodies were the normal chips, cookies, nut rolls, and bonus hot chocolate. 

Remember for next time: I did packet pick up a day early at the TCM offices (which is near my own work headquarters).  This saved me some race day standing in line and being cold.  If I run this race again, I'd do the early packet pick up as well.

Bonus: Dungeon Master wanted to go to Peppers and Fries afterwards.  Since I'm no longer Whole30 girl, I got the burger of the month, which is a bacon cheeseburger on a maple doughnut.  I did not have the whole doughnut.  And I did not have alcohol.   But I did remark 'I haven't had a pop since last year'

2018 Goals Update: January

Eating:
Whole30 in January 2 - Feb 10.  So far, so good.

Running:
Keep up the streak.  So far, so good.
Keep weight lifting 3 days/week.  So far, so good.
Cross train with Zumba. Meh.  I have been to one Zumba class this year.  I hate being at the gym in January. I also haven't been to the Monday/Wednesday Zumba classes which I typically enjoy.  Perhaps my schedule needs some consideration?

Races:  
5K in February.
Possible addition of 1-2 races in March.  Contenders are the MDRA races.  Lake Johanna 4 miler on March 17 and/or MDRA 7 Mile on March 31.  One entry fee would cover both races.
Loony Challenge in October
Feet in the Street 5K in October.
Break 30:00 in a 5K
Continue MAF training through June.  MAF training is continuing.

Blogging:
Meal per day Whole30 Posts daily, all publish at the ‘end’ of the Whole30. So far so good.  Today is day 30 of roughly 40.
Race Training posts weekly.  So far so good.  Race is soon.

General life stuff:
Read 12 books in 2018.  This one is likely to happen, since I'm already 7 or 8 deep. 
Read 50 books in 2018.   I mean, it's possible. I have trouble believing I'm going to keep this up.
Meditate every day in January.  Meditation yes.  Blog post about it kind of fell apart.  But the meditation did happen.
Volunteer at a race.  I'm considering volunteering at Hot Dash since Dungeon Master is running the 5K and I'm pretty sure I won't run that one. 
Learn to french braid my hair.  Not long enough yet.
February/March Addition: Spanish lessons every day of the month, both months.  For reasons.

The Plan: VDay 5K

VDay 5K is coming up in about 5 Weeks.  This is a relatively short training cycle.  Unlike Marathon Training I'm not worried about covering the distance, so I'm focusing on form and making my body and mind as strong as possible.

Nutrition training plan: Stay on Whole30 until the race.  Bonus nutrition plan: Stay on Whole30 the whole day of the race.  Usually the moment I'm done racing, I'm all "pass me a beer" which is probably not the lifestyle choice Whole30 is trying to teach.  So we'll see how long after that race I can maintain my nutrition.

Form and strength:
I finished reading Brain Training For Runners.  Since I'm doing the MAF thing for now, I'm holding off on running by pace still.  I am adopting some of the other ideas from the book.

Proprioceptive Cues:
Week 1: Scooting
Week 2: Pulling the road
Week 3: Pounding the road
Week 4: Driving the thigh
Week 5: Butt Squeeze

Core conditioning exercises:
Week 1: One Round: Lying hip abduction x12 on each side; Cook Hip Lift, hold 5 secs x5 each leg; Knee fall out x12 each leg; Overhead draw in, hold 5 secs x5
Week 2: Two Rounds: Lying hip abduction x12 on each side; Cook Hip Lift, hold 5 secs x5 each leg; Knee fall out x12 each leg; Overhead draw in, hold 5 secs x5
Week 3: Three Rounds: Lying hip abduction x12 on each side; Cook Hip Lift, hold 5 secs x5 each leg; Knee fall out x12 each leg; Overhead draw in, hold 5 secs x5
Week 4: One Round: Single Leg Squat x10 each leg; Side plank x20 secs each side; Lying Draw-in with hip flexion x10 each side; Bird dog, hold 10 secs, x5 each side.  Two Rounds: Lying hip abduction x12 on each side; Cook Hip Lift, hold 5 secs x5 each leg; Knee fall out x12 each leg; Overhead draw in, hold 5 secs x5
Week 5: Two Rounds: Single Leg Squat x10 each leg; Side plank x20 secs each side; Lying Draw-in with hip flexion x10 each side; Bird dog, hold 10 secs, x5 each side. One Round: Lying hip abduction x12 on each side; Cook Hip Lift, hold 5 secs x5 each leg; Knee fall out x12 each leg; Overhead draw in, hold 5 secs x5

Drills:
Week 1: Running No Arms; High Knees; One Leg Hops
Week 2: High Knees; One Leg Hops; Bounding
Week 3: One Leg Hops; Bounding; Stiff Legged Running
Week 4: Bounding; Stiff Leg Running; Running No Arms
Week 5: Running No Arms; High Knees; One Leg Hops