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December 31, 2005
2005 Highs and Lows
Seeing as how it's New Years Eve, my father has been badgering us for our highs and lows. We do it every year. Here were my 2004 highs and lows.
First we'll start with the highs, because there are many of them:
1) Buying our first house. It's been a bit stressful and (very) expensive at times, but there is a lot to be said for feeling like you finally own something of your very own and you're no longer endlessly throwing money into rent.
2) Getting Roxy. I wasn't sure if I should categorize her as a high or a low. :) She's certainly also stressed us out at times but she's also brought a lot of joy and happiness into our lives. She's a handful. If you ever feel unloved, she'll fix that up in a jiffy!
3) Completing 9 more credits towards my masters. It will take me forever to finish it, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel a little. I'm probably only about 1/2 done, but I'm almost finished with classwork. Big bonus!
4) Starting a new process at work. This process has greatly increased my work satisfaction and feeling of usefulness in the clinical setting. I feel challenged daily at work and feel as if I've broadened my clinical skills greatly.
5) Going on our Hilton Head vacation this past summer. Vacations are always a highlight for the year aren't they? :) This was no exception. As long as my parents will have us, I'm sure we'll keep going too... :)
And the lows:
1) I really only have a few, but the biggest and ugliest low of them all has got to be the running situation. I've essentially been injured for 9 months of 2005, not a very good ratio to uninjured time! The first 3-4 months were the hamstring injury and then since July, the feet. I've definitely not had a year this injury ridden before. I feel pretty comfortable in saying 2005 has been my worst running year ever (but only because I couldn't run at all!). Probably the hardest part of it all is, I'm not too sure if my feet are getting better. They feel much better overall, but still have their bad days and I'm not certain I wouldn't be right back to where I started if I tried running full time again. My biggest hope for 2006 is that they will allow me to train enough to compete in some triathlons, even if I can only run 2-3 days/week. I can only trust that God has a plan for me and my feet!
2) I had some low points in the year with school/work as well. Nothing horrible in particular but I remember twice (once in the spring and once in the fall) feeling really overwhelmed with things going on at work, added to lots of schoolwork, etc... That's probably bound to happen occasionally so my goal is just to try and keep the stress to a minimum and deal with it as I can!
And that's it! I'm always excited to see what a New Year will bring.
As for today, the YMCA was closed so I couldn't workout. Instead O and I cleaned the whole house when we got up and then took Roxy on a long walk. Now we are getting ready to hit up the malls for some more shopping. We have movies ready for tonight to watch until midnight. Neither of us are drinkers or much for parties so we usually stay in and off the roads (biggest night for auto accidents in case you were wondering...)
Summary for the week:
Sunday - off (Merry Christmas!)
Monday - 45 minutes elliptical and weights
Tuesday - 2300 yd swimming (5 sets of 1x100 yd, 2x50 yd kick), core and feet exercises
Wednesday - 1 hour spinning and weights
Thursday - 45 minutes elliptical and core and feet exercises
Friday - 2200 yd swimming (5x100 yd, 10x50 yd kick) and 2x25 pushups, 2x100 crunchers
Saturday - off
PS Almost totally forgot the book update - exactly 125 pages left and about 9 hours to go. I think I just might get it done!
Posted by beth at December 31, 2005 2:05 PM
Comments
hi!!! happy new year!!! i hope you and your feet have a great 2006. I am sending reading vibes your way.
Posted by: Audrey at December 31, 2005 5:20 PM
Happy New Year, Beth! I hope you can find a happy medium with your feet, whether it is running to train for triathlons, seeking new ways to get them treated, or something entirely different. You are a great runner and I hope to read about some amazing running accomplishments in 2006!
Posted by: Meghan at December 31, 2005 9:22 PM
Don't cut it so close with the book reading situation next year -- I can't stand the drama. I hope you made it!
You've been so positive about your focus on swimming and crosstraining that it was easy to forget that you'd rather be out there running. After living with someone who has been in almost exactly the same boat for the past three years, I feel your pain. Last year, for his birthday, I decided I wanted to give him running. So I got him an appt. with a dr. in Boston who came highly recommended (we were living two hours away at the time). He finally got new orthotics in August, and they seem to have made a huge difference. (But this was the third new pair of orthotics since the injury started, and the only pair that seemed to make a difference.) They seem to have worked, knock on wood, but even four months later, five miles is a long run for him. The outlook hasn't been this good in three years, so the good news is that these things do get better, even when the situation looks bleak at times. But at the same time, I don't think he'd be running right now without the new orthotics. Your situations are obviously a little different, but it might take rest plus something else to make this go away.
Good luck, keep that amazing positive outlook, and happy new year!
Posted by: Alison at January 1, 2006 10:27 AM