I have never had such a hard time writing out my goals for the year.

I'm so Type A that by this point, I usually have my entire race calendar planned. But this year, the drive to have my whole year scheduled from Day One, just isn't there.

It's weird.

And I think it's because I'm cheating on running with swimming and biking.


Running used to be my one and only love. I would pick out races freakishly early and get super excited about them. I'd plan out a race calendar, start figuring out training plans, the whole nine yards. But not this year.

Instead, I'm having a ton of fun experimenting with triathlon training. I've really enjoyed my pool workouts and the couple of rides I've gotten in on the bike.


So, I'm embracing my indecision and I'm officially dubbing 2012 the year of mixing it up and keeping it fresh.

My two goals are simply avoid burnout and have lots of fun along the way.

This leaves me the flexibility to pursue whatever fitness endeavors I'm in the mood for at the time. If I want to tackle a marathon, I will, but if I want to spend a ton of time on tri's that's OK too.

No pressure. Just have fun. And ideally, run lots of races with friends!


On that note, I have registered for three races in the first half of 2012:

The GW Parkway Classic - a 10 mile run in April that I'm doing with a coworker

The TriRock Annapolis Sprint Tri - My first tri ever! 500m swim, 12 mile bike, 5K run in May that I'm doing with my cousin's husband.

The DC Tri - My first Olympic Tri! 1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run in June that I'm doing with a friend.

I'm super excited for the two triathlons, and the GW Parkway Classic is one of the DC races I've wanted to do for a while.

I'm sure I'll end up with lots of other races on the calendar as the year progresses, but in sticking with my goal, I'm going to try not to plan them too far in advance. I want to keep things fun and fresh this year.

If you have a race you're doing in the DC/MD/VA- area that is super awesome that you think I should do too, let me know. I love racing with friends and can be talked into almost any race.

I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to write this post.

Actually that's a lie. I know exactly why it's been so hard to write this post and why I've been avoiding it forever.

For me, 2011 was a bi-polar year. I had a lot of really amazing highs --

won a work award, was honored at a fancy pants gala, got my face on the cover of a magazine,


smashed my half marathon PR --

but there was one heartbreaking low that really defined my whole year.

Back in May, Matt and I broke up.

To say I was completely blind-sided would be the understatement of the year.

It was a random Thursday in May. The weather was decent, I was looking forward to the weekend and glad to be home from work.

I was more than a little surprised to get home from work, open the door and see Matt standing in my living room (yes, he had a key.)

Then he said the four worst words in the world, "We need to talk." And just like that a nearly three-year relationship with the guy I thought I was going to love forever was over.

I'm pretty sure I hyperventilated as I choked on tears.

I spent the next several weeks in a numb stupor. I couldn't eat because my stomach hurt so much and I lost an absurd amount of weight in a very short time. (Don't worry it's all back now. I have tailgate season to thank for that.)

I had never been so grateful to be swamped at work because it kept me distracted. I'd hold it together on the Metro ride home and by the time I got to my front door I was sobbing again.

It was a long summer.

I was grateful for my friends who dreamed up crazy things for us to do to keep me busy and get me out of the house (Backstreet Boys concert anyone?).


I was grateful for my softball team and our post-game margaritas.


I was grateful for days at the beach and I was happy to be outside in the sunshine.

Still running took a major back seat.

I didn't have the energy or the motivation for distance running. I embraced shorter distances and the mental clarity that came with them. (In light of what you know now, this post probably makes a lot more sense.)

I ran with family. Tried to run for the fun of it. In the process I managed to set a new 5K PR.


When fall rolled around, I started to feel like my old self again.

Tailgate season helped. Being surrounded by friends helped.


And like the cliche says, "Time heals all wounds."

And yes, time really helped.

It's been almost 8 months now and I'm definitely in a better place than I was back then. There are still days when I'm sad for what I lost and miss the way things were, but those days are fewer and farther between.

In many ways, this singular event defined 2011 for me. And I don't mean that in a bad way.

Yes at the time it truly sucked more than anything in the world, but since then I have grown so much and learned so much about myself and what I ultimately want out of life.

I know I'm strong enough to stand on my own two feet. I have a job I love that I'm pretty good at. And I have the best damn friends a girl could ask for.

I'm lucky to have it as good as I do.

So while 2011 was an emotionally hard year, I'm trying to take the lessons I learned and use them to pave the way for a kick ass 2012.

Christmas vacation just went way too fast, and I can't believe I'm back in the office at the start of a new week.

I really enjoyed my time off though. I spent about five days in Allentown with my family and got to catch up with friends from high school and several of my cousins and aunts and uncles.

I also thoroughly enjoyed being away from the computer.

I absolutely love working full time in social media, but sometimes it can be draining to get home from work and then spend more time on Facebook, Twitter and blogging.

So over Christmas break, I made an extra effort to step away from technology.

I only blogged a handful of times, I checked Twitter maybe twice and I barely updated anything on Facebook.

Instead, I spent time shopping with my mom, watching football with my dad, grabbing lunch with some friends, helping another friend pack their apartment, going on a nice long bike ride and sneaking in some swims and some runs. Oh and visiting puppies at the Humane Society (might have been my favorite part of my vacation!)

This vacation reminded me how nice it can be to step away from the Internet and enjoy living in the real world.

Oh and that the world won't stop spinning because I didn't tweet at all.

I still plan to blog regularly because I love it, but I want to remember to take time for the real people in my life too.

In the new year, I hope to share more than just my workouts and my new adventures in the world of triathlons, but I also hope to share some of the every day fun stuff going on in my life.

And I hope by stepping away from the Internet every now and then, I'll have more fun life experiences to share.


Have you ever taken a step back from technology?