2014 goal check-in: March

Well. March sure had a lot of ups and downs in my world, but I’m in an upswing at the moment, so maybe I should do my goal check-in. (I’ve now added a “Goals” category to make this easier for me to go back and reference.)

  1. Qualify for the Boston Marathon: Won’t happen due to not running.
  2. Set a new personal record in the marathon: Same.
  3. Run sub-1:45 in a half-marathon: Same.
  4. Do a century bike ride: Honestly, this is iffy. I did a 25-mile ride outside and was exhausted — turns out, barely working will take its toll after three months.
  5. Run 1,500 miles: Nope. But here are a couple pictures from a hike.
  6. Bike at least 700 miles: I rode 162 miles in March, for a total of 504 miles for the year. Yep, I’ll beat that goal (though I had planned on a lot of running when I made these goals).
  7. Does this count as a spin class selfie?
  8. Go to the gym at least 150 times this year: Hmm. I went 12 times in January, 11 times in February and now only nine times in March. This means I have to go 118 more times in the next nine months, or 13 times per month. I better get my act together. (There were a lot of “downs” relating to going to the gym this month.)
  9. Read at least one book a month: I finished March’s book (“Freckles” by Gene Stratton-Porter, a book I read many years ago and randomly thought of months ago) a few days into April — oops. It should have been a fast read but I read it on my phone via the Kindle app, and that was kind of weird. That was my first e-book, and I wasn’t thrilled with the concept.
  10. Cook dinner more often: Oh hey, maybe I did this a little? Meanwhile, Angela said this about her attempt at doing more cooking at home, and I laughed when I read it because it sums me up: “If I plan one meal per week ahead of time, I put it in the win column, because PROGRESS! Two meals? I am a god damned wizard.” And another reason Angela is a good egg? She included a recipe that called for 4 ounces of white wine, then said: “In case it isn’t obvious, all of this should be paired with the rest of the wine.” Anyway, here are a few pictures of what I cooked this month, though the photos are refusing to share a line.
    Chicken, grains, green beans, wine
    Grilled smoked gouda turkey avocado sourdough
    Cheesy enchilada pasta (looks bad, tastes good)

    Tofu stir-fry (slice tofu thin; marinade it in soy sauce)
  11. Go to bed at 10 p.m.: I actually did this about half a dozen times. I don’t have my phone in bed for now (more on this experiment later), so I think that helps.
  12. Get down to XXX amount of pounds: No change.
  13. Blog an average of twice a week: I only blogged twice in March. I wanted to sit down and write something after a terribly sad death, but instead I came home completely drained from the memorial service, somehow picked a stupid fight and then cried so hard that my eyes were a mess the whole next day. (And people wonder why I say that I hate to cry and therefor rarely do so.) And I just had no drive or desire to come up with “Tuesday Time-Waster” posts. It happens, and I’m OK with that.
  14. Find a cheaper place to live: As in January’s update, this month I came across another “Bay Area rent sucks” article, this time about how the “rent shouldn’t be more than one-third of your salary” rule doesn’t generally work here anymore. In my case, it’s true. Painfully true. As in, 41 percent painfully true.
Bonus photo! This is what happens when I text on St. Patrick's Day (while wearing shamrock earrings).

4 Responses to 2014 goal check-in: March

  1. XXX pounds? That’s hot!!

  2. OMG I hear you. Rent around here is getting SO. EFFING. ABSURD. If we didn’t have rent control, I really don’t know what we would do.

    On the other hand, wine really does fix everything. The next time you are feeling down about rent or injuries or whatever, you should come over & drink some of my wine. I enjoy sharing. :)

  3. 1. Cute pic from PRidge. :)
    2. I LOVE the spinning selfie.
    3. Enchalada pasta sounds amazing right now.