2012 In Review

Work craziness finally ended around 3:00 p.m. today.  Free at last!  It's given me time to catch up on blogs, where I'm seeing a lot of 2012 recaps and 2013 wishes.

I'm happy to say that unlike many bloggers out there -- and even the world in general -- 2012 was a good year for me in a lot of ways.  Going in to 2012 I had lost both of my dogs to old age, and I was going on six years without a raise, offset by increasing responsibility and work load.  Looking back, I'd been on a bad stretch since mid 2007.  By the end of 2011, it sucked.

The only bright spots were the new friends I made through the blogging/running world, particularly Julie, RR, and Kim.  It has been amazing having them in my life the past couple of years.  I love you guys!

In February, I finally got a well-deserved and long overdue raise that was retroactive back to the end of 2011, on top of a healthy year-end bonus.  I promptly scheduled several long weekends away over the next several months, something I hadn't been able to do in a very long time without having a corresponding panic attack over money.  I had two trips to the Oregon Coast and one to the Washington Coast, plus a week housesitting for my mom while they were away in Ireland and a good visit to my grandparents and my dad in Idaho. 

In March, we added a new staffer at the office and things are just so much better there now.  I absolutely love my job but the atmosphere had become extremely toxic for a lot of reasons.  Now not only is the business side of work getting better -- i.e., more organization and structure where it was desperately needed -- but the mood is lighter.  We laugh.  As opposed to just me laughing and then banging my head against the wall.  This next year can only continue to get even better.

In July I moved to a fabulous new apartment that I absolutely love.  It was a new beginning after all of the loss of last year, and it is so much lighter and brighter and larger and quieter than my old place.  The day after I moved in, I added two kittens to the mix.  They brought much needed laughter and love into my life. 

I paid off my car early.  I end the year with money in savings.  Only about $100 at this very minute, but still. 

My running year wasn't as great as I would have hoped.  I had a weird problem with persistent leg and foot cramps for weeks, which finally resolved themselves only to start to develop not one but two stress fractures two months before I was supposed to run the Marine Corps Marathon.  I was able to defer MCM to this year -- where it will take place on my birthday -- and thanks to Superstorm Sandy it turned out to be a good thing that I had to cancel my planned East Coast trip.  But I think all of the running setbacks have reinspired that spark and I am ready to dedicate myself to the ultimate goal of MCM this fall.  I am determined to do it right this year.

In that regard, I've got a few plans taking shape for 2013.  For starters -- and I'll write more about this later -- I'm doing the Whole30 Challenge beginning January 7.  Julie and her son and a few other friends are doing a challenge with us.  Some Whole30, some a Primal challenge.  I'm tired of being sick, tired, and overweight.  The Whole30 is very strict but for me it's an elimination diet to see if I can get some of this systemic inflammation under control.  These allergies seem to get worse by the minute, and so many of the Whole30 testimonials are about the improvement it brought about in their allergies.  I'll be doing some more challenges throughout the year of various kinds, but I haven't put together a list of possibilities yet. 

In doing running right, I'll start building a slow base again in January.  I crazily signed up for a new half marathon in March this year -- the Hop Hop Half.  I may not be ready to give a full effort to a half by that early in the year -- it's also right after Shamrock, where I am doing the 15K again -- but the medal is a giant freaking Easter egg.  How could I pass that up???  I also signed up for the Rock 'n Roll Half again.  I also plan to do the Bald Peak Half again this year in June, although I haven't yet signed up for it; I want to see how I feel in April. 

The last change I've made is to revamp the blog.  I decided to go back to my original concept:  Run.  Or die trying.  In a lot of ways, my first year and a half of beginning running was my best.  I want to have that again, yet do it smarter.  I'd been wanting to change just the layout for a long time, plus the picture is one of mine taken from a run on Marine Drive here in Portland.  Where, coincidentally, the Hop Hop Half is being held.

Here is wishing everyone a very, very happy new year. 

Hugs and kisses and always cheers,
the CilleyGirl