Fall Goals.

Hellllloooooo!  Oh, dear friends, it's been quite the week, but I'm baaaaaaack and so happy to resume a normal schedule once again.  I am the assistant Student Council sponsor at my school, and for the past month, we've been Homecoming Headquarters.  We plan everything from Spirit Days to lunchtime activities to powderpuff (girls) football to Homecoming Court to the Homecoming Assembly and of course, the big Homecoming Dance.   Quite honestly though, even though I had to endure pounding music and grinding teenagers at the dance, and I was ready to fall asleep standing up, I realized just how lucky I am to do what I do - even if that means trying to shove 2,300 kids out the door and yelling at girls to put their heels back on:)


Anyway, now that I have time to sit and think, I've decided that I wanted to focus on a few "fall goals" to accomplish.  When things get stressful, it's easy to lose control, and so I'd like to refine my ways, if you will.  My goals?


1.)  Run smarter, not faster.

(Umm.  Hi.  I'd like her abs.  Thank yew.)

How do I plan to accomplish this?  Clearly, by lots of chocolate milk and "Runner's World".  In all seriousness, my piriformis muscle strain this summer really bruised my ego - and my ass.  It helped me realize that I wasn't as strong as I thought, and that stretching, strength exercises and foam rolling need to happen EVERY SINGLE DAY.  I also ran too fast, too soon.  It's natural to be competitive with your Garmin, but there is no shame to slowing down.  My race schedule contains a 5K, an 8K, a 15K and 10-miler all before December, so I need to make sure I'm in tip-top shape.


2.)  Eat better, not more.


I've always been a pretty healthy eater, but I know that I can do even better if I commit to COOKING ONE MEAL PER WEEK.  As many of you know, my amazing husband does all of the cooking.  However, I read about all of these bloggers who experiment with fun recipes, and I've decided I wanted to do the same.  So send some healthy recipes my way!


3.)  Do something that scares me each day.

This can range from eating in public by myself (which I did above - the quinoa salad at Bananas Foster Cafe) to tackling that hill on a run.


4.)  Live as the Europeans do.

By this, I mean that I need to focus on personal relationships and not get so caught up in to-do lists.  I want to live a quiet, simple life - visit with friends, sleep in, grab coffee on a whim, have a nice bottle of red wine with dinner.


Oh.  And have random dance parties to Mariah Carey with the "Shambles" crew. 

Do you have any goals this fall?