Your eyes are not deceiving you: I am, in fact, posting twice in one week… because snow day.

How is  January already over? I can’t believe it’s February!

Ok, cliché time over. Since we are, in fact, over one month in to 2016, I thought this would be a good time to check in on my New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve made progress one some, and others… not so much.

Resolution 1: Straighten out my gut health. Not a lot of progress has happened here. Every time I start looking at my insurance’s approved list of doctors, I get overwhelmed and frustrated, because who knows if they’ll be any good, or if they’ll just tell me the same thing all the others have (it’s IBS; live with it). This morning, though, I made an “initial consultation” appointment with a naturopath in Fort Collins. He’s not covered by my insurance, but the initial consult is free, and I’m starting to think that if anything can help me, it’s going to be naturopathy instead of traditional Western medicine. We’ll see what this guy says. He’s an Ironman and works with a lot of athletes, so I’m hopeful. I’ll keep you posted.

Resolution 2: Write for at least five minutes a day. It might not look like it, due to my lack of posting, but I have kept this one. Most days, my writing is just in my journal, but it’s writing nonetheless.

Resolution 3: Keep a gratitude journal. I have forgotten this one a few times already, mostly on days when my other five minutes of writing is somewhere besides my journal. Even with those skipped days, I do think it’s helping me to keep a more positive, less turdy mindset. (I know “turdy” is not a word. I can make words if I want). I do my gratitude journal right before bed, which I think helps me sleep, too, as it makes me focus on something positive instead of the stressors/worriers that sometimes occupy my mind at night.

Resolution 4: Do yoga at least twice a week. Succeeding with this one! I’m trying to make Sundays and Wednesdays yoga days. The Wednesday session is sometimes only 15 minutes or so, but it’s still yoga. And this is shocking: I’m actually starting to enjoy yoga. I’m still terribly inflexible, but I’m getting better (I almost did crow pose the other day), and I love the mindfulness aspect. I’d like to go to an actual class, since I just do Grokker videos in my basement, but that will have to wait until either I’m somewhere where yoga studios are a thing or I make my gym’s yoga class fit in my schedule.

Resolution 5: Have adventures. Well, there haven’t been any big adventures yet, but it’s only February. Work has been busy, and the weather has been crummy on the weekends we’ve talked about adventuring, but the adventures will happen.

(pics from snowshoeing on Grand Mesa with my parents over Christmas)

Training (or lack thereof) update: I told myself I wouldn’t sign up for any races until my gut issues were resolved, and since I haven’t taken any action on that front, it’s looking like spring races are not going to happen for me this year. My longest run since my October trail race has been 11 miles; most weekdays are 5-7 and my weekend “long run” 9-11. I’m strength training 2-3 times a week (all at home, because I’m the opposite of most people and avoid the gym in January) and, as mentioned above, doing yoga at least twice weekly. I’m starting to get the training itch, but I’ll keep it under control for a while yet.

How has your 2016 been so far?

Any snow days for you?